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Ubiquiti UniFi Thoughts and Questions


BAlGaInTl

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lightsout

Seems @Doofus is no more?

 

I went back to a thread I know he posted in and his posts say: Guest_asrequested_*

Yeah he got mad and said he was outtie.
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Sammy

Not to go to far OT, mad at what?

 

PM me..

 

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

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murky024

I am a big fan of the Ubiquiti line. They are quick to release firmware and updates and their pricing is very good given the reporting and management tools they offer.

 

I have a 3226 sq ft 2 story house and I am able to get good 5ghz service throughout it on 2 UAP-AC-M APs. I have 1 hardwared to a switch, and I have the second setup in a mesh configuration but it setup as a wireless to Ethernet bridge which allows me to run my TV, NVidia Shield, PS4, and a few other items on wired switch all funneling through the mesh AP. (I dont think a lot of mesh devices offer this functionality)

 

So my setup

 

USG -> USW-8-60w (switch) -> UAP-AC-M (wired) -> UAP-AC-M (mesh) -> 5 port switch (wired)

 

You could easily setup a similar network where you have 3 APs and have 1 hardwired and 2 mesh and then create wired connections to local devices to keep the 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz bands as free as possible.

 

They just release a a Wifi 6 AP on their early access store (currently sold out) in their Unifi Lite format so I would probably wait to pull the trigger and go right to a 802.11ax network standard.

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lightsout

Anyone want to sell me on buying the USG, is it worth it? I have an AP AC Lite and a Pro, just installed the controller (they were previously setup as stand alone)

 

I have an old NetGear as my router that just goes into a cheap switch. Everything works great. I am not worried about getting POE.

 

So would the USG be much of an advantage? 

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jaycedk

I would say you get more control over firewall rules,port forwarding, vlan setup, if you have the know how.

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mastrmind11

yeah the USG is well integrated and definitely is a step up from a consumer asus.  i dont use any POE stuff in my network, but that wasn't the selling point for me.  if you have the disposable cash I recommend it highly.

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Spaceboy

yeah the USG is well integrated and definitely is a step up from a consumer asus. i dont use any POE stuff in my network, but that wasn't the selling point for me. if you have the disposable cash I recommend it highly.

the usg is just a router/ firewall though isn’t it? I use pfsense and am happy with it for those purposes but I do see that big usg shaped hole in the controller dashboard... Edited by Spaceboy
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Sammy

the usg is just a router/ firewall though isn’t it? I use pfsense and am happy with it for those purposes but I do see that big usg shaped hole in the controller dashboard...

 

I'm not sure what that means..

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lightsout

Ha yeah the controller telling me I need the USG for this or that info is a reason I started thinking about it.

 

I went ahead and grabbed one. I'm not a super advanced network guy. But I can follow instructions good enough. Figure if I'm running the controller might as well have all the features.

 

Let me ask this I have an old Netgear router all I've really done with that is forward ports, disable the wifi, etc. Well there be a step learning curve with the USG? Is it mostly plug and play as far as commenting to the internet?

 

I guess I'll find out.

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BAlGaInTl

Anyone want to sell me on buying the USG, is it worth it? I have an AP AC Lite and a Pro, just installed the controller (they were previously setup as stand alone)

 

I have an old NetGear as my router that just goes into a cheap switch. Everything works great. I am not worried about getting POE.

 

So would the USG be much of an advantage? 

 

Coming from a consumer router, I would say it depends.

 

I don't have a lot of time with it yet, but it is definitely nice to have everything on a single controller.  My main issue was that I wanted some more advanced features than Google WiFi would do, and in that case, you lose the mesh capability if you put the Google system behind another router.   

 

I'm also bummed that they released a WiFi 6 router right after I purchased... but I think I got a pretty good deal all things considered.  I don't really NEED WiFi 6 for my application.  But... shiny!

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mastrmind11

Ha yeah the controller telling me I need the USG for this or that info is a reason I started thinking about it.

 

I went ahead and grabbed one. I'm not a super advanced network guy. But I can follow instructions good enough. Figure if I'm running the controller might as well have all the features.

 

Let me ask this I have an old Netgear router all I've really done with that is forward ports, disable the wifi, etc. Well there be a step learning curve with the USG? Is it mostly plug and play as far as commenting to the internet?

 

I guess I'll find out.

its plug and play, once it's provisioned, assuming you already have a controller set up somewhere it'll just work.  i use mine on the edge of my network and threw the fios router in the trash.  it can get as complicated as you want, but yeah oob assuming you know basic networking it's fine with default settings.  you'll obviously need to know your dhcp and port forwarding settings prior to setting it up (so you can update the controller once the usg is provisioned), but otherwise it comes down to a matter of finding where each setting is located in the controller and just plugging in the info.

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Jdiesel

I spent some time setting up pfBlockerNG, SNORT and ntopng on my pfsense router. After a few days of monitoring the traffic and whitelisting some sources I found that it was all working the way I had hoped. Now that it has been running for a few weeks I find that I never log in to look at the pretty graphs and tables. I have the piece of mind that if something is out of place I can go back and investigate. My takeaway is that if your network is configured well and works as it should there is little incentive to view graphs, stats and other eyecandy. USG can help generate graphs and stats that might not be possible with other routers but is that information actually useful to you?  

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lightsout

  you'll obviously need to know your dhcp and port forwarding settings prior to setting it up (so you can update the controller once the usg is provisioned), but otherwise it comes down to a matter of finding where each setting is located in the controller and just plugging in the info.

Sorry but can you explain this a bit more? I understand I need to forward the ports that are currently forwarded. But what in regards to DHCP? 

 

I just have a box checked that says "use router as DHCP server" and then the range of ip's from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254

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mastrmind11

Sorry but can you explain this a bit more? I understand I need to forward the ports that are currently forwarded. But what in regards to DHCP? 

 

I just have a box checked that says "use router as DHCP server" and then the range of ip's from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254

yes, that stuff.  you'd be surprised how many people wouldn't readily know that information and then plug a new router in and bitch about their wifi not working  ^_^

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mastrmind11

I spent some time setting up pfBlockerNG, SNORT and ntopng on my pfsense router. After a few days of monitoring the traffic and whitelisting some sources I found that it was all working the way I had hoped. Now that it has been running for a few weeks I find that I never log in to look at the pretty graphs and tables. I have the piece of mind that if something is out of place I can go back and investigate. My takeaway is that if your network is configured well and works as it should there is little incentive to view graphs, stats and other eyecandy. USG can help generate graphs and stats that might not be possible with other routers but is that information actually useful to you?  

agree mostly.  the bandwidth by service is super useful, as are a couple other "usage" charts/breakdowns, which are not available without a piece of unifi sitting at your edge.  tbh it's the reliability I love about this equipment.  not counting firmware updates and the resulting provisioning, I have never over the course of 2+ years rebooted any of my unifi equipment.  when is the last time you heard someone say that about consumer grade garbage?

Edited by mastrmind11
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BAlGaInTl

Sorry but can you explain this a bit more? I understand I need to forward the ports that are currently forwarded. But what in regards to DHCP? 

 

I just have a box checked that says "use router as DHCP server" and then the range of ip's from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254

 

agree mostly.  the bandwidth by service is super useful, as are a couple other "usage" charts/breakdowns, which are not available without a piece of unifi sitting at your edge.  tbh it's the reliability I love about this equipment.  not counting firmware updates and the resulting provisioning, I have never over the course of 2+ years rebooted any of my unifi equipment.  when is the last time you heard someone say that about consumer grade garbage?

 

Yup.

 

I made note of reserved DHCP and ports before I made the switch.

 

I also had to figure out how to change the IP of the USG itself before I made the switch.  Google uses 192.168.86.0/24.  All of my applications were reserved in this range.  Rather than go in to the config of all of them and figure it out... I figured out how to set the USG in that subnet and then go from there.  It took some doing, but saved a bunch of time in the long run.

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Sammy

@@lightsout

 

Check out the videos I sent you. Everything you want to know is in there.

 

I always use LAN addresses 10.0.0.x because they are so much easier to type in.. 

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lightsout

@@lightsout

 

Check out the videos I sent you. Everything you want to know is in there.

 

I always use LAN addresses 10.0.0.x because they are so much easier to type in.. 

Ok thanks, but I am so used to 192.168......  :)

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Spaceboy

I spent some time setting up pfBlockerNG, SNORT and ntopng on my pfsense router. After a few days of monitoring the traffic and whitelisting some sources I found that it was all working the way I had hoped. Now that it has been running for a few weeks I find that I never log in to look at the pretty graphs and tables. I have the piece of mind that if something is out of place I can go back and investigate. My takeaway is that if your network is configured well and works as it should there is little incentive to view graphs, stats and other eyecandy. USG can help generate graphs and stats that might not be possible with other routers but is that information actually useful to you?

no probably not. Just wasn’t sure exactly what the usg function was. Also thought there might be additional complications from sticking a further device in an already working setup so I won’t bother. Btw I really like pihole as an alternative to pfblockerng
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Mkilbride

I went all Unifi like over a year ago and it's been great. I only use WiFi for my phones and tablets, but still. I can get like 200-300Mbps anywhere inside my house over Wifi...that's pretty amazing.

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BAlGaInTl

@@lightsout

 

Check out the videos I sent you. Everything you want to know is in there.

 

I always use LAN addresses 10.0.0.x because they are so much easier to type in.. 

 

 

Ok thanks, but I am so used to 192.168......  :)

 

Old habits die hard... I've been using 192.168... for so long that my fingers just automatically type it.  :D

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lightsout

I was checking out the switches, I think it's the switch 8. Seems like it adds some nice functionality but in my case I might not be able to take advantage of it.

 

I have one Ethernet run going to my living room, and I've run to my office upstairs. Not able to run anymore at this time.

 

My ap's are at these locations but I have a dumb switch behind them. So if I did have the poe switch in the garage (home base for all the time) I would lose Poe for the ap's because is the dumb switches.

 

Also if I have a different vlan for iot devices it's going to be one or the other (main lan or secondary lan) going to each of these locations. It seems like for me to really get the full benefit of their switches I would need two, one in living room and one in office. And potentially one in the garage. That kind of kills that.

 

I would be happy to be wrong here.

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Sammy

When I upgraded I sold my Asus AiMesh Routers, all four of them reset. Since the USG only really has two ports, I needed a switch anyway so I got a Switch8. One of my UAP ACPro's is powered off this switch the other is not. I re-provisioned CAT 5e in my walls for phone to ethernet but the way it was cabled there were no home runs as this isn't required for phone. I have it daisy-chained through five, count 'em, five unmanaged gig switches to the location of the other UAP ACPro which is powered by the included PoE power injector. They are managable in the Controller software but I'm not sure what would be lost by not having them connected to a managed switch. It just works..

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Sammy

Old habits die hard... I've been using 192.168... for so long that my fingers just automatically type it.  :D

 

Yup.. typing 10.0.0.x is second nature for me now. Try it. I think you'll like it. 10.0.0. 10.0.0. 10.0.0. LOL

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