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I am proposing that my school replace some legacy stand alone APs with Unfi units. I have read every thread and watched every video I can find about the product and it seems to do most if not all of what we want.
I am curious if anyone has any input? Anyone having issues? How many devices will each AP handle and still function well?
Thank you in advance for your comment and suggestions.
we use only a few so can't give any real information as to how many they'll handle but our 6th form use one extensively and we've seen 30 or so connections (via guest wifi set up on the unifis) without problem. We're getting more as time goes on I think, they're a very real alternative to expensive installs and one you can do yourself without the guilt ;)
Plus there's new firmware coming for them which apparently adds a lot but I haven't looked into that yet.
I use Unifi in 3 of my schools, very, very impressed with it. The only issue I've had is the stability of the server software and its apparent dislike of 64bit operating systems, but this fairly easily worked around. Access points are great, the management is straightforward, it's soooooo much cheaper than other managed solutions. Each school I've installed it, it's gone in, it's worked and no one has whined about wireless issues - result...
I've been running the controller on a server R2 core VM since the summer without issue. I'm running it as a service which is the recommended method and its been very stable. Remember, for automatic upgrading of the controller to work you have to stop the service and run the GUI and then rerun the service. This doesn't effect end clients whitest this is happening only when you let the controller start upgrading AP's.
Otherwise I'm very impressed, version 3.0 is bringing some real improvements to load balancing of clients and better roaming including VoIP optimisations if you use that. Its not the most feature rich system, I've even seen a video review recently which put it very low down compared to some of the bigger boys performance wise. But we have found performance and range to be brilliant (using Pro Units) we have classrooms of 30+ laptops logging on without issue very fast. Our deployment is replacing a non managed system of 70 APs which has served us well with over 250+ wireless users normally online at any one time!!
Not perfect for everyone but its been brilliant for us, we're self installing so its a very cost effective system. :)
We have installed these in one of our new buildings, and they are really rather good.. We have multiple SSID's and VLANs - no problem.. The Guest / Voucher / Portal system just works.. Very impressed.
The only problem has been in buying them - 4GON failed to respond to a pre-sales technical query, then took a week to acknowledge an order so I cancelled and bought from IFS-IT instead..
Insight tell me they may be carrying stocks by the summer..
Which units do all of you run? I was hoping to install one per classroom max 25 users when a laptop cart is present. I was looking at the basic model over the pro to allow for better coverage and to make more of my ever shrinking budget. Can anyone weigh in on the performance of the basic model over the pro or long range?.
Appreciate all of the responses.
UAP PRO vs UAP for use in school.
I am leaning toward UAP in classrooms where we use the occasional cart and UAP-Pro's in Media Center and Labs where where will be constant usage. With 802.11AC coming out I am wondering if it is worth it to go Dual band yet as they will likely need to be replaced in the near future.
It will be a couple of years at least before enough of your client devices are .ac enabled to make any impact on remodelling your Unifi system. I have plenty of UAP Pros installed and barely see anyone on 5Ghz as it is, the odd iPad if Im lucky.
I tell all my clients only buy UAP Pros
1. Only if you have 5Ghz clients capable of using 3 x spatial streams
2. You must have 802.af PoE compliance
The UAP Pro is 3 times the price of the standard AP but if you only have 1 or 2 clients capable of using 5Ghz you have just wasted your money.
Just buy more standard points run them on low power and plan your layout carefully.
Never, ever use 40Mhz channels on 2.4Ghz unless you live well away from your neighbours.
I have had 100 clients on a single Unifi AP, not something you would want to do intentionally but it worked, 30 clients is plenty for most standard APs. It's all down to what your going to be doing with them.
I know plenty of NMs on here that would never expect to service 30 RDP users on a single RDP server even with a trunked gigabit connection but then think its quite reasonable to have 30+ clients all logging on to a single AP at 65Mbps....
Dont waste your money on the LR points, these are really only for the extreme edges of your campus just because the LR point can hear your far off client it doesn't mean the client can reach back to the AP.
Deaf radios are of no use with high output transmitters and vice versa.
I find the LR's work best as wireless uplinked repeaters in those hard to reach corners that can't be easily serviced with a copper uplink.
Lastly don't forget the standard Unifi only uses passive PoE, your PoE switches are of absolutely no use to you at all, you cannot power a Unifi Std from a PoE switch.
Really appreciate the information. I was not aware that the UAPs are not capable of 802.af standard POE. I take that to mean that you have to use the POE injector correct? That is a big let down as we have a robust collection of POE switches in most of our IDFs
That is correct, the UAP is supplied with a PoE injector but several of these in a cabinet can make for a spaghetti junction you would rather not have.
Only Unifi Pro can be driven directly from your PoE switch, BE WARNED, ubnt sell a device called the Instant AF adapter, this drops your 48v .af switch port down to a compatible voltage however we stopped supplying these after a 100% failure rate.
I would strongly advise against the use of the Instant AF adapters, if PoE is a requirement and you want to use your PoE switches the UAP Pro is your only option.
Thanks for the heads up about the AF Adapters. It's a shame as I was hoping they might be a good alternative.
Made some calls and found an alternative manufacturer device that has the same pin out and voltage specifications but looks as though it may be more reliable
PoE - MikroTik RB/POE-CON-HP, 802.3af/at to 24V passive PoE Converter - meconet-Shop
They look far more substantial, speak to Streakwave over there, as the US largest distributor they know more about this kit than anyone. If the new version of instant AF has been fixed all well and good, but until they openly acknowledge to me a defect existed and offer to replace the 30+ failed units I had unconditionally, I won't be using another.
We've been using the 802.3af instant adapters from Ubiquiti and so far have had less than a 1% failure rate.Quote:
Originally Posted by m25man
How many do you currently have deployed? For how long?Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_
My administration is on the fence about the whole project. They know we need it, but until I presented ubiquiti didn't think they could afford it. I can't afford to have the APs fail on my test over the adapter, but If I move up to the Pro model it will affect the scope of the project as it nearly doubles the price and they are likely to be less interested.