Calling all UNIFI users

[antmanvolpe]

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.

[synaesthesia]

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.

[achedgy]

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...

[RobFuller]

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.

Edited February 22, 2013 by RobFuller

[carvjo]

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..

[antmanvolpe]

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.

[antmanvolpe]

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.

[m25man]

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.

Edited February 27, 2013 by m25man

[antmanvolpe]

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

[m25man]

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.

[antmanvolpe]

Thanks for the heads up about the AF Adapters. It's a shame as I was hoping they might be a good alternative.

[antmanvolpe]

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

[m25man]

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.

[Chris_]

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.

 

We've been using the 802.3af instant adapters from Ubiquiti and so far have had less than a 1% failure rate.

[antmanvolpe]

We've been using the 802.3af instant adapters from Ubiquiti and so far have had less than a 1% failure rate.

 

How many do you currently have deployed? For how long?

 

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.

[antmanvolpe]

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.

 

I can't thank you enough for all your input!

[antmanvolpe]

I took the plunge and convinced the school to order 9 units for testing along with some POE adapters (which I am assured by vendor will not have the failure problems) and a couple of POE Touch switches. Here's hoping it all works or I will have some explaining to do.

 

I will post back after they are installed and let everyone know how they work out.

[4Gon]

Hi carvjo,

 

Please accept our apologies for the unsatisfactory service you have received on this occasion. If we can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to contact us on [email protected] .

 

Best Regards,

 

4Gon Solutions

 

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..

[dbrown]

Quick Q to M25man. Why 3 spatial streams in, " buy UAP Pros ONLY if you have 5Ghz clients capable of using 3 x spatial streams"?

Are there no benefits of putting some users (eg iPads, which is 50% of my clients) onto a second radio and reducing the load on the 2.4GHz band?

Is not 5GHz less subject to interference which reduces they effective capacity of 2.4GHz?

 

I see the big cost difference and support his sensible frugality, but if the alternative is a fully managed or blanket system, then the cost of Unifi Pro still looks very attractive to me. I could replace every AP in the school with Unfi Pro for less than a third of the lowest quote for one of them.

[m25man]

Are there no benefits of putting some users (eg iPads, which is 50% of my clients) onto a second radio and reducing the load on the 2.4GHz band?

Is not 5GHz less subject to interference which reduces they effective capacity of 2.4GHz?

 

Last week I would have said no because there is no way of steering your 5Ghz devices towards a Unifi 5Ghz radio almost everything I have tested end up on 2.4Ghz despite there being a wacking great 5Ghz signal overhead.

 

But today they released V3.0 with a bucket load of new features and a new 802.11ac Pro point! Just to P everyone else off they have announced a Ruckus Trade In Program ;D

 

How funny..

[antmanvolpe]

I have been using the BETA for 3 for my testing. Planning going live with 6 units across 6 classrooms using standard UAPs with V3. I can't really see the need to adopt 802.11AC at the moment, but nice to see they are innovating.

 

I had received a quote from Enterasys for nearly $100,000 last week for two controllers and a 100 2x2 MIMO access points to cover the 3 building in my district. Aerohive was about the same, and both were with us installing the AP's in-house. with Based on initial testing with the Unifi product I am pleased to say that I am very happy with the performance and features and you can't beat the cost. I put together a similar quote using an existing hardware for the Controller and 100 UAP access points fr a total cost of under $15,000 and that was allowing for some UAP-Pro models in my lab areas which may not be upgraded to the 802.11AC hardware.

 

Finding it hard to find legitimate complaints about the unifi product.

[caffrey]

I'm looking at getting some of this kit, to replace our existing unmanaged wifi and I just need a little advice.

We mainly have iPads and BYOD on our current setup as well as 8 laptops using netgear wnap210s, which to be frank are terrible. I'm trying to keep costs as low as possible so do I really need to get the dual band access points ? I'd rather future proof if I could (not so bothered about the new specs coming out).

Thinking about getting a set of 3 and a poe tough switch to play around with.

[antmanvolpe]

I am still testing the units that I purchased last month, so far so good. I opted for the standard UAPs due to the fact we have very few apple devices and even less laptops supporting 5ghz at the moment.

 

Given the your statement about Apple iPads I would say go for PRO or even the AC. It appears to only be $50 bucks for AC and they have all of the features of the PRO model plus they are future proof. According to the Ubiquiti webinar on the new AC product they are confident there will be no changes in the AC standard that can not be addressed with firmware. For the $50 bucks a piece it makes the most sense to me.

 

That said my plan is to use the UAP 2.4GHz only units in each classroom to support BYOD in the classroom and use the new AC models in general meeting areas (cafeteria, media center, teacher's lounge) where I know I am likely to have a fair amount of users with the latest devices (the ones they own!) that can benefit from the additional features. Though the 802.3AF support of the PRO and AC model has me trying to make them work with my budget to avoid another failure point with the passive POE adapters or touch switches.

 

Hope this helps.

[soveryapt]

2p Worth and a quick question:

 

I've just installed a 3 Pack as part of an office upgrade (standard not pro) and they work brilliantly, well I have one left to cable in tomorrow, but they do work great. The feature set is quite amazing to say the least with the various guest portal options too in case you want to restrict guest access to "we've given you a code that will last for the term" kind of stuff.

 

The spaghetti junction model is correct in terms of the number of wires you end up with in your cabinet, but for the 3 that's not too much of an issue.

 

My question though (to those who might already use) is the ToughSwitch (UniFi | Ubiquiti Networks, Inc.) a good option for the whole Passive POE issue?

Edited April 18, 2013 by soveryapt

[antmanvolpe]

According to Ubiquiti they are. I have two on order (due here May 1) to address the passive POE injectors that I am very hesitant to deploy hence the reason I am still only testing them in a Lab setting and not deploying to the school yet.