Pricing up Ubiquiti Wireless advice

[The_IT_Guy]

We are about to replace an ageing Ruckus Wireless network which currently has around 30 access points (7363)

 

I like the look of the Unifi wireless networks. My questions are:

 

1. Are the Unifi AP's comparible to Ruckus 7363 e.g. could I replace 30 ruckus APs with 30 Unifi APs? AC Pro
   
2. What do you need to purchase? There are the AP's themselves, does the controller run on a VM?
   
3. Are there any ongoing licence costs?
   
4. Any companies to recommend for quotes?
   

 

Thanks

[LeMarchand]

1: I would; others wouldn't. Prepare yourself for lots of differing views, I'd guess.

2: The APs, possibly POE switch(es). Controller will run on a VM.

3: No, and software updates/firmware updates are free.

4: The company that most will recommend I had a bad experience with, so I'll assume I was just unlucky.

[Katy]

1. Don't know, we replaced "one AP per 2 rooms" HP access points with 1 per room Unifi AC Pro. With the HP people complained about the wireless daily, now they don't.

2. APs. Controller runs on a VM unless you want to get the "cloud key" (actually a small device that sits on your network and runs the controller), not sure how many APs it can support but it's designed for smaller networks where they can't just throw up a new VM.

3. No ongoing costs

4. Got mine from Complete IT, think they beat Comms Express by a few hundred quid on the order for 21 APs.

Edit: Actually XMA had a decent price too.

[The_IT_Guy]

Do you just get a download for the VM when purchasing the AP's?

[LeMarchand]

Do you just get a download for the VM when purchasing the AP's?

 

It's just a program that you can stick on any suitable VM (or a new one if you have the capacity). IIRC you have to do some futsing to get it to work as a service or I guess you could schedule it to start (possibly not nowadays). It doesn't need to run once everything is set up, but you do get some nice reporting features if you keep it all going.

 

I think if you get their Security Gateway it'll give you more features.

[DalekSec]

I have Unifi at home, 3 APs and a Cloud controller key. You can download the software here: https://www.ubnt.com/download/unifi and test it before adding any APs.

 

Cloud controller keys are useful if you dont have the VM space, only takes a micro USB charger to power and 1 ethernet port.

[BKGarry]

1. I replaced 52 Meru AGN APs with 40 Unifi ones, not had an issue
   
2. I used the POEs we had before, just make sure they are set as trunk ports on the switch config, as Meru had them as statick access, Controller runs on a windows VM not a problem
   
3. 100% free, and nicely done, just make sure your APs can access the internet
   
4. we went straight to MSDistribution, asked for a quote, and got the AC Pro APs for about £100 each
   

 

I must admit, I have become a bit of a unifi fanboy after that, I replaced all of our switches with Unifi ones (except the core routing layer 3, to which I have used a Ubiquity EdgeSwitch, same hardware, different OS/firmware)

 

I do like it very much @AJWhite1970 convinced me to take the plunge and I have never looked back

[Katy]

Do you just get a download for the VM when purchasing the AP's?

It's just a download on their website, you don't need to purchase anything to get the controller VM.

[The_IT_Guy]

Out of interest for those of you using unifi for your wireless have you managed to configure guest/byod networks easy enough?

[LeMarchand]

Out of interest for those of you using unifi for your wireless have you managed to configure guest/byod networks easy enough?

 

Not really a problem for me as Primaries/Juniors so they can just get a printed token with a limited use code and basic proxy instructions. Hardly ever used.

[dhicks]

possibly POE switch(es).

 

I'd add: check the standard of PoE used - Ubiquiti seem to manage to produce equipment (CCTV cameras / wireless access points) where one model uses one standard and another model uses the other. Adding inline converters isn't too much of an issue, but worth checking beforehand.

[IrritableTech]

Out of interest for those of you using unifi for your wireless have you managed to configure guest/byod networks easy enough?

 

We’ve integrated our unifi into radius for our byod. That means we can transmit one SSID and all our users can use it but radius server will assign a vlan based on their security group membership.

 

There is a guest pass section in the controller to use with the captive portal.

 

I don’t think others have mentioned this... you don’t need to run the controller software 24/7 if you don’t want. The APs will work fine (as will radius) but the logging and captive portal won’t work.

 

We moved from Ruckus to Unifi last Easter and the feedback has been very good from users.

 

And then there’s the price!

[mdrabble]

Those who have made the switch to the Unifi APs, do you use smoothwall? And do you have any issues with roaming?

 

Currently have meraki and roaming is luckily due to me replaced April time!

[mullet_man]

We replaced an Meru system over the summer and haven't had any issues at all.

 

Looking into combining a few SSIDS at some point using radius to pass to the relevant vlan, currently using radius but with different Ssids

[AlanD]

I’m sure Ubiquiti works fine..even really well in lots of schools. And It would high on my list of choices. But I would buying a couple, or several Ubiquiti access points to test in your particular area...and getting some loan kit from ruckus, meraki, Aerohive or whatever in that real world situation. Never take anyone else word for it. Check it out yourself. And that includes suppliers as well as users.

[AJWhite1970]

I must admit, I have become a bit of a unifi fanboy after that, I replaced all of our switches with Unifi ones (except the core routing layer 3, to which I have used a Ubiquity EdgeSwitch, same hardware, different OS/firmware)

 

I do like it very much @AJWhite1970 convinced me to take the plunge and I have never looked back

 

LOL, I lured you into the dark side that day when I showed you mine

 

I was an early UniFi adopter, jumped ship from HP before they were well known and never looked back. Currently running 45 AP’s, 15 48 port 10gb switches, 15 24 port 250w POE switches, 3 core XG-16’s, 20 cctv cameras and two nanobeam links (one running 600mb at 100m across a road, the other 250mb at 860m up to playing fields)

 

Rock solid, apart from changing the odd port on a POE switch from 48v to 24v passive I hardly ever go near the controller, a true install and forget infrastructure

[kidpressingbuttons]

Have moved all of my switches, cctv and next month our WiFi over to UniFi. Rock solid and amazing value. We have the application server to run the software, which is just a cloud key on steroids!

[BKGarry]

Guest network is awesome, I have a guest SSID that is voucher based, there are vouchers based at reception, they type in the single use code for 24 hours access to the internet.

 

It is pretty cool like that

[thesk8rjesus]

We purchase ours from broandbandbuyer.com they do really good pricing.

[ass17]

We’ve integrated our unifi into radius for our byod. That means we can transmit one SSID and all our users can use it but radius server will assign a vlan based on their security group membership.

 

Any chance you can PM me a screen shot of the controller page where you assign these groups to VLANs? I’m very interested thanks

[Katy]

Any chance you can PM me a screen shot of the controller page where you assign these groups to VLANs? I’m very interested thanks

 

Assigning groups to VLANs is done on your RADIUS server, not the controller - all you do on the controller is tell it you're using a dynamically assigned VLAN for that SSID.

 

Edit: If you are using Windows for RADIUS: in NPS -> Policies -> Network Policies, add one per group with the condition set to "Machine Groups" or "User Groups" (depending on how you are doing it), then in Settings set Tunnel-Medium-Type to 802, Tunnel-Type to VLAN, Tunnel-Pvt-Group-ID to the VLAN number

Edited September 13, 2018 by Katy

[ass17]

Assigning groups to VLANs is done on your RADIUS server, not the controller - all you do on the controller is tell it you're using a dynamically assigned VLAN for that SSID.

 

Edit: If you are using Windows for RADIUS: in NPS -> Policies -> Network Policies, add one per group with the condition set to "Machine Groups" or "User Groups" (depending on how you are doing it), then in Settings set Tunnel-Medium-Type to 802, Tunnel-Type to VLAN, Tunnel-Pvt-Group-ID to the VLAN number

 

Perfect thanks

[BKGarry]

These links should also help

WifiNigel: Microsoft NPS as a RADIUS Server for WiFi Networks: Dynamic VLAN Assignment

 

WifiNigel: Microsoft NPS as a RADIUS Server for WiFi Networks: SSID Filtering

 

https://mikepembo.wordpress.com/2016/11/07/dynamic-vlan-assignment-cisco-and-nps/

 

https://gtacknowledge.extremenetworks.com/articles/How_To/How-to-configure-Mac-based-Netlogin-with-Radius/?l=en_US&fs=RelatedArticle

 

They're on my to do list

[IrritableTech]

Any chance you can PM me a screen shot of the controller page where you assign these groups to VLANs? I’m very interested thanks

 

I’ll get something over to you.

[PotNoodleTech]

Unifi kit is fantastic, we really needed a new forward thinking Manufacturer to shake up the status Quo.

 

Regardless of what APs you actually buy, make sure you have one per classroom and a system that automatically balances the power (most do nowadays). One AP per classroom means you can minimise distance and always avoid a device connecting to an AP through a wall. Going high distance to the AP and through walls makes a massive difference to connection speed and bandwidth. You may find that you are getting 15% of the bandwidth just going through one brick wall at 10 metres away.

 

So 1 ap per classroom. Even keeping the same old APs, and just adding one per classroom will make a big difference to your users perception.

 

My advice? Go unifi. Get one Nano HD per classroom as they are a billy bargain.

Edited September 13, 2018 by PotNoodleTech