New Unifi setup - Advice needed

[IT_Man_Dan]

Hi,

 

We're looking to put in a Unifi Wifi network to our existing network to replace a dated old wifi system.

Network wise we use HP switching and a Smoothwall for internet etc.

I chose Unifi as it's cheap and I've used it a while back and had no issues.

 

We want to have multiple SSID's and make use of VLAN's to separate certain SSID's from main network.

As a rush before the end of our last budget we bought some UNIFI AC Pro ap's to start messing around with.

I've loaded the network application/controller onto a computer and started looking at the setup (It's been a few years since using Unifi).

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question but am I right in thinking that I need to by a Unifi USG (maybe the Unifi Dream machine pro) in order to best make use of the features?

Will this allow me to create separate Vlans on the dream machine and also serve ip addresses to guests, for example to give them just internet access?

 

Many thanks

[DGardiner]

Hi,

 

We're looking to put in a Unifi Wifi network to our existing network to replace a dated old wifi system.

Network wise we use HP switching and a Smoothwall for internet etc.

I chose Unifi as it's cheap and I've used it a while back and had no issues.

 

We want to have multiple SSID's and make use of VLAN's to separate certain SSID's from main network.

As a rush before the end of our last budget we bought some UNIFI AC Pro ap's to start messing around with.

I've loaded the network application/controller onto a computer and started looking at the setup (It's been a few years since using Unifi).

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question but am I right in thinking that I need to by a Unifi USG (maybe the Unifi Dream machine pro) in order to best make use of the features?

Will this allow me to create separate Vlans on the dream machine and also serve ip addresses to guests, for example to give them just internet access?

 

Many thanks

 

Get a cloud key plus

 

Setup a vlan port on your smoothwall and use that to provide/control the guest vlans/dhcp/dns

[speakercon]

You should be able to assign SSID's to specific VLANS.

 

If you go to settings, wireless settings and select the SSID there should be a drop down called 'Network' which lists your VLANS.

 

You'll need to add the vlans in the Networks tab, select 'vlan only'.

 

If that option is not showing you may have the New User Interface, I had to turn that off in settings/user interface for the vlan options to show.

Edited October 6, 2021 by speakercon

[midweek]

In the new user interface the vlans are under "advanced settings" instead of networks as it was. Confusing....

 

I've pretty much got this setup and it has been nothing but trouble for the last little while. Some of our UAPs are experiencing disconnections and packet loss when users roam onto the points. Happens on about 20 of our 75ish UAPs. Everything is the same for the UAPs that work and for the ones that don't.

Thought it was a routing issue on the Smoothwall but even if I bypass that the UAPs still do it (Smoothwall's advice was to move VLAN routing and DHCP off the Smoothie!).

Unifi support have been pretty useless but I guess you get what you pay for!

 

From my experience of using Unifi for about 6 or 7 years - they are not what they used to be. Too many firmware bumps, problems with RADIUS and DHCP etc.

 

Wish I'd just paid the huge licensing fees for our Aerohive as we barely had to touch that setup. Unifi it's every day with rebooting APs and so on.

[jslate1980]

Hi,

 

We're looking to put in a Unifi Wifi network to our existing network to replace a dated old wifi system.

Network wise we use HP switching and a Smoothwall for internet etc.

I chose Unifi as it's cheap and I've used it a while back and had no issues.

 

We want to have multiple SSID's and make use of VLAN's to separate certain SSID's from main network.

As a rush before the end of our last budget we bought some UNIFI AC Pro ap's to start messing around with.

I've loaded the network application/controller onto a computer and started looking at the setup (It's been a few years since using Unifi).

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question but am I right in thinking that I need to by a Unifi USG (maybe the Unifi Dream machine pro) in order to best make use of the features?

Will this allow me to create separate Vlans on the dream machine and also serve ip addresses to guests, for example to give them just internet access?

 

Many thanks

 

 

We have a HP switching, smoothwall and unifi.

 

- We want to have multiple SSID's and make use of VLAN's to separate certain SSID's from main network.

 

Do you have vlans in place already on your switching infrastructure? If yes, I would implement your wi-fi vlans on your core switching / router.

 

- Am I right in thinking that I need to buy a Unifi USG (maybe the Unifi Dream machine pro) in order to best make use of the features?

 

You could buy a USG or controller key, I found it easier to create a vm on our server environment. Keep away from the dream machine pro as there is a lot of bad reviews.

 

- Will this allow me to create separate Vlans on the dream machine and also serve ip addresses to guests, for example to give them just internet access?

 

We use our smoothwall appliance to provide DHCP to our guest wi-fi, then redirect users to the SSL login page.

[Davit2005]

Hi,

 

We're looking to put in a Unifi Wifi network to our existing network to replace a dated old wifi system.

Network wise we use HP switching and a Smoothwall for internet etc.

I chose Unifi as it's cheap and I've used it a while back and had no issues.

 

We want to have multiple SSID's and make use of VLAN's to separate certain SSID's from main network.

As a rush before the end of our last budget we bought some UNIFI AC Pro ap's to start messing around with.

I've loaded the network application/controller onto a computer and started looking at the setup (It's been a few years since using Unifi).

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question but am I right in thinking that I need to by a Unifi USG (maybe the Unifi Dream machine pro) in order to best make use of the features?

Will this allow me to create separate Vlans on the dream machine and also serve ip addresses to guests, for example to give them just internet access?

 

Many thanks

 

Create the separate vlan gateways for guests/boyd on the smoothwall would be better. If you add an additional firewall/USG you are only going to complicate things with routes etc.

 

Even if you have a layer 3 switch and routing the internal vlans on that I'd still go for putting the BYOD/Guest default gateway on the smoothwall as for the easier control and isolation from the rest of your network. I know you can achieve this on a layer 3 vial ACLs which I have done in the past but for guest/byod would defo go and separate them completely on the firewall it self.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Davit2005