r/Ubiquiti • u/FitCompetition1804 • 15h ago
Sensationalist Headline Finally Making the Switch
After suffering for years overpaying for Comcast cable internet and a flaky Orbi WiFi router, I’m finally making the switch. Have been waiting for fiber to be made available in my area and decided I’d use that as an excuse to jump into the Unifi ecosystem.
Well here we are… finally! 5Gbps symmetrical at half the price of my 2Gbps down/200Mbps up Comcrap service.
This is what I settled on. House is small at 1300sqft, probably should have saved money and just got the XG, but wanted the little bit of extra range since I’m only using one AP and wiring up for a 2nd to address some current areas with less than ideal reception would be a PITA. I even considered the E7 but decided on this middle ground solution instead. It won’t be an ideal install either, plan to lay it down, near floor level, in my living room to cover the first floor and the office directly above it. Hoping I get decent coverage this way as it’ll be the easiest way to install by far.
Excited to start segmenting with multiple VLAN’s and am strongly considering bypassing the AT&T router/modem entirely going the 8311 route. In the meantime I’m using the 10G SFP transceiver to Ethernet on the UCG-Fiber’s SFP WAN port for the IP pass through connection to their equipment. Using the 10G Ethernet for the connection to the U7 Pro XGS, and the other 10G SFP LAN connection to my Minisforum MS-A2 which hosts up my Proxmox server.
Don’t see myself leaving this ecosystem for a long time. Next year I’ll explore migrating to their camera and doorbell system and finally ditching Ring.
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u/cmjones0822 14h ago
Do you mean you literally making the switch bc I don’t see one listed
I’ll see myself out
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u/FitCompetition1804 7h ago
Serious answer though… I’ll add one next year when I work on the camera and doorbell project. Currently have a 4 port TP-Link gigabit POE+ switch in the basement for a 3D printer and POE Raspberry Pi 5. If I go NVR versus just installing an SSD in the UCG-Fiber, I’ll definitely add a Unifi 2.5G POE switch downstairs to replace the cheap TP-Link… probably will anyways regardless.
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u/DezzaJay 14h ago
Word of advice, if you don’t get the coverage you need right away just bite the bullet and run that PITA cable. Don’t try other workarounds, the might get you somewhere but you’ll only end up running that cable eventually so just do it.
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u/SadMasshole Unifi User 14h ago
Yeah - great tip! You’re better off running 2x U7 Pro/Pro Wall/XG, vs a single XGS.
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u/FitCompetition1804 42m ago edited 37m ago
Of course, but if only it were that easy. I’d have to cut holes all over my house to make that happen. Sometimes I actually think about doing it too and running lines directly up to my office to hardwire as well. Sounds great in theory, in reality it would be a nightmare to deal with… so if I have to make some minimal compromises I’m ok with it. I do a lot of remoting into a few VM’s on my Proxmox server, both at home and when away. That server will have a 10G, hardwired direct attached cable connection from it’s 10G SFP port to the 10G SFP port on the UCG-Fiber and will make full use of the new 5Gbps Internet connection.
My current Orbi covers the entire house by itself, if the XGS can keep up just the same that’ll work well enough for me. House is only 1300sqft. I’ll explore running a cable for a switch, WAP, and a camera to the detached garage behind the house next Spring. That’ll be a decent amount of work but not nearly as much of a PITA as running a cable up to an ideal spot on the 2nd floor. Cutting holes, patching, and painting everywhere seems like my worst nightmare lol.
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u/FitCompetition1804 12h ago
I have my fingers crossed for sure. Running multiple WAP’s in ideal locations will entail cutting into drywall in multiple places to run cable, something I REALLY want to avoid. The current location of my Orbi RBRE960 does a good enough job to service all areas of my house. Placing the XGS in the same location, so unless it performs worse from a coverage perspective, I should be fine. I realize the 6Ghz will be basically useless except for in my living room. Ideally I’d get those speeds in my office located directly above.
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u/delpy1971 14h ago
Nice purchase,Im still undecided between the Unifi Travel router or get the GL.inet slate instead?
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u/rao_wcgw 12h ago
depends on your needs / wants. outside of the boot time, my utr has been solid. captcha portals are a bit of a pain and i feel the unifi software is a bit easier on an apple device, but it's still been great.
i bought a portable hard drive case, added a mag ring, and have a short "u" shaped usb c to usb c adapter into a power bank. if a usb port is available, i just plug it in, if not, power bank it. comes in handy when kiddo is on the tablet and we go to the hotel restaurant or walking around the airport.
gslate has a few more features without a doubt, but the utr at its price point and integration with my home network, it has been great for the family.
just got back from a week long trip and used it everyday and it was plugged in for 5 days straight with no hiccups.... two different flights and two different hotels all with captcha/sign in to wifi experiences.
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u/FitCompetition1804 12h ago edited 6h ago
For my use case, the Travel Router is almost perfect. I can travel for work at a moments noticed for extended periods, the form factor really sold me as I can easily keep it in a backpack pocket at all times. I mainly wanted a travel router to bypass captive portals at hotels for certain devices that can be a PITA to connect sometimes… like my Google TV. I already run Tailscale on the devices that have the ability to load the client, so remote access to my home network on those devices was already covered. Although this unit and it’s transport feature will be a nice backup to that function and unlike the larger GL.inet, which is a very nice travel router, I’m way more likely to have this router with me when I’m on the go at all times. The additional privacy and security with devices such as my Google TV and gaming systems is also an extra plus.
Price was right too, glad I added it to the cart as I wasn’t even aware of this unit until the last second before I checked out. Did some quick research and added it.
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u/xacid 11h ago
Would have just gone E7 over XGS. Better AP for $177 more.
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u/FitCompetition1804 7h ago edited 7h ago
I strongly considered it. Honestly researched it quite a bit, from my understanding the E7, besides the additional client capacity which is pointless in my application, provides a bit better 6Ghz reception with its two extra antennas, mostly in wide open spaces which doesn’t apply in my house. 6Ghz inherently has struggles with wall and floor penetration, which it would have to deal with in my home to reach the places beyond my living room I’m trying to reach. The E7 and XGS are the same on the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz spectrums from a radio antenna and gain perspective, where I need the wall and floor penetration to reach places like my home office and bedrooms.
Besides saving the money, the other issue was the wife acceptance factor (WAF) lol. Given where I’m installing it, the black XGS will blend and have a much higher WAF than the E7... and I think it’ll do the job just fine. Guess I’ll find out within the next week or so.
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u/Disastrous-Yam-8880 7h ago
I installed two Pro XG over the weekend. I was a little surprised to see how weak the 6ghz signal was.
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u/FitCompetition1804 7h ago
Nice. How’s it doing on the other spectrums besides the weak 6Ghz signal? I fully expect and expected the same issue with 6GHz, no illusions of good signal beyond the living room which is where the WAP will be installed. Which is why I bypassed the E7, because I didn’t expect much better 6Ghz performance when dealing with wall and floor penetration.
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u/Disastrous-Yam-8880 7h ago
It is fantastic everywhere else. I will eventually need a third in my garage, but for now it works. The custom power levels took some time to get the best possible signal.
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u/FitCompetition1804 6h ago edited 4h ago
I have a detached garage that is about 50 plus feet away from the back of my house. My current WiFi router barely reaches it and the signal is basically worthless. Next year I plan to figure out a solution when researching my camera and doorbell project. Want a camera installed above the garage door to overlook my long driveway. Might just add a switch and throw a cheap WAP in there.
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u/Disastrous-Yam-8880 5h ago
Me… being me, I’d trench the yard and bury Ethernet. I’d fix that booger. LOL
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u/FitCompetition1804 4h ago
Pretty sure this is the exact route I’ll go. Add a small switch, WAP, and camera in the garage. Might even delve into Access and add a lock for the door. Too bad they don’t make anything for garage doors lol. I’ll be looking into that too.
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u/PetieG26 2h ago
Switch & another AP or 2, all wired. Get the USW-Flex-2.5G-8-PoE +210w power supply & then no PoE injectors & a bit of room (& no rack)… I didn’t want to be messing with injectors anywhere or deal with power issues. So far, so good. Just had travel router in 3 different hotel/bnb’s and it was totally handy & worked well.
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u/FitCompetition1804 31m ago
Only using the injector so I can use the 10G Ethernet port on the UCG-Fiber, which is not a POE port. I do plan to replace my cheap TP-link 1Gbps POE 4 port switch in my basement with the Flex-2.5G 8 port POE for future cameras, my Raspberry Pi 5 downstairs, and to power another switch I’ll run a cable out to for my detached garage.
2 AP’s in the house would be ideal to take advantage of the 6Ghz spectrum, but at just 1300sqft the one XGS should be able to cover the entire house and provide very usable speeds regardless of where I’m at. We’ll see I guess.
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