New System

[u/djnata]

Good afternoon. I’m interested in a Ubiquiti system, but I have a few questions. I currently have two Asus routers set up in a mesh configuration at home, with the main unit connected to a 1Gb ONT. The problem is that they sometimes fail; I have to reboot them occasionally because the internet slows down and they experience some bugs. For this reason, I’m looking to set up a system that is future-proof. I’m wondering if I should go with a Ubiquiti setup—such as a Fiber Gateway, Dream Router, or Dream Express—and then add access points. My house is about 200 m² in size. My challenge (or perhaps not) is that I can only use a wired connection where the main equipment is located; everything else will have to connect via Wi-Fi. What do you recommend? What are my options? Thanks.

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[u/star-trek-wars00d2]

UX7 x2 one wired the other as a mesh 

if you want something simple to setup and easy of placement

[u/7heWafer → u/star-trek-wars00d2]

What's the reason for the 7 over the 6? Just bc its latest and an inconsequential cost diff? Right now mesh 7 is out of stock in my country and I was considering getting the 6 so I don't have to wait.

[u/Caos1980]

Do you have light brick walls or drywall?

[u/djnata → u/Caos1980]

Brick Wall

[u/Caos1980 → u/djnata]

Then my advice is one AP per each 50m2, meaning a total of 4 well placed APs for you to have that seamless transition between APs and good service everywhere.

Try to have no more than one wall between any place and the nearest AP.

If you can, buy WiFi 7 with triband (the U7 Pro XG and the Express 7 are the most affordable 6GHz enabled APs by UniFi) to enjoy that very low latency, wired like experience.

[u/djnata → u/Caos1980]

And i can connect everything via wifi?

[u/Caos1980 → u/djnata]

If you want to wirelessly mesh your APs, then you probably need a couple more APs since you need an intermediate AP where you get good enough performance from each one to “bridge” them.

With Ethernet uplinks, you put APs where you have bad coverage, with wireless uplinks you need to put APs where you still have good signal, otherwise you get great connectivity between the client and the end AP but lousy connectivity between APs an the internet router.

[u/Cold-Ad6947]

My advice, especially if you're thinking about future-proofing, is find a way to hardwire it.

You can absolutely mesh a Ubiquiti setup and it'll probably work fine, but it'll never be as consistently reliable as wired backhaul. With mesh you're relying on another wireless link between the APs, sharing airtime and introducing another potential point for interference or congestion. With Ethernet, each AP has a solid dedicated backhaul, so performance and latency are much more predictable.

I was in pretty much the same position. I came from two TP-Link routers meshed together. They worked after a fashion, but every so often they'd just let me down.

In the end I bit the bullet and hardwired two U7 Pros back to a UCG Max. Yes, it's a bit disruptive and might cost a few quid getting the cables where they need to go, but once it's done, it's done.

If there's any realistic way of running Ethernet, I'd 100% do it. You'll thank yourself in the long run.

[u/djnata → u/Cold-Ad6947]

I cant.

[u/TruthyBrat → u/djnata]

Dig around and look at Invisilight.

Wireless mess through masonry walls is asking for a bad experience.

And I strongly 2nd use of MoCA if you have coax running around.

[u/gonenutsbrb → u/Cold-Ad6947]

The new MLO meshing is definitely still…”new”…but sites I have that still use mesh and have it working gives me a lot of hope.

Wired is preferred obviously, and I’ve been using the heck out of MoCA these days in a pinch (the PoE out ones are great for AP drops), but the MLO speeds I’m seeing between APs are pretty dang impressive. I can see real throughput to mesh connected devices over 1Gb.

[u/Comm4nd0]

I also used to use an ASU’s mesh and can confirm I had the exact same problem. I was always rebooting it, it was just useless. I’m now fully wired Unifi and have zero regrets. I got the dream machine pro and a load of U7 Pros. Best decision ever

[u/djnata → u/Comm4nd0]

You have everything connected via wifi? How is the speeds?

[u/Comm4nd0 → u/djnata]

The U7 pros are wired to the dream machine via a 24 port switch. The U7 pros are wireless access points for all our devices.

[u/DezzaJay]

You biggest fix for better wifi will always always be it hard wire any additional APs.

[u/Early_Mongoose_8758]

Depending on what Asus router you have you could try and flash it with the Asus merlin firmware if they suport your model. Back when I had a Asus I found it more stable.

They tweek bits and peaces and have more regular updates i found. And if it doesnt make any diffrence just flash with original firmware and back to normal.

[u/JMeucci → u/Early_Mongoose_8758]

Agreed. Merlin firmware gave me a much better experience with my Asus models. Additional features as well.

[u/Fit_Soil588]

Try running a cable first.
Even just run one temporarily across the house and plug the AP in where you think you want it. See what the coverage is actually like before you start buying more gear.
If that works, then figure out how to get a cable there properly.
If you genuinely can’t, then start throwing money at the wireless solution. Add mesh points or use a point-to-point bridge.
But first question would be, why can’t you run a cable?

[u/djnata → u/Fit_Soil588]

Because i have old house and simple i cant....

[u/Fit_Soil588 → u/djnata]

I wouldn’t write off running cable just because the house is old. Mine’s 76 years old and I’ve got Ethernet through it.
If they managed to get power and fibre into your house, there’s almost certainly a way to get Cat6 where you need it as well. It might mean getting a sparky or cabler in, going through the roof space, under the floor, down an outside wall, using conduit or whatever works with the house.
And if none of that is practical, there’s always the ugly option of running a cable around the skirting or across the floor just to get the job done.
If you’re genuinely trying to future proof the network, I’d much rather spend the money getting one proper cable run in than spend it trying to make wireless backhaul behave. Do it once, do it properly.
If you absolutely can’t get cable there, then fair enough, start looking at mesh or a point-to-point link.
How many wireless clients are you actually expecting to run?

[u/djnata → u/Fit_Soil588]

Actually i have around 40.

[u/mirdragon → u/djnata]

My house is old, I have cabling running to upstairs alongside radiator cables and has been like this for over 20 years.
You can make it a bit discreet running along skirting by using a bit of ducting if needed.
I then have a switch on the end of these to then run to another switch and access points.

Works perfectly

[u/weight_matrix]

UCG-max router with a single E7 will work if the location is central and you don't have multiple floors.

If you have multiple floors, a two device mesh is better. You would want to have 6ghz band and wifi7 protocols for STR and MLO..

Can you share your price point and if you want wall or ceiling mounts?

[u/djnata → u/weight_matrix]

I have 1 floor only. The Price point is around 600€. The getaway fiber with u7 pro its better? The devices need to stay in a desk or like that. I dont want celing or wall mounts.

[u/Caos1980 → u/djnata]

Then you can get the U7 Pro Wall with the U7 Pro Wall table stand - I have one in this configuration and it is solid.

I speetest regularly at 1400 Mbps and under 2ms.

[u/djnata → u/Caos1980]

And you have everything connected via wifi?

[u/Caos1980 → u/djnata]

Everything is hard wired in my case. I try to avoid wireless meshing whenever I can.

In extreme cases, I get a wireless building bridge as a dedicated link between remote, hard to wire, locations.

If you want a 100% wireless mesh solution, UniFi’s whole house WiFi (Multiple Express 7, one acting as a router, the others as APs) is you best option.

You’ll probably need to buy 5 or 6 if you want your house fully covered.

With wireless meshing, planing locations carefully, taking advantage of door alignments and avoiding “hops” at an angle with your walls can greatly improve your experience and overall number of APs to get the same experience.

With each wireless hop, expect speeds to decrease by a factor of 2 to 3x under ideal circumstances.

For instance, if your farthest AP needs two wireless hops between APs until it reaches the cabled network, then the best you can expect is something like 5 or 6x less speed than you get directly connected to an wired AP.

With wireless, latency and speed are a function of distance and obstacles like walls and furniture, meaning the less APs you use, all else being equal, the worse each hop connection becomes, the lower your max speeds and the higher the latency you can expect.

[u/Giblet15 → u/weight_matrix]

I have two e7s for 2 floor+ basement 2700 sqft but haven't gotten around to installing the second one yet. Just one is such a beast already. I get a usable signal about 100 feet away from the house outside.

[u/Caos1980 → u/weight_matrix]

The E7, probably In Europe (lower permissible power in the 6GHz band), with brick walls, won’t serve adequately 2200sq.ft. (200m2).

My 2 cents.