Meshing

Streaming Audio
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I checked my internet speed using “FAST” and found it to be a problem for streaming both audio and video. I was getting drop-out and rebooting. Contact your provider and find out about meshing your home. Don’t buy any gear from Ama… or youll be returning it.

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who the hell are ama?

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I think it is Ama…, a large online retailer, 6 letters starting with Ama.

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What Amazon? Why not just say that? Besides I have had literally hundreds of items from amazon including unifi and BT mesh products etc, rarely had an issue, and where I have had an issue they take things back without any issues.

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I use a Netgear Orbi MESH system with my original BT Openreach VDSL Modem and have no issue with speed or reliability.

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I think the Netgear Orbi is probably the best out there, problem is that it is a lot more expensive than its competitors.

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UNifi all the way for me

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Rather depends what problem you - or the OP - are trying to solve…

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Does Unifi work well in the states? I want to upgrade my Airport/Express network and thought I’d try the AC AP LITE but not sure how that works out not having a router. I have a spare Cisco PD that I could use if it would work with that unconfigured.

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Why not wifi is wifi? Unifi/Ubiquiti are from the states as well I think.

Just bear in mind you need a controller as well, to as a minimum set it up. This can be just a laptop mac or pc or you can purchase dedicated controllers called cloudkeys.

Not quite sure what you mean by saying you dont have a router, how do you do internet then?

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I have all macs and iphones and ipads so controller is not a problem. The AP AC LITE is just a wireless access point to my knowledge and not a router. So If I get rid of my Airport (and express) I need to something to use as a router don’t I? A switch is not a router that I know of but I’m not a network person so I don’t really know if I can get by with a switch for a router. Which is why I’m asking.

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Most standalone consumer switches are not routers, but you can have in corporate sets ups layer 3 switches which are combined switch routers and in core switch fabrics these are typical.
Indeed even in consumer land most ISP routers are combined routers, switches and wifi access points.

However for home setups I recommend separating out the wifi access points from the home router unless you are extending its wifi SSID.

So all in all it doesn’t really what combinations you have in a product, it’s the functionality that counts.
The thing I would definitely steer clear of is any consumer product that requires you to NAT in your home subnet, and double NATing is just farcical… but yes there are some products that take some unsuspecting users down there…

The Ubiquiti products are good and support wireless and Ethernet uplinks interchangeably… ideal for a home wifi ESSID setup or ‘mesh’. The secret with a mesh for best performance is to keep the wireless links to a minimum and use Ethernet where you can.

Ubiquiti provide routers as well to use with their access points for a fully integrated and managed system if you are looking for a router…

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Thanks I wish I understood more of your post than I do. :smiley:
I thought I could connect my ISP modem to an extra Cisco PD I have then connect to it the Unifi for the wireless access point and use the remaining ports for my apple TV and connection to the other Cisco for my music network. I suspect that won’t work in an unconfigured mode. It sounds like a Unifi Switch would do the trick though.

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If you use a Cisco PSE (not PD unless pass through from another PSE) then you can now connect the new Ubiquiti AP Version 2 devices as they support 802.3af PoE so can connect to the Cisco PSE switch directly.

Or in other words if you have PoE switch, you can connect the new Ubiquiti UAP AC Lite Version 2 directly to the switch to be powered by it.
A Cisco 2960 PoE PSE switch has PoE enabled by default.

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Amazon

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Thanks, it’s a 2960CPD-8PT-L. If I go the AP AC LITE route I might as well get the Unifi Switch 8 I think.

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Without doubt Amazon has the best returns policy of any online retailer I have used

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Yes that device I believe needs to have a PoE source and can be PoE powered or daisy chain.

The Ubiquiti PoE switch that is suitable is

Ubiquiti US-8-60W 8 Port Gigabit Switch

… and you use one of the four PoE enabled ports.

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I have another 8PT I use to send POE to an 8TT that I have connected to my Streamer and NAS so it sends POE but I think you’re saying it’s not the right POE for the Unifi AC LITE.

I saw in another thread where a member is using the Ubiquiti Switch 8 60W with the AP AC Lite but I wasn’t certain of their network arrangement. It sounds like I can get the AP AC LITE and Switch 8 60W and get rid of my Airport/Express. If that’s the case I’ll probably give this a try.

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In simple terms:

  1. Modem - This is what connects to your ISP, ie Internet
  2. Router - This is what manages your home network, for example the the Apple Airport Extreme is a router, and the Airport Express is not, it is just an extender of the Airport Extreme. Your Airport Extreme is also a switch since it has more than 1 ethernet port.
  3. Switch - This is what connects to your Router to provide hard-wired access to your desktops, printers, your streamers, etc.

Some consumer products combine modem and router together to make things easer for you.