I think your might be throwing out some words there 
So I assume you have a router, might be ISP supplied but a black or white box of some type giving you internet
You would plug the unifi product into one of its ethernet ports and it will give you wifi. It will most likely be better than the one supplied by your ISP
A caveat though. These mesh devices really work best with ethernet connections. Bear that in mind,
Thanks, I’m not using a ISP router just a modem that I connect with an ethernet cable to my Apple Airport. I want to upgrade the Airport (and express) to a new product. Which is why I’m considering the Unifi switch and wireless access point.
ok so I guess your apple device is doing routing. In which case you need something that will do the same. The unifi dream machine will replace the apple device. You cannot just replace the apple device with a switch as I think its doing thr routing
You need routing. A switch does not provide routing, in simple terms it just gives you more ports to connect devices.
Ok, thanks, that’s the part I wasn’t sure of. I guess I’ll keep looking.
The apple device you are using for routing is like wayyyy out of date. Things have moved on. You don’t need a unifi device to do routing but plenty of options are out there way better than apple. Apple were never very good at networking at all. To be frank.
well the best buy up the street has a AmpliFi HD Mesh point system so I might give that a try. It’s way overkill for my space but the solo AmpliFi routers are on back order.
Just because it’s way out of date doesn’t mean it’s no good. We have an AirPort Extreme and an AirPort Express working together and they have been faultless. We have five Naim streamers that never skip a beat, download music, watch TV on demand, get rock solid WiFi all over the house and in the garden. It’s easy to use, easy to update and doesn’t have five or six silly aerials sticking out if it. It just sits there and does its job, just as it’s always done. Why should it be condemned to recycling just because it’s no longer cutting edge? It doesn’t have to be cutting edge. It just needs to work.
Hey if you are happy I am happy.
Forgive my ignorance here, but what is “Meshing”?
It’s unique term coined by the OP, but we all understand what he meant.
What’s being discussed is a clever home networking system (a mesh network) using several satellite points throughout the home to provide better WiFi coverage.
Whether that’s what the OP meant is anyone’s guess…
Given that you are replacing your entire router / switch / wifi access point infrastructure (ie everything back to the modem), you have a lot of choices. Even if you go with Ubiquiti, you have choices… and even if you want an all-in-one box from Ubiquiti you have choices!
The new Amplifi Mesh has an easy interface but as you say you might be over spending if the available-from-stock kit includes a set of access points you don’t need for your space. Even newer, is the AmpliFi Alien - but it is much more expensive and unless you want WiFi-6 now, probably overkill as well.
They also offer a user-friendly Dream Machine (previous generation to the Amplifi line I believe): that is a single box router/4-port switch/wifi AP and apparently comes with a setup app for use on your phone. You could order one online and be up in a couple of days, see if you like it.
The UniFi line is more modular: you would need the UniFi Security Gateway (router), a Switch8, and an AC Lite wifi access point. You plug them all in and configure using the controller program on a computer (initially wired to your new network). This was the original prosumer product line, used by several here on the forum. (Aside: if you already have a spare switch, you can use that…)
Good luck with your choice and your setup. It is a big step to change platforms from Apple, but you will be up and running smoothly after a bit of fiddling with a new setup interface really quickly. That’s true even if you choose Asus, LinkSys, D-Link or any of the other home router/switch/wifi solutions lining the shelves at BestBuy. Take your time, read the instructions, make sure your phone is working so you can get online to look for help if you need it.
Regards alan
Yes indeed you can.
It is straight forward. If you use a Ubiquiti switch, router and wifi access points for your ‘mesh’ then you can have a single pane of glass for your organization, setup and management… this shouldn’t be under rated in helpfulness and simplicity.
The only thing I would say is Ubiquiti require a little more consideration and manual reading to set up than some simpler consumer plug and play devices. You pays your money and makes your choice.
This is the inlife management screen of Ubiquiti wifi access point devices. I have two Ethernet linked WAPs PoE powered and a single wireless uplink WAP in the conservatory.
Thank you, @alan33 and @Simon-in-Suffolk for your comments and information, very helpful. Out of convenience I went with new Ubiquiti AmpliFi HD Mesh system and it was really easy to set up and so far doing a great job. I’m getting faster speed test results on my devices and the overall network responsiveness is improved now. The app is well done and easy to use.
TP Link Deco mesh system for me. Never had any problems streaming audio or tv . Plus you can get a nice holder for them that plug into the socket. Gets round the problem of somewhere to put them and wires hanging around.
A big improvement with the AmpliFi HD Mesh is my MuSo v1 no longer buffers on Wifi. I was under the impression it was a limitation of the Muso but perhaps it wasn’t. So I’ve removed the ethernet that was formerly connecting to the Airport Express.
I have a full Unifi network, USG router, US 8 60w switch runs off this( uses its own psu) from this I feed via PoE two access points and two other US-8 switches ( not 60w). I have one more access point that runs off one of the other switches but needs to use the included PoE injector to power it. My virgin modem/router is set purely to modem mode so Unifi does all the hard work.
I have a couple of Eero’s. Love them
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