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1·1 year agoIf you have coax in the house, you could leverage MoCA as an ethernet replacement - next best thing to ethernet. Powerline as mentioned, but it can work great, work poorly, or not at all. The only way to know is to try it out and return if it doesn’t for work you.
You don’t say what the existing router is, so it’s hard to know whether a better router could help or not - sometimes that’s all you need. A mesh router and satellite might help in terms of signal, if properly placed. Best to be directly connected from your console to the router rather than via a mesh satellite, if you can do it.
Ridiculously reliable is how I describe my UniFi setup - I’ve been running it since 2019 and I could not be happier with it. Updating to a UDM Pro next week from a USG-Pro-4/Cloud Key Gen2+.
I dragged my feet on updates, there were issues a few years ago. However, each update went fine for all devices when I was pushed along, so I’ve gained confidence in them and have been impressed with the improvements in things. I am a former sysadmin and didn’t want to have to have my old job as a new hobby and so far, so good.
Chinese company, little info about them out there. Website is very generic with little info about who they are. Like you saw, there are very few reviews and even those are just promo types without any real data. Amazon reviews are lousy. I would avoid it. There’s a reason the larger brands cost more - they have actual support and engineering in place. I’d opt for reliability over price.
Hard to know which one would bring you instant relief.
I would move out on #2 in terms of getting some wiring around. If you’re adding cable, do ethernet (unless you have a need for the coax for some reason). Ultimately, to improve your network in general, you want to wire around the house and provide ethernet to devices that can use it (saving the wifi bandwidth for those that can’t, and convenience items). Also, you can add wifi APs (access points) to improve your wifi coverage for the devices that use it.
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Not yet - do your cable planning and upgrades - or at least integrate that planning when buying hardware.
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Yes. It’s a good idea for separation if needed, but still a good idea if they are colocated.
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Ethernet. Do ethernet. No extenders, you want access points. They will perform better in general and often have more capacity for number of devices they can each support.
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No mesh. Mesh is for people who can’t or won’t wire ethernet. Mesh is wirelessly uplinking access points, so it’s wifi over wifi. Ethernet (or MoCA, which leverages coax into near-ethernet speeds) is far preferable. Mesh is not a better network, it’s just for getting around wiring things.
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If you are not confident in your ability to crimp the coax, you could have someone with proper tools and connectors re-do it.
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Technically, a router is just the interface that creates your network and connects to your ISP’s network. Typical consumer “routers” are really a router, switch, and AP in one box (as are the UDR and UDM.)
You can add an AP to your network, so you could be using the one built into the existing router and an additional AP to provide more wifi coverage. Ubiquiti’s UniFi gives you the ability to easily add network components via the unified interface, part of the benefit of their ecosystem. ( As does Omada and Asus’ AI Mesh, and others also allow intelligent management.)
With regard to 6E and “longest lasting” - wifi 7 is coming. If you aren’t going to really use the 6E band capability (you need compatible clients) I would avoid the extra cost of 6E at this point. In 2-3 years there will be more choice and more wifi 7 device availability.
I also think a UDR or UDM would be a good choice for your situation. The UDR is a bit slower simply because of processing power (hence the lower price) when using cameras and the app that runs them.
Two cables to each location, even if you do conduit. If you have an office planned, multiple network outlets in the room. Ethernet to the AV/TV locations, garage(s), patio/deck, front driveway, and any place you might want to surveil from (like - backyard looking towards the structure, for instance). Plan to wire everything that can be wired, leave wifi for the convenience and IoT stuff. Do a good study on locations for APs for optimal coverage.
Since you have “financing”, you could step up into prosumer with a Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Router or Dream Machine. The DR has wifi 6. The DM is wifi 5, but can handle a bit more.
Generally, external antennas don’t do a great job as add-ons. At the frequencies used, the signal loss in cables can be significant, especially the received signal (vs. the transmitted one). Also, the antennas on the box work in conjunction with each other (things like diversity reception). The devices are engineered for the antennas provided, and you can’t just peel off one of four without affecting the function of the wifi transceiver.
u/Somhlth has the right idea here - put the actual AP out there somewhere (protect from weather), or add an actual outdoor AP like from TP-Link.
For what its worth - I got started in UniFi when my Asus’ wifi got flaky. I turned off the radio and added a UniFi AP (AC-Lite). Problem solved. I just had the AP sitting on top of a bookcase, not even noticeable. It covered my then house at 1700 sq ft. Maybe just adding an AP could improve your situation for now. (In a different house now, I have a complete UniFi setup - including that AC-Lite, which is doing fine!)
You could take a look at the UniFi Dream Router (wifi 6 4x4 MiMo AP built in) or Dream Machine (wifi 5 4x4 MiMo built in) - both are all-in-ones.
I would also recommend going with one of the SDNs (UniFi or Omada). You said “proper network” and the unified management goes a long way in doing making that happen. I can’t speak for Omada, but Ubiquiti continues to improve UniFi - I have been running one since 2019 and the last year has brought some really great improvements to it.
The new UXI-Lite looks like a great replacement for the USGs - pretty sure I’m going to move to it from my USG-Pro-4. It’s really only “lite” compared to its big brother pro version. The specs are great for what it is, a USG follow-on.
https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/category/all-cloud-keys-gateways/products/xg-lite
Yeah, I would do the plywood. I know from (work) experience that things may appear solid, but over time the drywall can fatigue. You could even run some boards across the stud spacing and then bolt your rack from that. You could perhaps run a board across the wall under the rack to bolster it there (screw into studs, preferably)
Maybe you’ve seen this already: https://www.truecable.com/blogs/cable-academy/when-lightning-strikes-ethernet-data-cable-and-lightning-protection
I’m of the persuasion of your second paragraph. I don’t take any special precautions with what I inherited (the cable is a direct-bury with 2x coax and 2 x CAT5E. I figure if something hits nearby there are going to be a lot of problems. (A disclosure we were given when we bought our house - lightning hit the well head something like 15 years prior!
I agree with the great suggestions by u/RedFive1976 in terms of what you can reasonably do.
“Old” guy here who used to be a lot more involved/informed about technology years ago, but now well, not so much (First computer had an 8088 processor 😂)
I’m an old guy like you (but mine was a Z-80) and if you want to know more, here’s a great resource for all things wifi: https://www.wiisfi.com/
It would depend on whether your UPS supports it and if that serial cable is the correct one for your UPS.
I use this UPS with my DS920+ and works fine. It came with the USB-USB cable needed.
When placing the remote mesh point, you don’t want it at the far point where you need the wifi, you want it closer to the base mesh so that it gets a good signal from the base and also so the item that needs wifi gets a good signal from the mesh point. The way you describe it makes me wonder if some placement change could help.
Unless you’re willing to run ethernet - which would be the optimum choice - you might consider a better mesh system. If so, I would do another post on the sub, and title it “looking for replacement mesh for [your mesh model]”.