Ubiquiti

Ubiquity Wireless Networking

Introduction

Ubiquity are a company specialising in Wireless network equipment that have a line of "enterprise" Wireless access points that are priced well within the range of most enthusiasts and home labbers. Plenty of choice and well designed.

Why Replace WiFi

No doubt you've already got WiFI built in to your router from your ISP. No doubt it's also awful and probably doesn't stretch across your whole house. If your homelab is in the Garage or somewhere in the extremities of your house you'll probably fine that being near the kit and administering via a laptop can be a challenge without decent WiFi access. It's nice to have one wireless network that covers everything.

Why Ubiquity

There's plenty of WiFi options out there, this is just one of them, However, Ubiquity gear is priced well (£65 + as of May 2016), performs brilliantly and is very discrete without the 'edgy' design of other gaming or enthusiast focused wireless points. They can be attached to the Ceiling with supplied mounts, include a Power Over Ethernet injector so cable mess is ket to a minimum and also have quite geeky software that is great for stat fiends (most active clients, bandwidth used per client etc). They also specifically do a set of long range models for those home-labbers with thick, WiFi killing walls (anyone in the UK with a house built before 1970). There's also a Pro version that enables seamless transition between access points for anyone with a mansion or an office at the end of a garden.

These routers score highly on WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) as they contain no fans, no silly aerials and don't even have any visible flashing lights (just a single green or blue LED circle). Even the regular range version of the access points have significantly better range / coverage than a standard ISP supplied router/access point combo.

Options

Basic Models and Specs

Model	Spec	Rough Price	Pic
UniFi AP	802.11n, Normal power (regular range / up to 122m), Green LED, PoE	About £65	File:Ubiquity.png
Unifi AP-LR	High Power (Long Range / up to 183m), Green LED, PoE	About £75	File:Ubiquity AC LR.png
UniFi AP AC	Regular range / up to 122m, Blue LED, PoE	About £80	File:Ubiquity AC.png
UniFi AP AC LR	Long range / up to 183m, Blue LED, PoE	About £85	File:Ubiquity AC.png
UniFi AP AC Pro	802.11 ac, Pro features (seamless handoff etc.), Blue LED, PoE	About £115	File:Ubiquity Pro.png

NOTE on the AC Verisons

Some home-labbers using the AC variants of the access points have reported issues with dropped packets and infrequent disconnections. This is, apparently a known issue and will be addressed in a firmware update soon. However, as of May 2016, this is NOT the case. The regular 'n' based access point do not suffer from this issue.