@dougcoen said:
If you have the money, go with Ubiquiti UniFi series; enterprise quality at almost home prices. They have more MIMO channels than the rest of the brands (needed for HD video streaming) and are constantly updating their firmware for performance & security. You just keep adding access points and they all appear as the same SSID with transparent handoffs as you move around the room. GUI admin is second to none.
Otherwise, get a Netgear {your price range}. Do not get anything Linksys / Cisco due to crappy hardware, and even worse (security hole filled) firmware.
TL/DR: Cheapest: DIY Linux box Highest Performance: DIY Linux box Easiest / Fully Featured: Netgear Nighthawk X6 My Favorite: Ubiquiti UniFi series full stack
I did that seamless integration across the cannery I worked at in Alaska. I used an Asus RT-AC66U as the main router and RT-N66U’s as access points. It was, well, simply seamless.
Never had any issues whatsoever with either the N’s or AC’s in that model line. Ad it fit the budget I had limiting the hardware. Liked the AC so much I now have 2 in my home and an N at the GF’s (my old N.)
All of mine are running Asuswrt-Merlin builds and I keep them up to date. My NAS has Link Aggregate for a full 2GB pipe. Now if I could get that for my WAN uploads…
Wow, talk about reviving an old thread! Thanks guys. One of my biggest issues is interference. I live in high density there are at least 26 WiFi networks within range of me! I got into the Portal Wifi Kickstarter and am waiting for my unit to arrive. If that turns out not to be a good option, I’ll give Ubiquiti a try next. I know of at least one other Plexian who uses Ubiquiti in his home.
… ok maybe this thread isn’t that old. Feels like a lot has happened in the last year.
I’ve been using an Airport Extreme (the AC model, latest one I believe), and it’s been surprisingly awesome. Only had to reset it once or twice, and I’m not even sure that was the issue I was having.
The only thing it doesn’t do that I could really use if a run a VPN at the router level…
I’m fully aware most people here like to have much more advanced routers where every setting can be tinkered with, but honestly I haven’t ever felt the need to run QOS or any other advanced setting, everything always just worked since I’ve been using it.
All other routers I tried (consumer grade, mostly inexpensive models) were crap and needed to be restarted every week basically.
Though when I need to change it, I think I’ll probably go with a Nighthawk-type device, or maybe something like Google-Wifi or eero where it’s easier to extend the wireless range. Didn’t read the reviews yet on those though.
EDIT just realized I already answered last year LOL
To avoid congestion/throughput issues make sure the link between your PMS and the router is wired, not wireless. Same as between your PMS and NAS if you use two separate devices.
@kinoCharlino said:
One of my biggest issues is interference. I live in high density there are at least 26 WiFi networks within range of me! I got into the Portal Wifi Kickstarter and am waiting for my unit to arrive. If that turns out not to be a good option, I’ll give Ubiquiti a try next. I know of at least one other Plexian who uses Ubiquiti in his home.
The Ubiquiti AP-AC’s scan the RF environment around them to determine the least used frequencies and slowly routs users there (other brands probably do this too). They also have band steering and airtime fairness features you can enable and give you control over the channel width and other advanced features you can use to optimize for your environment. I currently have 109 nearby access points and the UniFi controller is keeping track of them all…even the hidden ones.
@KarlDag: The UniFi Security Gateway has VPN support built it (its just a little Linux box). It mentions Remote User VPN, Site-to-Site VPN (IPsec, Azure, OpenVPN) and it can act as a VPN client too. I personally haven’t gotten it to connect to Azure or my PIA VPNs, but they keep adding support for more protocols every few months…I should try it again.
@dougcoen said:
If you have the money, go with Ubiquiti UniFi series; enterprise quality at almost home prices. They have more MIMO channels than the rest of the brands (needed for HD video streaming) and are constantly updating their firmware for performance & security. You just keep adding access points and they all appear as the same SSID with transparent handoffs as you move around the room. GUI admin is second to none.
Otherwise, get a Netgear {your price range}. Do not get anything Linksys / Cisco due to crappy hardware, and even worse (security hole filled) firmware.
TL/DR: Cheapest: DIY Linux box Highest Performance: DIY Linux box Easiest / Fully Featured: Netgear Nighthawk X6 My Favorite: Ubiquiti UniFi series full stack
I’d highly recommend a Ubiquiti Edge router and a UniFi AP to go along with it. I use this setup at our church and at my home. They are very powerful and cover a large area for the money. Look at the AC lite series APs. This setup would be well under your budget (About $135).
