Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US), Single,White

You're getting bent over by him. The AP is 260% markup (https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512)

Your current stuff is old, but if you have the service you have (60mbsp likely), you won't notice any difference by upgrading. But you also need a new guy if he's going to price gouge you. Get him to provide actual part numbers for what he's proposing and price-check him. Also purchase all the equipment yourself and just pay him/someone for labor if you go that route.

Unifi UAP AC Pros have an additional ethernet port for this reason. This doesn't give you an extra but serves your purpose.

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/

Use one of the rpis as a host for ubiquiti controller software, then have each roommate buy half a uap ac pro. That should get you 4. Spread them out evenly throughout the house. For best performance you'll have to run cable for them, but they can mesh together in a pinch. That'll have bad implications on throughput though. You can enable roaming so someone sitting in the downstairs den watching a movie will keep streaming as they walk up to their room.

You'll want to get a fairly decent switch for this, a home router combo device won't take this beating for long. I have a 24 port ubiquiti switch that rivals the $4000 cisco I work on professionally. This I think would fit you well and power the access points.

That will leave you missing a firewall and router. If you have a spare pc, get a pci ethernet card, install pfsense and that'll be done.

This is essentially what I run at home. I don't have 9 people here but I bet my net usage could rival it...

Your plan of daisy chaining rPis will work, but it will not be reliable.

thank you for your suggestion.

would something like this be a good choice?

It's an ethernet router (a modem), so you still need an access point for wireless. I use multiple Unifi AC Pros for that, but you can use any router or mesh setup you'd like.

Add one of these and should be good:

Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US), Single,White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_zcjQFb8WMX4QJ

i have some spare laptops...i went ahead and bought a console cable. I know I can do the basics from the ethernet port, but if I feel like getting dirty with it, I can learn the CLI. thanks again. I just bought an AP-AC-Pro from amazon. Now I just need internet in my house :-/

One more question, for the AP, do I buy a device as a AP (like this) or get a router set up as an AP?

AC-PRO $140 Large space, many walls.

AC Lite Small space, few users.

Nano HD Small or open space, many users, highest speed.

You’ll still need a router so keep the one you have, turn off the Wi-Fi and plug one of these in. My main gripe with Ubiquiti is needing a phone or Windows app to configure (no web config) but it’s not that bad. Others hate on them because they’ve had bad support or their product had been abruptly discontinued or lost support. Otherwise they’re pretty solid. Just check /r/ubiquiti before updating firmware and back up your config.

Okay so I'm thinking of getting the Unifi AP I saw on Amazon. Thank you so much for your help!!

Ubiquiti APs are my go to for coverage.

Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US), Single,White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_JFqAEbAXB9GYK

Running an Ethernet cable to the new access point located centrality on the desired floor is by far the best solution. Just don't cheap out on a crap wifi access point. If you're going to go though the trouble of a dedicated run, get a good ap. https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512

This one uses power over ethernet. Get an injector, plug it in at the router, then your access point can just run off that ethernet cable.

These i would recommend https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512

Thanks. I ordered this from Amazon. Should be here Thursday.

Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US), Single,White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512

Each room would need its own AP? The ones I'm seeing on Amazon are $130/piece, I'm not opposed to spending the money to get something good but that's some serious dough to get one for each room in the house. Is the right AP? Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US), Single,White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_66BuEbEWZ0DRW

Thank you so much for the elaborate answer. Few responses:

1) About the PoE injector, I assume I take 1 ethernet cord between my router and the injector, then a second ethernet cord between the PoE injector and the AP?

2) I was considering this one: UAP-AC-PRO-US

3) There is no article but I can elaborate on the story if needed. I'm pretty interested in upgrading my wifi (as well as my parent's, they live in a 2 story house and bought a gigabit internet plan but use Verizon's default router and need it for TV DVR so I might buy them one as well if this works well for me since they're currently getting 1/5th the speed they pay for) regardless of this issue, so fixing it would be nice, but definitely not the sole reason I'm looking at a Unifi

My quest connects to an app called "Virtual Desktop". My Desktop launches an app called "Virtual Desktop Streamer" that enables my Quest to remotely connect to the Virtual Desktop. For the majority of usage, the latency between the devices is 27ms. After some amount of time though, the latency shoots up to 1000+ms and the only fix is to turn my Quest's wifi off then back on again. A quick fix, but a bit of a nuisance. I tried doing this with a remote desktop I can use and the issue persisted, so I can tell that the issue is independent of the desktop I'm using or the version of the Virtual Desktop apps I'm running. This leaves one constant in the picture, being my Quest's connectivity to my Wifi. I asked the developer of the app and he mentioned that it really only could be caused by the router (though there's a chance the quest itself is the issue, but everyone else using the quest seems to have perfectly fine performance, so I am skeptical that the Quest is a consideration).

When I run speedtests on my phone, laptop, and desktop they all receive consistent numbers both before and after the Quest's virtual desktop latency spikes. It could be a lot of things, but there is a lot of constant data being transferred between my pc and the quest via wifi so I could definitely believe the load is eventually causing an issue. After extended use of wifi on my laptop I do notice degradation in performance, but nowhere near as extreme as the Quest.

If you're spending $135 for the AC Pro, you might as well spend $158 for the newer nanoHD. That's just my opinion, of course, but the nanoHD gets you Wave 2 AC and 4x4 MU-MIMO better suited to handle more wireless devices.

If you only have one or two PoE devices, then you could just use the PoE injectors that come in the box. Once you start going past 3/4/5 of them, things start to get messy and having a PoE switch is worth the extra cost.

You have the right idea and yes I think that would be the best setup. Think of an access point as a really big antennae that just broadcasts the same signal your actual router is giving off. The access point should be easy to configure. I haven't bought one yet so I don't have personal experience.

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Z0ZRN6LKACTN&keywords=ubiquity+ac+pro+access+point&qid=1581959294&sprefix=ubiquity+ac+%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1

1. Buy your own modem.
   https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-Approved-SB8200-Frustration/dp/B07DY16W2Z/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=docsis+modem&qid=1599691506&sr=8-3

2. Buy your own Wireless Access Point, separate from said modem. https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512

3. Install / mount said WAP high as you can, preferably on a ceiling.

4. Connect both devices to a UPS, cheap is ok
5. Test for two weeks
6. If issue is not resolved, nag your cable internet provider to replace the copper coax cable feeding into your home.

These steps should resolve most quality of life issues cable internet users experience, beyond "my son is hogging all the bandwidth".

You need a separate router and wireless access point (WAP). Usually they're bundled together as one device, but they're actually two separate functions that work very differently. The combo devices almost never perform as well as the dedicated ones. They just don't have beefy enough hardware to handle gigabit speeds.

For the router, look at something like the EdgeRouter X

For the WAP, look at something like the Unifi AP Pro

Not cheap, and it's going to require you to learn a bit about networking to set it up, but it's the most rock-solid combo out there.

So far best consumer all-in-one brand I have found so far has been ASUS to be honest, anything with external antennas is much better. I recommencement them to anyone who cant afford to invest in all the top end network gear, I used one for years and honestly it was less hassle than my current setup but I simply outgrew it when we built our home. My dad uses my old Asus RT-AC68U that has to be pushing 7+ years old, i remote in to his network via VPN (it supports OpenVPN/PPP) and it receives OS/Security updates regularly. My wife's father burned up 3 Linksys/Dlink routers in that same time, he got one of the Asus (RT-AC1200) routers a few years ago and has been very happy with it. I don't recommend spending the extra money on the "gaming router" unless your really sold on the look, as the they all run the same software and very similar hardware.

I would avoid any all-in-one solutions from Linksys, Dlink and anything from Netgear in all but their highest price point. Any all-in-one solutions with internal antennas is almost always garbage.

Honestly if you want really good networking you have to pony up the $$$ for a decent router, switch and access-point.

Personally I am using a... PFSence Gateway $0 + installed on an old computer. This is incredibly nice as it has full up Intrusion Detection System, Firewall, Antivirus, and download cashing all for the cost of hardware. Although the more you have it do the better the hardware you need an old computer is incredibly overkill for this application. Also a side note it is immune to nearly all of the virus/botnets that can infect most consumer gateways. ( www.pfsence.org )

MicroTik 24Port PoE switch - $350 (Nice as I can power my AP's and IP Cameras directly off my switch, you can save a lot of money here) ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C657P7Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 )

Unify Access Point (x2 - $150/each) with a Unify Controller (software/free), Honestly this just overkill... ProTip if you have a smallish home or decent apartment you can use a single AP centrally located on med power. ( https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=UniFi&qid=1593641297&s=electronics&sr=1-1 )

Here is a decent setup for $200 or so

If you need help setting it up feel free to dm me :)

This is a pretty decent modem

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016PE1X5K/ref=emc_b_5_mob_t

And the access point

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=ubiquiti+ap&qid=1585600509&sr=8-1

I have this and get about 200/300 from my Pixel 2

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/

​

It's enterprise level so it's designed for a high number of devices, not speed, I've never buffered on any streaming service from any firetv or otherwise.

You do not need a router, you have one, just get a good Access Point, I have mine setup with an old Dell Optiplex running pfsense

would Ubiquiti US-8 Unifi Switch,Silver & Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US), Single,White do the job?

Can you tell me more? Are we talking about something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=ubiquiti&qid=1597776812&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HEM653S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jy7JFb19MG9SD

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_RA7JFbQF95399

The best way of dealing with COX is to not use their equipment if you can avoid it.

A few things to look at:

• if you have an older modem (3+ years) you should likely replace it. Unless you're going for gigabit speed the DOCSIS 3.1 modem is overkill. Find something that does not have the Intel Puma6 chipset. newer modems should not but it is worth checking. the Puma6 had issues sending data upstream consistently.

• upstream connection is your biggest hurdle. Check to see what that is normally and during the slowdowns.

• all-in-one router/wireless or modem/router/wireless are mostly crap. Splitting these out into separate pieces allows you to upgrade/replace them down the line.

• check your router to make sure the QoS settings are enabled for your home router. This prioritizes VOIP traffic over everything else. You cannot do much once it leaves your residence but you can make sure it isn't your network causing the issue.

• if it is a neighborhood capacity thing where traffic shaping on the COX side kicks in each day at the same time then you may need to bypass it. Get a commercial VPN to test with. What you do is route all the traffic from your computer through the VPN to see if it is the COX network causing the issue. You're building a private encrypted pipe between you and the VPN provider so COX will not route your packets differently. If this is the fix you can setup most routers to connect to the VPN first and route all your traffic that way. if you are already using a work VPN then you don't need to do this.

• don't use the ISP DNS servers. DNS is the service that maps he URL to the IP address for the actual service. Sometimes switching to an external DNS provider will fix issues becasue the ISP servers are having an issue. That doesn't address the slowdowns each day however...but it is another thing to check in general.

I push ~4 TB of data monthly through COX (last three billing periods are 3.4 TB, 4.3 TB, and 3.9 TB. Current high score if 5 TB). This is on a 150 Mbps connection (average 11 Mbps up).

Arris Surfboard RG6183 modem, Netgate SG-1100 as the router, and an UniFi AC Pro for wireless. That serves 3 gaming PCs, 5 laptops, 4 phones, a couple tablets, and 5 TVs with two full-time home offices (pre-COVID home office using teams or Zoom for 75% of the day including video). There are now two more people working from home as well but I cannot tell in terms of throughput. Just pointing out it is possible to have good luck with COX...but it was a pain to get there. Not saying they are perfect at all, but the best I can get.

Ubiquiti EdgeRouter PoE with a Ubiquiti Unifi AC-Pro. Best bang for your buck by far.

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?cv_ct_cx=Ubiquiti&dchild=1&keywords=Ubiquiti&pd_rd_i=B015PRO512&pd_rd_r=e308746a-a313-4b13-9525-510cc30da609&pd_rd_w=5YMIX&pd_rd_wg=3aYsl&pf_rd_p=13bf9bc7-d68d-44c3-9d2e-647020f56802&pf_rd_r=4TH3DHFQM4S5NE103S62&psc=1&qid=1596465039&sr=1-1-791c2399-d602-4248-afbb-8a79de2d236f

Get your mesh adapter from them and you're looking at around 300 bucks, maybe less if you get a deal. Good luck!

Well, PoE has nothing to do with WiFi, and has minimal affect on network speed.

Power Over Ethernet is transmitting power along with data over a standard Twisted Pair Ethernet Cable.

Edit: since there's been confusion between PoE and powerline adapters.

PoE is Power of Ethernet. This is different than power line adapters.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet

The standard ethernet cable, one example being category 6, is a set of 4 twist pairs of wires. commonly referred to as UTP, or twisted pair, among some technicians when we need to be specific about what is going on, since ethernet technically refers to almost any form of internet data transfer technology. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_pair

PoE literally transmits power over the ethernet cable, instead of transmitting data over a power cable. PoE is much more efficient than powerline adapters when it comes to relatively lower current applications that need high data throughput. Two sets of products that utilize it are the following switch and camera. Notice how the access point only has the two RJ45 ports, and a USB port. This is because it's designed to be used with a PoE injector or a dedicated PoE switch, with the RJ45 operating as both power and data. This allows only one cord to be routed to the access point, done by a network technician, instead of having the network technician routing the same cable and paying an electrician to route the mains up there as well, which can be very very costly in some situations if not impossible.

Switch: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076HZFY3F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_OaOGFbEE88NQJ

Access Point: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_zdOGFbVVXXNM7

The main reason you hear good things about Ubiquiti access points is because they are access points, not mesh (though they can be used as mesh as an option). Properly connected access points perform far better than mesh, especially a house like your with WiFi unfriendly plaster walls. The catch of course is that they need to be connected back to the main router via Ethernet or MoCA if you have coax. Not wireless like mesh or crap like powerline.

If you really cannot use Ethernet or MoCA to connect access points then you should get a quality tri-band mesh system like Eero Pro. They cost more but you wan't to minimize the speed loss caused by your walls. Eero also is one of the very few home routers with actually functional QoS. The SQM QoS in Eero will help keep your connection running smoothly and fairly regardless of what you are doing online. You mentioned your slow upload, SQM deals with this to keep it running well.

> Is this an ideal hub to them add on to? > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N9FIELY/

That is a rather deceptive product description as it says it is an AC-M access point but also has a picture of a USG which is a router. Note that proper access points are just that, they don't contain routers. You can use the AC-M to connect other APs wirelessly but as I said that is not the ideal way of setting them up for performance reasons.

> Adding access point like this ideal? > https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512

The AC-PRO is rarely a good deal now. Either get the AC-LITE or AC-M for most uses or the nanoHD for higher end speeds.

> Or an all-in-one Tp-Link with 3 hubs ready to go: > https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Deco-Whole-Home-System/dp/B06WVCB862/

While that likely will be an improvement over the MW6 that is still only a dual band mesh system so performance is going to be limited with your walls. It also has no useful QoS.

Below links may help you get started. This is one of the more common setups. You can go with cheaper Ubiquiti UniFi alternatives or even more robust/expensive. This is what a larger 4000+ SQFT home with multiple Access Points (2x or 3x) and High Speed / 1GB Fiber internet connection would use. Hope his helps!

Ubiquiti UniFi Security Gateway (connects to Cable Modem) + Ubiquiti UC-CK Unifi Cloud Key (Setup and manage all your Ubiquiti UniFi devices from anywhere in the world)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C89TZYP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rAFiFb28D38JA

Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qEFiFb1RJMG2V

Getting Started: https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012192813-UniFi-Getting-Started#1

I would get a udm pro and a uap ac pro with a 8 port poe switch.

https://store.ui.com/products/udm-pro

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_g3rwEbQNA3BSZ

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G2LTYG3/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_D6rwEbJS3KX5H

Have you tried using a wired connection to make sure it is the WiFi?

I see a lot of recommendations for Ubiquity devices as the next step up from consumer devices. I have never used them, so I don't know about the "easy" part.

https://amplifi.com/alien

r/Ubiquiti/

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1

https://www.amazon.com/AmpliFi-Ubiquiti-Seamless-Touchscreen-Expandable/dp/B082BFC2L5 - the Alien seems to be in high demand.

Some of the Ubiquity stuff need controller servers, make sure you pick a consumer or standalone device.

Here is my setup as well as pictures. I have basically the same situation as you. House is pre wired with ethernet in just about every room. I wanted it this way because we do not have cable so everything we watch on the TVs is streamed. Since streaming sucks on WIFI everything is wired. I have two UNIFI Wireless Access Points one upstairs, one downstairs providing wifi. Our house is just under 4000 sqft and this works perfectly. You still need the router from your ISP though or one that works with your ISP. Mine is from Frontier but I had to disable the wifi in the router because it interfered with the unifi units. Here are links to the equipment that I have.

Poe Switch

Unifi WAP

Switch for behind TVs

Picture of Media Box

Picture Unifi WAP

Let me know if this helps.

Yup I ordered this - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0781VN7W5

And this - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512

They should be here in 2 days :)

I just switched to Ubiquiti a couple weeks ago and this is what I went with:

USG Pro, 24 Port POE Switch, and 2 AC Pro's. I choose the AC Pro's because they can be installed outside and have a pass through port. I installed the controller on my Windows computer to start with and then moved it to my Home Assistant server. If I'm within 20 feet of my AP my WIFI speed is the same as my wired devices. I steered away from the Dream Machine because it seemed like there are a lot of people having issues with it. Your strategy of running Cat6 everywhere is fantastic idea. For your POE doorbell check out this video.

I got rid of a crappy Netgear router and replaced it with this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074XNYHL4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PRO512/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

along with a Raspberry Pi for as the controller for the AP. I also needed a new modem since the Netgear had a built-in modem.

I absolutely love the setup. Yeah, it's more parts. Yeah it was more expensive... though not much more than "top end" consumer routers. But it's so much more flexible, and it does so much more than consumer routers. And you can add more APs if needed, or swap them out for updated ones.

Their store design is horrible now.

Amazon can be easier to see everything at once.

This is their newest generation of access point: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YQ87QBF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_GGgoFbHEZ282Y.

Another style: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081QNNDVY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6KgoFb5S0V6T8

Previous generation (mainly for outdoors), but still fine: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N99SQ3E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WHgoFbGG38YWJ

Another style: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PRO512/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lLgoFbY5HZR59

If you have issues inside the house, also based on the property, are they thick material walls, or very old, or concrete, etc?

I just finished a complete home remodel with ~40 cat6 drops and a good number of PoE devices. Some thoughts:

• Keep in mind that Home Assistant will be your "central hub", but pretty much everything you list might also have its own hub you'll have in a closet somewhere. I've got 4-6 different hubs plus a Zigbee & ZWave adapter. However, once you have them integrated into your Home Assistant install you can control everything through there.

• I would make sure you have one or more concealed, central locations in your house with a cat6 drop and a power outlet for the various hubs you'll end up with. I put a cat6 drop and power outlet on the back wall INSIDE of a kitchen cabinet. See a pic here. My data closet is downstairs (split level) in a not-great location for radio siginals. This cabinet is in a central-enough location on my main floor so it now houses all of my smart hubs that use some sort of wireless tech (PowerView shades, Phillips Hue, Lutron Caseta bridge). I think one or two of those happened to be powered by PoE.

• I use a Mitsubishi hybrid minisplit with Kumo Cloud adapters for automation. I love the minisplits and would never ever put a standard ducted system in a house again. The Kumo Cloud adapter are WiFi and work well enough with HA. No special wiring needed.

• For window treatments I use Hunter Douglas Duolite shades with their PowerView automation system. Works perfectly with HomeAssistant and I'm very happy with them overall. They're a bit pricey so if you're just doing standard honeycomb shades you can probably find cheaper. The PowerView system uses batteries (12 AAs per window!) but they last quite a while. I have three automations running on them a day and haven't had to change batteries in the past 8 months. They also have a 24v wired option but the installer and a phone rep for Hunter Douglas told me I'd be better off just using the batteries. They were right.

• I've got several Dahua cameras around my house (model IPC-HDW5231R-ZE that are all PoE. Make sure to run a spare cable if they're in a hard-to-get-to location. IP camera tech is a deep rabbit hole, but I really like the model I got and its "Starlight" sensor which works great even with the built-in IR light turned off (IR lights = bug attractors). If you go the Dahua route you can order them directly from EMPIRETECH Andy for a good discount.

• You might want to look into installing speakers around your house. They're not terribly expensive ($80/speaker for the 8" Polks I got). Just run speaker wire to one or more amps in a closet and attach the source of your choice.

• I ran alarm wires to every door and window with recessed alarm contact switches. These are connected via 18/2 (18 AWG, 2 wire) hookup wire back to a Konnected Alarm Panel Pro that is powered by PoE. You could do wireless door & window sensors, but if you're going to have your walls open anyway, the recessed ones are cheap to install, reliable, and invisible.

• You may consider running alarm wire to additional locations for wired motion detectors and/or glass break detectors to connect to a Konnected panel or other alarm panel. There are wireless alternatives, but the wired ones are reliable, cheap, and easy to install.

• The fire alarm in my house is regulated by the local fire district, and I didn't get to (nor want to) pick one of my own.

• I use Lutron Caseta for light switches. They're rock solid in terms of reliability, work great with Home Aassistant, no cloud required (the hub is integrated with Home Assistant via Telnet), and the Lutron Pico Remotes work great as general purpose remotes for any Home Assistant task (they also have a shockingly long range). Other people swear by Insteon or some of the wireless alternatives. You have a lot of options, but none will require any special wiring on your part since if you're in the US you'll have the necessary neutral wires at every switch.

• For locks I'm using the Schlage Connect Z-Wave locks. No special wiring needed as they run on AA batteries. Works great with Home Assistant so long as you have a Z-Wave adapter plugged in to Home Assistant or a Z-Wave hub of some sort.

• Moisture alarms and temperature sensors are generally going to be battery powered WiFi or Zigbee/Z-Wave devices. No special wiring needed.

• I went with Unifi AC wireless access points, a Unifi 24 port PoE switch and a normal non-PoE Unifi 24 port switch, and an SG-3100 gateway with pfSense.

Good luck!

The guest network idea may work as these are usually implemented with a VLAN. But you would need a separate guest network for each of your 4 neighbors...otherwise, they will be able to access each other...and I don't think that is what you want.

As I said above, the proper way to do this is VLANs. You create a separate VLAN for each of your 4 neighbors, and yourself. This way, all traffic is segregated, and double NAT is avoided as the the routing happens at your main router 1 time versus routing happening 5 times.

Since you appear to link TP Link, HERE is a WiFi access point that supports VLANs, and HERE here is an router which is also TP Link and supports creating VLANS. (I would personally use THIS as it's a much better device in $$ range you have already spent.

If you want to do it right:

• UniFi Dream Machine Pro for router (UniFi Dream Machine may work better for your application)
• UniFi Access Point to replace the EAP110, CPE210, and Tenda F3

You setup the Unifi Dream Machine Pro where your modem is and connect it. You run a network cable over to 1 Access Point off of this one. You put the another access point in each of your 4 neighbors houses.

You create a separate VLAN for each of your neighbors with the UniFi Dream Machine Pro. You associate a Wireless SSID with each VLAN.

> I'm starting to get the idea of the "imaging server" I would love to learn more about it. Also, what is the difference of that prebuilt server from HP you gave above? It looks neat to be honest.

We need to tread lightly. This is Holy War material.

/r/sysadmin is full of full-time, professional server, network, firewall, and PC Support technologists.
We do this stuff for a living.

As professionals, we see and directly feel the value of a server purchased as a complete solution, from a single provider, covered by a maintenance & support agreement.

Dead power supply? Call Dell/HP/Lenovo/SuperMicro (whoever sold you the server).

Memory Module throwing parity errors? Call whoever sold you the server, and get the hardware component replaced under warranty.

You can home-build a functional server cheaper than you can buy one from HP/SuperMicro/Dell/Lenovo.

But if you run through www.pcpartspicker.com and select all the lowest cost components from all over the internet, who do you call when something breaks? I don't know, but I hope you kept the receipts...

/r/homelab is full of aspiring technology professionals, and professionals who tinker at home for learning purposes.

/r/sysadmin does NOT like to talk about homegrown servers.
/r/homelab LOVES to talk about all kinds of servers, regardless of origin.

> I honestly dont know what to say, does this have something to do with AntiVirus? On a diskless setup does that still require all gaming units/clients to have OS licenses?

This is an enormous concern, and represents a HARD-STOP warning condition for your project.

You should not move forward with this project concept until you understand what a Limited Liability Company means to you in terms of protecting you and your family.

But, this is /r/sysadmin and not /r/smallbusiness or /r/llc or something business-oriented.

Start with the basics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_liability_company

Find more answers online. It's not appropriate to dig more deeply into that subject here.

> About the network gear, what we have in mind is a big router(or is it called what?) that has many ports to cater to all the pcs. And a box of CAT6 cable

This is a good router that will PROBABLY do everything you need it to do:

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-ER-4-EdgeRouter-4/dp/B078PGCGN2/

If you want an easier GUI, you can also consider:

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Unifi-Security-Gateway-USG-PRO-4/dp/B019PBEI5W/

For the LAN, you probably want:

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-switch-Managed-gigabit-US-48/dp/B01LZZ6DQ9/

For WiFi, you probably want:

two or more of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B015PRO512/

To manage the whole thing, you'll probably want one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-UniFi-Cloud-Gen2-UCK-G2-PLUS/dp/B07HLLC1TC/

And to keep an eye on things, you'll want some of these:

https://www.amazon.com/UBIQUITI-UNIFI-Video-Camera-UVC-G3-DOME-3/dp/B07SR85M21/

> On a diskless setup does that still require all gaming units/clients to have OS licenses?

Yes. Each PC will need to have license for each piece of software.

That's 10 licenses of Call of Duty.
10 licenses of Windows.
10 licenses of your anti-virus product.
10 licenses of LEague of LEgends.
10 licenses of everything.

$$$

> " Don't forget PoE+ for WiFi. " is this for WiFi services? Please enlighten me on this one

Business-class Wireless Access Points don't plug into the wall for power.
They pull power over the ethernet cable from a LAN switch that knows how to offer power over ethernet.

PoE = Power over Ethernet.

Classic PoE = 15 watts of power
Newer PoE+ = 30 watts of power
Bleeding Edge UPOE = 60 watts of power

You'll need PoE+ to power current generation Wireless Access Points and Security Cameras over the ethernet cables.

​

I got close to 900Mbps with comcast.

My gear:

Modem : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0723599RQ

Router : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HXT8EKE

Access Point (AP) : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PRO512

​

Because my AP is 802.11ac (not ax) , the max download speed I got was \~450Mbps. But connecting to modem directly I got close to 900Mbps.

Adding some screenshots : https://imgur.com/a/7cSxgkp

Hello all, here's a little homelab I have been putting together inside my entertainment center. Please let me know if have questions.

List of equipment

• Ubiquiti 24 port switch
• Ubiquiti AP
• Ubiquiti Cloud key Gen 2
• Ubiquiti Security Gateway
• PiHole
• Modem
• Network rack
• Patch panel
• Patch panel keystones
• Ethernet cable
• Rack cable management
• Rack vent panel
• PDU
• Entertainment center shelf

Future purchases?

• I'm in need of an IP camera solution - please send me recommendations.
• Storage solution preferably rack mountable - leaning towards for the shallow design, but that cost tho.
• idk? RGB?

EDIT: more pictures: Close up, Network Diagram