New Router

[Chevys10zr2003]

I would opt for a AP that has hard wire capability if you can. You do not have to use that if you do not want to but have the option should you ever desire it. Any reason the BeaconHD is your only option?

I don't have cabling running throughout my house and am not going to run cable, so I will be doing only wireless access points. I don't know if they have any other wireless access points that they sell or not.

 

[sdynak]

I don't have cabling running throughout my house and am not going to run cable, so I will be doing only wireless access points. I don't know if they have any other wireless access points that they sell or not.

All the AP's have the capability of working wireless. You do not have to hardwire them if you do not want to. They will work wireless or cabled. The Beacon should work the same just not have the port(s) but as you mention takes up valuable outlet space. The Flex is small and takes up very little space. Half of my AP's are Flex HD.. they can be used outside as well (within reason of course).

Edit - This is the main reason to get the DM stand alone as it is a AP where the Pro is not. Then you can add other AP's wireless or not back to the DM.

 

[Chevys10zr2003]

All the AP's have the capability of working wireless. You do not have to hardwire them if you do not want to. They will work wireless or cabled. The Beacon should work the same just not have the port(s) but as you mention takes up valuable outlet space. The Flex is small and takes up very little space. Half of my AP's are Flex HD.. they can be used outside as well (within reason of course).

Edit - This is the main reason to get the DM stand alone as it is a AP where the Pro is not. Then you can add other AP's wireless or not back to the DM.

That's great to know. Thank you very much for clearing that up! To me it looked like all of their other access points, including the Flex were wired backhaul only.

 

[sdynak]

Good stuff..

You will need ethernet cables if you go that route just to supply power to the AP from the POE injector that comes with it.

If the controller is disabled for wireless uplinking you will need to enable it. This article is pretty straight forward and Unifi support are pretty good also if you ever need them.

Wireless Uplinking

There is probably nothing you can't do with this equipment. If you can dream it, Unify likely supports it. I only touch the surface of this product as a home user. The reliability and expansion options is what drove me to it. The outdoor AP's sold me.

 

[sdynak]

Take note of this "note" .. Basically it means to connect the wireless AP wired first to get it in your network i.e. directly to a port on the DM. Once all the settings and config are done & you adopt it (added to your config following the rest of the procedure) then you should be able to disconnect the network side of the cable and only power and place it where wanted and it should pop in and work flawless.

Note 4: Although wireless adoption/provision of AP is possible, it’s highly recommended to adopt by connecting the AP to the network via network cable then adopt, wireless adoption may take very long time to provision and fail eventually

 

[Chevys10zr2003]

Take note of this "note" .. Basically it means to connect the wireless AP wired first to get it in your network i.e. directly to a port on the DM. Once all the settings and config are done & you adopt it (added to your config following the rest of the procedure) then you should be able to disconnect the network side of the cable and only power and place it where wanted and it should pop in and work flawless.

Note 4: Although wireless adoption/provision of AP is possible, it’s highly recommended to adopt by connecting the AP to the network via network cable then adopt, wireless adoption may take very long time to provision and fail eventually

I'll try to remember that. Like I said I will most likely just start with the Dream Machine and see where I need to add an AP to increase range. My current mesh system works throughout my entire house and my entire driveway and front and back yard.......when it is working.

 

[Baynard]

I use Ubiquiti.. there are many options but the UDM (Dream Machine) might be a good place to start that is essentially an all in one and you can build on your system from there with access point options. Their support is pretty good and helpful in setting up and configuring for your needs. It is not the most user friendly so if you are looking for simplicity it may not the best choice and it can get costly also. One nice feature is being able to create specific wifi networks that serve your purpose such as 2.4G or 5G only. I have 5 access points in addition to my UDM making 6 total and it is all hard wired to create an entire home mesh solution. I don't believe there are limits to the amount of access points but you also don't want them overlapping too much either.

I would definitely second the Ubiquiti or the more consumer-friendly versions by Amplify. Being in the industry the products are pretty awesome. I have a hardwired base with Amplify and then two wireless accesspoints. To go for wired access points you will need the Ubiquiti products but they all work together nicely.

 

[opus]

Had my netgear orbi for the past year. Changed my life. Wifi is a constant now with Good wifi about 100 feet outside my home in every direction. Iv had nighthawks and such and always frustrated. Orbi is a game changer as I'm sure you will get similar results with other mesh systems too. More techy people on here can elaborate on the benefit of a good mesh system I'm sure.

Same here. I've had my orbi system for several years. It is rock solid and I've never had an issue. I can stream 4k HDR10 with no problems and it easily reaches my RT700 out back. I would love to upgrade but they decided to not put Circle in the new units and I need that option for a few more years. They must have some kind of quality issue because I've seen the OP's problem posted on their bulletin board a lot, though that probably isn't a good measure since only the people with issues ever post. My only beef with all these new units is none support 2gig speeds. If they do, they don't have a port with 2gig out.

 

[option8]

I love my Linksys Mesh Wifi Velop system.. it is freaking awesome.

 

[Simarti28]

I upgraded my router to the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 tri-band. It is a gaming router, but you have the option of where you want the bandwidth to be allocated i.e. gaming, streaming, file transfer etc. The tri-band is also a nice feature. There is one 2.4 ghz band and two 5 ghz bands to reduce congestion. The bands can all have the same password or three different ones if you want.

Whatever you decide on I’d make sure it is WiFi 6 (AX) or 6E (AXE). This is the latest WiFi technology and consumer products are slowly catching up to it. These routers are backwards compatible with existing WiFi 5 and older devices so no worries there. Gaming routers also have some of the best processors in the consumer market.

Also worth considering is the latest Asus GT-AXE11000. This is the WiFi 6E version. It wasn’t available when I purchase my AX or else I would own this one.

Edit: Forgot to mention, it’s also mesh compatible so you can add several access points if needed.

 

[JGW]

I have the ASUS RT-AX86U router - just as capable, about half the cost of the AX-11000. That means more brisket.

 

[Simarti28]

More brisket indeed, but at the cost of throughput and hardware. That’s where the AX11000 wins over the AX86U. Both are great routers, but at the end of the day you get what you pay for when it comes to routers (and brisket).

 

[JGW]

More brisket indeed, but at the cost of throughput and hardware. That’s where the AX11000 wins over the AX86U. Both are great routers, but at the end of the day you get what you pay for when it comes to routers (and brisket).

Bah, I get upwards of 850Mps. I have enough throughput.

 

[Simarti28]

Bah, I get upwards of 850Mps. I have enough throughput.

That’s not how throughout works, but okay. Have a great day!

 

[Ostrichsak]

Friends don't let friends buy consumer grade network gear.

In all seriousness, even ASUS is just 'meh" when it comes to security and they are about the only consumer brand that even attempts to secure their devices. In 2021 there is just no reason to settle for consumer-grade network equipment since the prices aren't that different.

Just go with what most in networking/security as a profession use for their home network: Ubiquiti Unifi. It's like the enterprise brands in terms of security patches, upgrades & support but no service fees. It really is the best of both worlds for SOHO/pro-sumer applications.

Sure, you can make due with off-the-shelf options as long as you cover your eyes to the countless security vulnerabilities and simply how that the #'s are in your favor. Personally, I prefer to take an active approach to my security and protecting my sensitive information.

They've got a real solid all-in-one unit called the Dream Machine that is more than enough for just about any consumer. If you've got a tricky site to provide WiFi completely for get the newer version with two PoE ports on it and drop a couple of access points in at opposite ends of your site. Done.

 

[Simarti28]

Ubiquiti lost my support when they tried covering up the breach in their database. Thanks to a whistleblower the truth was revealed. That being said, any network without a cyber security team monitoring it 24/7 is at risk. Buy your consumer grade router and be done with it.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Ubiquiti lost my support when they tried covering up the breach in their database. Thanks to a whistleblower the truth was revealed. That being said, any network without a cyber security team monitoring it 24/7 is at risk. Buy your consumer grade router and be done with it.

If you find one that hasn't had a major security breach or a significant delay in patching substantial security breaches... you let me know. The Ubiquiti one earlier this year was highly publicized but I'll still stick with their products based on the alternatives. If your answer to the Ubiquiti breach is to buy an ASUS router... well... don't Google your decision if you want to sleep at night. lol

 

[Simarti28]

Sure, there are others that have had breaches, but the fact that they tried to cover up the severity of the breach is an different issue entirely, there’s a difference and that’s why it was “highly publicized”. Also why I followed up with “any network without a cyber security team monitoring it 24/7 is at risk.”

My move was based not only on their dishonesty, but the fact that the router I have now outperformed the dream machine in many ways.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Sure, there are others that have had breaches, but the fact that they tried to cover up the severity of the breach is an different issue entirely, there’s a difference and that’s why it was “highly publicized”. Also why I followed up with “any network without a cyber security team monitoring it 24/7 is at risk.”

My move was based not only on their dishonesty, but the fact that the router I have now outperformed the dream machine in many ways.

Based on a single isolated incident, I'm still not willing to give the crown for network security to ASUS. Not even close.

As far as "outperformed" when comparing the two, how does the ASUS do in terms of throughput while advanced security measures & threat management like deep packet inspection (DPI) are enabled? Spoiler alert, ASUS doesn't even try. They made up something called AiProtetion to try to mask the fact that their firmware still basically doesn't support this.

This is just one example of SO many metrics that the Unifi system annihilates ASUS in but this is a meat smoking forum.

Saying a router is better because it's labeled "gaming" has about as much weight as saying "gaming" chairs are better than other chairs. They're all flogged on "leather" that will start flaking within a year or two.

Having used ASUS routers recently and experiencing their firmware offerings first hand, I will just agree to disagree about it being any sort of an upgrade to Ubiquiti Unifi.

 

[Simarti28]

I was done debating security hours ago. If a hacker wants to get into your network bad enough (Ubiquiti, Asus, Netgear, Linksys etc.) they will get in. The fact of the matter is all of the above mentioned are peanuts for hackers. They don’t want me and believe it or not, they probably don’t want you either. These guys are after much bigger fish.

Performance of the AX11000 > Ubiquiti. This gaming router had the best hardware from comparable models (gaming and non-gaming) from all of the competitors that I researched (those mentioned above). Your chair analogy is false. Electronics hardware doesn’t lie, it is what it is.

Have a great day!