I have about had it with my Netgear WAX630e: anything that deals with VLANS on it and the connections become unstable, slow speeds, etc. I thought it would be great to future proof for Wi-Fi 7 with it but I cannot stand it anymore and I have wasted so much time on it trying to troubleshoot that I could have just bought something different.
So I am looking for advice on moving to Ubiquiti framework. My house runs almost entirely on wireless (~20 clients) except for smart home hubs and small projects. The other issue I have is I move a lot so it’s been hard for me to justify a rack. Right now I have a miniPC (beelink EQ12) running PFsense which connects to my gateway through IP Passthrough. MiniPC then connects to a TPlink switch and the AP gets its power over an injector.
Looking at the Ubiquiti line, its seems like U6 enterprise is the way to go versus the U7 pro because you’re going from 4x4 to 2x2. I figure with all the wireless I have, even though it’s not a huge number, the 4x4 would ensure it’s smoother since there is a lot of streaming and work stuff going on, plus will probably be adding clients soon. I do plan on adding either a homemade backup or a Synology in the future.
Question 1: Is paying a little more for the U6 enterprise worth it?
Question 2: Do I really need a Ubiquiti gateway or switch to manage the AP? If so, which would you recommend.
If you are in a crowded environment then maybe a U6E access point but for 99% of applications the U6Pro access point is sufficient. 4x4 on the 5GHz channel is what is needed if you have many clients that need simultaneous connections. If the 5GHz environment is crowded then the 6GHz channel would be convenient IF your devices can utilize 6GHz. I wouldn’t worry about WiFi 7 at this time barely any devices can use WiFi 7.
As you are so dependent on wifi, you really need to get your head round all the tuning you can do. I’d guess even if you switchover to unifi you’ll continue to have issues.
However, you’ll also need the controller to run on something.
Question 1: It is not worth it in your case. Streaming and working from home doesn’t really use very much bandwidth. Additionally, wifi 7 does you no good unless your clients have a wifi 7 chipset.
Question 2: You would need to host your own controller which is easy to do.
You should look at the new Unifi Express and U6 Mesh if you move about a lot. The Express is only 2x2 but supports meshing and acts as a controller for up to four other devices when used as a gateway. There’s also there Amplifi Range. Haven’t used them myself but seem nice for a simple home setup without getting involved with a rack etc.