Geeking out on wireless

Is anyone else excited about Unifi Mesh???

I was browsing around the Unifi site while troubleshooting an issue and just noticed Unifi is releasing a new line of products. It looks like Christmas came early. 

The jury is still out on the performance of the new products. 

This new line of products are indoor/outdoor access points specifically designed for plug and play mesh technology. Which means no more annoying wireless adoption then setting up the uplink in the controller. *In theory it should be easier. 

What will be interesting is the Mesh Pro ( UAP-AC-M-PRO) because the specs indicate this access point will be a beast. It has 3x3 MIMO on both bands.  

https://unifi-mesh.ubnt.com/

As easy as 1..2..3 well almost anyways

Easy Unifi setup

It has come to my attention that there is an easy way to setup Unifi Access Points. Take your unadopted wireless access point and plug it into the local network. (Won't work if Access Point already adopted to controller)

Install the Unifi app which is available on Android or iOS. Have the app in non-controller mode. You should be able to see the access point and set it up all through your phone!!!! 

This is only for basic setup. More advanced configurations will need to have the controller installed. But this easy setup is enough to create an SSID and password which is enough for the average consumer. 

Wireless Uplink Issues, not worth the effort.

Wireless Issues: Solution just abandon wireless uplink on UAP devices. 

I recently spent the weekend troubleshooting my slow wireless and dropouts. It appears that for my home setup the wireless uplink was a terrible idea. Although, I many more "bars" of wireless with uplink, I found that it also resulted in significantly degraded performance vs. a standalone access point. Roughly 1/10th the speed.

This brings to my next point, wireless access points should not be used as repeaters unless designed for that specific purpose. 

- At best it results in 1/2 the speed due to the uplink. 

- If the access point has one radio, that will be used for both receiving and transmitting. 

The following link best describes why the approach of repeaters, bridgers, uplinkers often fails.
https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/988492-why-don-t-wi-fi-repeaters-work-very-well-ok-why-do-they-suck