When most people decide they want or need wireless in their home, they will run out to Best Buy or some other big box store and buy a cheap consumer grade wireless router made by Cisco, D-Link, or Netgear and plug it in at home only to find lack of coverage in the home and need to replace the unit in a year or two. Wireless has become a core function in homes today and more and more home devices require a WiFi connection every day so why wouldn’t you spend a little extra for superior quality and a super sleek design? Who wants to see those ugly antennas anyway?
Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. produces that super sleek design with enterprise class functionality that looks so good, you have no need to hide it in a closet or the basement (POE or Power Over Ethernet makes it possible to mount these units anywhere you can run an ethernet cable). Compared to a consumer grade product you will find in your local big box store, the Ubiquiti’s Unifi product line is a bit more pricey, however you will not be disappointed.
Keep in mind since this is an enterprise class piece of hardware, I recommend you do not go installing these units in your home unless you know what you are doing. Also keep in mind these are access points and do not have built in routers which are necessary for a home network to function so additional hardware may be required. Typically, most of my clients already have a consumer router at home which I will simply disable wireless functionality on and use as just a router. On some occasions a switch is also necessary. The Unify access points also do require some individual configuration as well so if you are not familiar with networking, it can get a bit confusing.
My hands on experience with these products are for home installations. I tried the product in a home about a year ago for a client who wanted a robust wireless network to handle all the wireless devices of their family and friends while also streaming movies on their BluRay player via Netflix and using their newly installed audio streaming throughout every room of the home. Being an ocean-side home, wireless connectivity down by the beach was also required. Since the UniFi AP Long Range boasted a 600ft range (keep in mind when you see ranges on packaging these are theoretical in an environment with zero interference, actual results are much lower) I figured I would give the units a shot and worst case install an additional outdoor access point as needed. My initial plan was to install three of the units but to my surprise, only two were needed and the entire one acre property had coverage…all the way to the beach. Since this initial test, the UniFi access points are my go to for all in-home installations.
Unifi UAP-AC Installed in a CT Home
The latest Ubiquiti UniFI UAP-AC wireless access point features the new 802.11ac technology standard at a very competitive price point. I recently installed three of these units in another home while the owner was doing a complete home makeover. Of course, the latest technology will cost a bit more but for only an additional $100 per unit, I feel its money well spent to be sure the home is capable of the highest speeds as more devices start shipping with this new faster standard. As usual, installation was a breeze and coverage throughout the house and surrounding property is excellent.
For those who may be wondering about this product for the office, Ubiquiti products are scalable, produce seemless transfer from access point to access point when roaming and come with free management software capable of handling an unlimited number of Ubiquiti access points. The software allows you to upload a floor plan to virtually place your access points and overlays the range to help with planning your installation. System alerts and individual AP statistics are also available.
Due to the sleek design, ease of configuration, and overall performance, the Unifi product line is my go to product for in home installations. Some may argue enterprise level hardware is not necessary for in-home installations, but stop and think for a moment how many devices you have in your home and how much data is traveling over your home network. It is not uncommon today for each household member to have a smart-phone, tablet, computer using WiFi. Then add Smart TV’s, BlueRay players with Netflix and other house hold devices like appliances, thermostats and even light bulbs. Wireless technology is relied on more heavily each day, spending a little extra for a quality product that will handle all the connections will ensure you can keep up with all your data needs.