In case anyone else has the same issue it was the Default DNS settings that needed a tweak.

All up and running now. Look like we do lose signal at one end of the house so will need an additional AP. Just looking at them now - you mentioned the HD .... given all the key things (streaming devices and gaming desktops) are wired over cat 6 all these would be supporting is casual use on iPads /iPhone and my laptop. Worth spending the extra or just go for the older cheaper APs?

I recommended the nanoHD and the UDM because they use the same WiFi chipsets, and while all will interplay quite fine, it's generally 'best practice' to keep the chipsets the same across the site. Here are the specifics:

UAP-nanoHD, UAP-FlexHD, UAP-IW-HD, UDM all use 802.11ac Wave 2 with full MIMO, using MediaTek WiFi chipsets.

UAP-AC-HD, UAP-AC-SHD and UAP-AC-XG are also Wave 2 with full MIMO, using Qualcomm Atheros chipset (better, but much more expensive and only justifiable in seriously dense environments, like conference halls).

UAP-AC-Pro also uses an older Qualcomm chipset with 802.11ac Wave 1 and only SISO. While this AP was and still is brilliant, I've stopped recommending since the new year, because it's now very old and long in the tooth. It, along with its cheaper siblings like the AC-Lite are highly likely to be EOL'd very soon (which will mean they won't have software support). If you want AC-Pros now, pick em up from fleabay.

You can also wait for 802.11ax to get ratified (should be November time), at which point Ubiquiti is likely to release a whole new family of AX-based APs.

In reply to a post by Wonky:

I'm not put off as such just open to other options. Took me 30mins to get my head around which Ubiquiti products I may need and im still not convinced i've got it right! ... there's two guys at work gone down that route fully and while they are happy with it it's not the easiest to set up / configure from what he was saying (and he's a network engineer) -

You could look at the AmpliFi for a user friendly mesh wifi product. It works very well. I until last week had this but decided to move over to the more complex UniFi kit.

In terms of wireless performance, there is no difference. The latter for me allows me to add switches and other bits of hardware which may be well outside of what you want.

The AmpliFi kit is very easy to setup (very much plug in, load app, configure with a network name and connect to your modem/router) and done. You can add more mesh points as needed too and "learning" them to the system is as easy as clicking "add to network" once it had been plugged in.

Edit: Just seen you've picked up the UDM.

Matt

Edited by uno (Fri 01-May-20 15:59:43)

Whenever I see CAT5/6 cabling, then it's best to recommend something that will make the most of their £2-4k wiring investment. In that case, an extra £500-1000 for a full Unifi setup to really get the most out of that investment makes a lot of sense, and using 5GHz for clients is very viable since you'd have good coverage and most clients support 5GHz now.

For mesh, Amazon's eero is astoundingly good value. Otherwise how Plume balances the network is astonishingly good, but really only if the subscription is provided via ISPs. While I'm a big fan Ubiquiti's EdgeMax, AirMax and Unifi lines, Amplifi doesn't really rate either on value or performance imho and has always felt a bit of a 'me too' product.

Oh entirely agree (re A vs U)

I originally went down the AmpliFi route as the mesh on the UniFi was a bit problematic. That has improved massively and although has some of its own issues with uplink detection.

Matt

In reply to a post by zzing123:

You can also wait for 802.11ax to get ratified (should be November time), at which point Ubiquiti is likely to release a whole new family of AX-based APs.

Well I hope their business grade 802.11ax/ax-e (wifi 6e) APs perform far better than their first ax router/AP, the Amplifi Alien. I bought this from the States a couple of months ago and considering it has a proposed UK rrp of £400, its utter garbage for the money. Its really intended for non-techie users (can only be configured via smartphone app), you can't change any channels on 2 of the 3 radios and worst of all, performed no better than my £50 cheap Phicomm router. The only good thing about it is that it looks great as a showpiece in your living room. I managed to flog it to some Ubiquiti die hard on ebay for £400+, they're being sold for as much as $800 on ebay US d/t low stock (they have a US rrp of $379+sales tax). Sheer madness to pay this much for a low/mid range router IMHO.

Got it - flexHD arriving tomorrow as I’d struggle to get the others wall / ceiling mounted