David Chartier

I am basically rage quitting my #Netgear Orbi router.

Anyone have recommendations on a fast router/mesh system that:

- Covers a 2000 sq ft house with 2 floors and a basement
- Has fast Wifi to support our Fiber 1GB internet and frequent video meetings
- Has a satellite option if we need more range to reach our detached garage
- Has a decently built app
- Optionally has a full-featured web UI hopefully *not* designed by an engineer from 1982 who believes UX design is stupid and unnecessary

Mar 6 at 7:58pmWeb
Show threadJames Bilsbrough6d ago
@chartier unifi express 7 - get two of them
Show threadDavid Chartier6d ago
@jsbilsbrough Hrm, interesting I haven’t heard of these. Light on LAN ports though, I need 1-2x more than this has. I’ll check out there other stuff too.
Show threaddomserio6d ago
@chartier @jsbilsbrough Yeah, brace yourself for 100 people saying Ubiquiti. +1 from me.
Show threadDavid Chartier6d ago

@domserio @jsbilsbrough More I poke around at their site, it seems like nearly all their language involves “enterprise” and “scale” and showing off like 50 other routers connected. Never heard the term cloud gateway before.

Is this stuff really targeted at piddly little home users like me?

Show threadJames Bilsbrough6d ago

@chartier @domserio I’d say so, their marketing push is enterprise because it’s an area they were seen as weaker on.

The Dream Router is an amazing home setup - I run their stuff at home with just the Cloud Gateway Ultra and one AP.

The app is very polished.

Show threaddomserio6d ago
@jsbilsbrough @chartier dream machine, express, anything with unifi in the name, that's what you're looking for. Ubiquiti has had insane SKU bloat over time as they try to serve everyone, but the bottom of the line is absolutely appropriate for home. It's not "give it to a non-technical person" easy, but only one or two ticks above that. Interface can seem intimidating because it just wants to let you do anything. But there's a lot of ex-Apple DNA there.
Show threadJames Bilsbrough6d ago
@chartier maybe the UDR 7 then - what’s great is how expandable it all is. Shout if you have questions
Show threadJonathan Gulbrandsen6d ago
@chartier Ubiquiti
Show threadRonnie6d ago
@chartier I hated my Orbi so I bought some TP Link Decos and I love them.
Show threadBrian Webster6d ago
@chartier I recently got a TP-Link Archer BE550 with one range extender. Been working smoothly, decent iPhone app (Tether), has a couple upsells but isn’t in your face about it. Haven't used the web UI but one exists.
Show threadDavid Chartier6d ago
@bwebster Ol those have my interest. Thanks
Show threadGregatron56d ago

@chartier I was doing mostly fine with my TP-Link Deco setup. That said, I've since migrated to Unifi, which has been great and I like way better. There's a thread here if you want to ride along: https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/new-unifi-gear-recs.1507144/

On the last page there's a link to Micro Center, which is having a deal on UniFi gear. Might be a good combo you can pick up there. Mind it's more hands-on than a pure consumer item like Deco, Orbi, or Eero. (If you want one of those, check Costco.) You'll probably need to do some learning and configuring, but it's been rock solid and wasn't very hard to setup.

New UniFi Gear. Recs?

I've been pondering a switch to UniFi gear for a while. Last time I looked all their stuff was WiFi 6/6E and a lot was sold out. Went back today and there's a bunch of new 7 gear. Currently I'm running TP-Link Deco stuff, and I'd like the ability to button things up a little more than I can...

Ars OpenForum