New Network

[Sammy2]

So here's the deal..

I've been using Asus AiMesh for quite some time with an RT-AC3100 and three RT-AC68u's. Over the course of the last year I've had issues with Spectrum not dishing out a valid HDCP IP address and my router going to carp with my having to reset and restore from backup, causing hours of headache.

A couple of weeks ago I broke down and got a Router from the Spectrum Store and spend more hours setting the thing up with its lousy UI and limited settings but my network is now up and running again.
I'm done with consumer stuff and am going to sell the Asus Routers which will probably put a decent dent into going prosumer..

I'm thinking Ubiquiti but am not quite sure what hardware to start with. I figure I need a gateway and at least one AP, hopefully Wireless but I can do some pulls to go wired if needed. I should also note that I converted old Cat 5e phone lines in my house to a wired network that covers a good portion of the house, except the dining room and entry area, which are also the furthest from my WiFi Router currently as I don't have the RT-AC68's in Mesh Mode with a wired back haul nearby any longer. This conversion is in a daisy chain fashion with a Gig Switch in each bedroom to move the signal on to the next bedroom. This is not ideal but it is the best I could do as there are no home runs in this existing cabling. I'd like to continue using these unmanaged switches so as to not lay out additional cash.

I am also thinking of pFsense but know even less about it than Ubiquiti except that I believe it even costs more for the hardware. I could be wrong. Either way the infrastructure would be similar in that I want to continue using the unmanagaed switches as described above.


So if you go all TL/DR on me at least read this! I am looking for suggestions to upgrade my network.


TIA

 

[Sammy2]

Any other suggestions? Is there something I can do with my ASUS router to prevent this from happening in the future? This has happened at least four times over the last couple of years three of those within the last 12 months.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

 

[L&LD]

Sorry, its probably just me, but your post(s) are confusing me? You have bought unspecified new hardware but you're still asking for Asus hardware support?

Can't really follow your journey here, nor a clear way to know if you have solved anything (yet) or not?

What I can suggest is to give your posts at least 24 hours for all members to have a chance to read/respond to it before bumping it. In addition to trying to clarify where you were and where you're at now too, of course.

 

[Trip]

Sounds like you're headed for SMB-grade gear or better. I run it at home, and setup the right way, it's truly set-and-forget. Here's the game plan to get you fixed; you can role out the changes all at once or in stages.

Modem - First off, return the Spectrum all-in-one for a regular, plain-Jane modem. Not a combo unit. Just a modem. Docsis 3.1 if you can get one. If they won't give you a regular modem, buy your own. SB8200, MB8600 or CM1000 -- any of the three should work just fine and be future-friendly for speed upgrades.

Gateway - This is highly variable, but you don't have to spend big bucks just to get something minimally viable. A $60 Ubiquiti ER-X will work fine for up to 1Gb/s NAT or ~150Mb/s of QoS on a slower line. Or a $175 ER-4 for 2Gb NAT / ~400Mb QoS. Or if pfSense floats your boat, a Netgate pre-built appliance, or run it on a cheap SFF PC with a multi-NIC card in it. If you go with PC hardware, you'd also be free to run any distro (OpenWRT, Untangle, whatever). There's also Cisco RV gateways; not fancy, nor any new-school QoS, but solid nonetheless. Or you could even do a UniFi Dream Machine if you're thinking UniFi for wifi, for the single control plane over your entire network. Moral: tons of options here to get yourself a rock-solid gateway.

Switching - I cannot stress enough: you want a solid, managed, PoE core switch. If you're thinking UniFi for wifi, then one of their switches will suffice. Otherwise, Cisco SG, HPE OfficeConnect or a refub/working-pull enterprise switch. Also, you want your LAN as "flat" as possible -- ie. direct runs from endpoints and APs to your "core" switch, with as few unmanaged switches in between as you need, preferably none. If they have to stay there, understandable, but those are just potential bottlenecks and/or traffic loops waiting to strike.

WiFi - Centrally-managed, scalable, mesh-capable. Again, tons of options here, from a simple whole-house mesh product in bridge mode (Eero Pro, Orbi, Deco, etc.) to proper VLAN-capable SMB gear (Omada, UniFi, Cisco WAP, Grandstream, etc.). I would lean towards the latter, but any of the above should suffice. You can start with just one or two APs and scale as needed.

Hope that helps paint a picture of what's needed to get your network sorted.

 

[Sammy2]

Here's my infrastructure to help out. Doing other than the daisy chain will require considerable destructive work to pull new cabling and I'm not interested in that. I'm pretty sure I'm going with Ubiqiti: USG, one AP and one Switch to start.

BTW, I have a DOCSIS 3.1 Modem (Ubee E31U2V1) free from Spectrum and the Router is a separate device (Askey Wave 2) so I just need to nix the router!

Please advise.

 

[Sammy2]

BTW, the ER-X is at monoprice for $60.. Now we're talking! Do I need the CloudKey or do I run the s/w on an always on PC?

 

[Sammy2]

Sorry, its probably just me, but your post(s) are confusing me? You have bought unspecified new hardware but you're still asking for Asus hardware support?

Can't really follow your journey here, nor a clear way to know if you have solved anything (yet) or not?

What I can suggest is to give your posts at least 24 hours for all members to have a chance to read/respond to it before bumping it. In addition to trying to clarify where you were and where you're at now too, of course.

Maybe my pictures above will help?

 

[Sammy2]

I see that they are highly compressed. Here's a shared link to my google drive copies..

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1of--DVgTjCn04p47fuC9009d1aHMJzhl/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TBSOnwYMLcQD36lFJdqCZO4Skgq05_lv/view?usp=sharing

 

[Trip]

If you're going UniFi, you can set it up without the controller via the phone app, and it will actually run core networking functions just fine without it. You'll only need it if doing anything database-centric, such as a guest portal, or when making advanced config changes. That said, why leave that piece out if it really should be there for any of those advanced functions, and IMHO it's best to just bit the bullet and buy a CloudKey so you have a pre-built and fully supported discrete piece of hardware running your controller, that won't be impacted if it's running on a PC, RPi or VM if other stuff causes it to go down, have to be reset, etc.

 

[Sammy2]

So USG, AP, Managemed Switch and CloudKey to start..

Not bad and SCALEABLE!

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Trip]

Yes, if you want to go all-UniFi, that would make your wifi, switching and gateway all controllable from the same interface, which is basically its main selling point. If you're thinking about that, you might want to start with with a UniFi Dream Machine, which integrates the gateway, controller and a built-in wireless access point (basically a FlexHD) all into a single device (plus its CPU makes it WAY faster than the USG or USG Pro), to which you can then add a managed PoE switch(es) and additional APs as needed.

 

[Sammy2]

Yes, if you want to go all-UniFi, that would make your wifi, switching and gateway all controllable from the same interface, which is basically its main selling point. If you're thinking about that, you might want to start with with a UniFi Dream Machine, which integrates the gateway, controller and a built-in wireless access point (basically a FlexHD) all into a single device (plus its CPU makes it WAY faster than the USG or USG Pro), to which you can then add a managed PoE switch(es) and additional APs as needed.

Can the AP's work on a WiFi back haul? Can I use my existing Asus Routers as additional AP's with the Dream Machine?

Can I actually use my existing Asus Routers as AP's with the EdgeRouter X and do I even need a managed switch (to start, to save money)?

 

[Trip]

UniFi APs can work in mesh, per this KB article, but I would recommend wiring in as many APs as you can, as the product and code is really built to run as wired as possible.

Re- using your Asus routers as APs, you could but they won't integrate with UniFi and would only be sitting standalone on the network. IMHO, that somewhat neuters the whole purpose of UniFi, so I'd make the change outright if you can.

Re- whether you could get away without a managed (PoE) switch: yes, you could get away without one if you purchase a router with a built-in switch. That said, without a PoE switch, you'll have to use injectors for PoE and/or AC adapters to power your APs. That might not be so bad for just a couple/few APs, and would be something you could definitely upgrade later.