So Long, Thanks For All The Help

[GHammer]

I received a new networking setup today.
Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Max and 2 U7 Pro Wall APs.
I also got table stands for the APs so they can be placed where I want them.
First, the packaging was Apple-like. Off to a good start. Build quality and the finish was equally great. Why, they even have a small level on the wall mount template!
So, powered off my AX86U and the AX58U and installed the new gear.
Power it up and after a 10 minute updating session, logged in to the app.
All sorts of information available in the dashboard. It identified my Verizon FIOS and configured things great on its own.
Took me a second to get IPv6 up, but that was on me. Not at all familiar with the new device.
I have a goodly number of IoT devices. On ASUS, they would not accept WPA3. Some were always disconnecting even with WPA2.
Nothing of the sort now. Everyone is connected and have not dropped in the time I've been live with the new kit.
I run a few servers and getting the firewall set for them was a piece of cake, took maybe 5 minutes.
I have stats galore on everything from the router through the radios to the clients. Who, what, when. Including application use.

I had tried a BE router earlier this year and it was a miserable experience, so much so that it went back for a refund within a week.
Look, if you are going to spend that level of cash on one of those, do yourself a favor and take a look at what's available elsewhere.

I couldn't be happier with my new gear.

So, after a long run with Merlin, thanks. For ASUS, humbug.

 

[dave14305]

Happy trails, Hammer!

 

[Tech9]

Congratulations and happy networking, GHammer! Good equipment choice.

One thing you'll like the most - no reboots on configuration changes. Your system can be up and running while you add networks, change DHCP ranges, assign reservations, change wireless power, add firewall rules, add filtering, etc. You may see "Getting ready..." in the console for few seconds and it continues. I never had to reboot my Cloud Gateway Ultra since it was powered up first time and the software on it was updated.

You may also notice similar to Asuswrt-Merlin + Scripts features are actually much easier to setup and the UI will guide you. If something is greyed out and unavailable the info button will tell you what you need to change or to have running in order to use this feature. Some things will be done automatically for you like DNS interception the moment you activate ad-blocking or network isolation the moment you select Guest Network type.

Stop by SNB Forums for a reset or two...

 

[sfx2000]

I couldn't be happier with my new gear.

So, after a long run with Merlin, thanks. For ASUS, humbug.

You are always welcome here - remember, you do not have to be an Asus Router owner to be a contributing member here on SNB forums.

 

[Tech9]

Just to make it more clear for the readers:

The Ubiquiti equipment @GHammer purchased is total cost of $705 along with 2x PoE 30W injectors and 2x Table Stands.

1x Cloud Gateway Max - $199
2x U7 Pro Wall - $398
2x PoE+ 30W Adapter - $30
2x U7 Pro Wall Table Stand - $78

Folks looking at Gaming marketed home router for $600-800 may want to think twice before clicking that "Buy Now" button.

 

[tgl]

BTW, if you didn't find it already, there's a lively Ubiquiti-specific web forum over at https://community.ui.com/

 

[Tech9]

Actually, this community forum is the main support place. Ubiquiti staff is present there, may help.

Otherwise for business use with site support requirements:

 

[GHammer]

The Ubiquiti equipment @GHammer purchased is total cost of $705 along with 2x PoE 30W injectors and 2x Table Stands.

And darn well worth it.
Latency is non-existent for all intents and purposes. Device do in fact roam from AP to AP in a timely manner. I'll repeat, ALL my IoT devices connected with zero issues.

Ubiquiti was not good for my needs until this equipment was released. If you've discounted them in the past, it's time to take another look.

 

[heysoundude]

with all the networking experience people get transitioning from stock Asus to Merlin firmware and AiMesh, it surprises me that mikrotek equipment isn't mentioned alongside ubiquiti systems in threads like these

 

[microchip]

I took a similar path not too long ago, but I was on NETGEAR consumer routers instead of ASUS. I'm familiar with both NG & ASUS firmware. After many struggles with both, I had enough and invested in a business/professional setup. Went for MikroTik as router and TP-Link Omada for APs & switches. Oh my, so much better, both in term of performance and stability. Both TP-Link & MikroTik provide a lot of options to finetune virtually everything. Of course, it took me a while to learn it, especially RouterOS of MikroTik, but now I saw how powerful it is. MikroTik has excellent documentation as well. I don't know if Ubiquiti has the same... Anyways, most likely I'll never return to consumer crap.

 

[Tech9]

it surprises me that mikrotek equipment isn't mentioned alongside ubiquiti systems

MikroTik is more popular in Europe. Here in North America we have limited choice of devices or have to wait for something to arrive overseas. My own Ubiquiti system was ordered on Monday and arrived on Wednesday. Along with Ubiquiti Ethernet cables, cheaper than Amazon no-name.

With the new 3:1 Ubiquiti gateways it's super easy to build a complete UniFi system at low price. All needed is UCG-Ultra/Max + AP of choice. Some APs like U6 Mesh even come with PoE injectors in the box. The refreshed console UI is super easy, like setting up a new phone. It's actually easier than Asuswrt-Merlin. Need multiple networks - click here; want some isolated - click here; need isolated LAN port - click here; need ad-blocking - click here; need encrypted DNS - click here. All mandatory for security firewall rules are locked, isolation rules will be created automatically, you add on top whatever you want per app, per country, etc. All unnecessary and irrelevant settings are removed. There is no "Professional" and "Smart Connect rules"...

Your Asuswrt-Merlin running RT-AX88U Pro equivalent - UCG-Max + U6 Mesh. If you need eventual >Gigabit over Wi-Fi - U7 Pro. Two very small size devices only, PoE injector may be needed depending on the AP model. Control panel: want it dark - click here; want it customized - click here. Need to add more devices like switches or APs? Just adopt them to your system and they show up on the control panel with settings and stats. Want to plan your Wi-Fi - InnerSpace app is included. Upload your floor plan, tell it what the walls are made of, place the AP - it will show you if you need another.

How big is the gateway? This big:

 

[tgl]

Sorry about the dumb question, but are these managed with a phone app or via the cloud, or web interface. Seems there are several options and may cost $$ to do that.

Correct on both points.

The item description says managed; "With a cloudkey, official unifi hosting, or unifi network server"
Is cloudkey a phone app?

No, a Cloud Key is one of these things:

https://store.ui.com/us/en/category...uck-g2/products/uck-g2-ssd?variant=uck-g2-ssd

It's a box that just runs UniFi's controller applications, and in this incarnation also provides some storage for video from cameras. It's not terribly cost effective if you don't need video storage. (They used to have a variant with no storage that was cheaper, but I've not seen it for sale lately.)

The other alternatives include

• Buy a "cloud gateway" as @GHammer did. This is a router that has enough extra CPU/RAM to also run the controller applications. (UniFi's plain "gateways" are routers only, and have to be paired with some other controller solution.)
• Run the controller software as an app on your own hardware. UniFi provide this as a free download for Windows, Mac, or Debian-based Linux. This is definitely the most cost-effective answer, but it can bring some sysadmin-y headaches. One I've heard of repeatedly is versioning problems with MongoDB. Also, it only runs APs and routers, not cameras.
• Use a Ubiquiti-hosted instance of the controller apps. This involves a monthly subscription fee, and it requires you to open your network up to remote control, so it seems a little iffy security-wise to me. But a lot of people do it, particularly if they need remote administration anyway.

Now aside from these, there is a free phone app (iOS or Android) that you can use to configure their wireless APs. I am not sure if it can manage a router or only APs, and I do know that it's pretty limited even for APs. In particular, I gather that if you have multiple APs then you have to configure each one individually. Aside from the pure pain-in-the-rear factor, this means that the APs operate standalone and don't support 802.11k/v/r roaming enhancements. So I can't recommend this choice if you have more than one UniFi AP.

 

[Justinh]

Doesn't UniFi require a cloud account even to get into your hardware? tgl might touched on my next concern about being able to manage from their cloud, which he indicates is an option, so I could manage totally inside my walls?

 

[tgl]

Doesn't UniFi require a cloud account even to get into your hardware?

No, not quite. You have to create an account on their website to download software updates (same account you use to post to their community forums, btw). You do not have to open up your network to remote access as long as you are using one of the methods to run the controller software locally.

 

[Tech9]

To answer both @ATLga and @Justinh questions:

UniFi system has 4 components:
- Gateway
- Controller
- Switch
- Access point

What we have with @GHammer is Gateway, Controller, Switch in 1 device (Cloud Gateway Ultra/Max) and we add Access Point(s). I also have 2x additional switches in my system, both Ubiquiti and managed from the same console. UCG-Ultra/Max can manage 30+ UniFi devices (with 100's of clients).

Management options are:
- local account with WebUI and/or UniFi App
- cloud account with WebUI and/or UniFi App

I personally have the cloud account active because I currently have 2x UniFi systems running and like to manage both in the same place, it offers 2FA login authentication as well as email and push notifications for user selectable events. The list of notifications is quite long from updates to IDS/IPS detection.

 

[tgl]

Got it. So there is local webUI access the same as most other routers on the market.

Right. Whichever controller solution you use, you access the controller using a web browser. That's an internet connection if you use the Ubiquiti-hosted solution, otherwise a connection to a local machine. (I confess I'm not totally clear how this works with the hosted-on-your-own-hardware case, but I believe it exposes an HTTP connection somehow.)

 

[Tech9]

Got it. So there is local webUI access the same as most other routers on the market.

Yes and the console looks 1:1 both ways. It's super responsive and you can't tell the difference between local and remote connection. My two UniFi systems are physically located on two different continents. What is nice for local access with cloud account - on login attempt it will send you a 6-digit code on email. 2FA authentication works with cloud account active only.

 

[tgl]

This is where I'm confused. The cloud gateway is what is managed by one of those three things. You said it's an alternative which isn't exactly what the description says. That gateway needs to be managed "With a cloudkey, official unifi hosting, or unifi network server"

Hmm, are you sure you're reading the right item description? That would be accurate for one of their router-only gateways ("unifi network server" is the DIY-hosted application I mentioned). The boxes with built-in controller software do not need an external manager, and AFAIK can't be managed by another local box. There is some provision in them for remote control from UniFi's cloud management if you want that, but I don't know quite how that works --- maybe @Tech9 can fill in details.

 

[Tech9]

The setup and the management are exactly the same like home router. Even easier because the UCG-Ultra/Max have a screen and it shows instructions. On first boot it will show the LAN IP (I believe the default was 192.168.0.1). You can connect to the device with Ethernet and set it up in WebUI or through the phone App. How we connect the phone with no Wi-Fi? - Bluetooth. UCG-Ultra/Max have Bluetooth radio as well as Gyroscope. Why Gyroscope on a gateway? - because the screen rotates automatically. If you have a few UGC's in one rack they will synchronize their displays automatically using both Bluetooth and Gyroscope. Really cool little gadgets with attention to details.

 

[tgl]

View attachment 62315

Yes, that is a gateway, not a cloud gateway. The cloud gateways are the ones with built-in controller. Not the world's most transparent naming, for sure.

It might help to look at UI's tech specs page, where these boxes are classified into "UniFi Cloud Gateways" (router, controller, and in some models also a wireless AP), and "Cloudkeys and Gateways" (the "gateways" are routers only, and the "cloudkeys" are controllers only, so you need one of each unless you're doing DIY-hosted or Ubiquiti-hosted control).