UniFi Dream Machine

[Widmark]

Right... how is the 5GHz range on the UDM vs say an R7800? They may make it so so and just recommend adding switches and access points?

I believe the UDM has what amounts to a Unifi nanoHD AP in it, so presumably the range would be comparable, taking into account though where you would be placing the UDM.

For instance, I would put the UDM or UDM Pro in a closet with my other networking gear, so would expect loss of WiFi range if I go with UDM compared to my nanoHD which is mounted high on a wall - with fantastic range.

 

[coxhaus]

I believe the UDM has what amounts to a Unifi nanoHD AP in it, so presumably the range would be comparable, taking into account though where you would be placing the UDM.

For instance, I would put the UDM or UDM Pro in a closet with my other networking gear, so would expect loss of WiFi range if I go with UDM compared to my nanoHD which is mounted high on a wall - with fantastic range.

Yes I agree with wireless being in a closet reducing Wi-Fi signal. But this is true for any consumer wireless router. At least with the UDM you can add more wireless APs whereas with a consumer wireless router you can't.

 

[Trip]

Well you can with stuff like AiMesh, buts it's nowhere near as optimized for scaling or multi-point mesh.

 

[netwrks]

Willie's Q&A on the UDM - Subscribe to Willie's youtube site for more UDM stuff:

 

[Smokie]

Ive tried to pick one up in Ireland but it aint released yet. I'll be replacing my Asus RT-AC5300.
From what I can make out it would be possible to have the kids devices on a separate Vlan all running with OpenDNS FamilyShield settings while everyone else runs as normal. I started to look because my current router is having speed issues connecting over PPPOE.

Look forward to seeing this thread fill up!

 

[PracticalChip]

For people saying this isn't for home users, the setup has been massively simplified for the dream machine.

Disclaimer: I work in IT so my opinions on "easy" may be biased.

Also I work with unifi in many sites.

That being said, it's very set and forget unless you WANT to get technical.

If you have any questions about it please ask, I may not visit here much, but I am available.

 

[bigfatron]

For people saying this isn't for home users, the setup has been massively simplified for the dream machine.

Disclaimer: I work in IT so my opinions on "easy" may be biased.

Also I work with unifi in many sites.

That being said, it's very set and forget unless you WANT to get technical.

If you have any questions about it please ask, I may not visit here much, but I am available.

Must admit i'm quite tempted by the Dream Machine. Two questions you may be able to help on..

1. Is the WiFi coverage good compared to decent home routers? I'd be moving from an Asus AC68

2. Is the power cable connection at the UDM end a standard 2 pin 'figure of 8' connector? The reason I ask that is the best price I can get on one would mean it coming with an EU rather than UK specification mains plug. Although I could probably just as easily re-plug the supplied cable I suppose.

 

[Smokie]

WiFi range is good. I came from the asus RT-AC5300 and the dream machine wasn't as good as that but it covered my whole house without issues .

Standard cable is correct I replaced it with a UK one when mine arrived to Ireland.

 

[Widmark]

Anybody know what’s taking them so long to finalize testing of the UDM Pro and offer it to the public? The delay makes it seem like there are some nagging issues they are working out.

 

[Trip]

Anybody know what’s taking them so long to finalize testing of the UDM Pro [...]

Yeah, the fact that you have more moving pieces, both hardware-wise and in the code; principally the integration of UniFi Protect. I'm sure they've hit some snags making the entire thing stable, and considering the target market (VARs and system integrators) it's in their best interest to get it baseline stable before releasing it to the wild.

 

[AndreiV]

The UK prices for this device is totally insane $500++ (USD) , all the Unifi/Amplifi/Alien offerings are grossly overpriced here and the track record on support from Ubiquiti is not much of a recommendation , I know several people that have had support tickets closed/ignored and failed to get a resolution to problems.

 

[bigfatron]

The UK prices for this device is totally insane $500++ (USD) , all the Unifi/Amplifi/Alien offerings are grossly overpriced here and the track record on support from Ubiquiti is not much of a recommendation , I know several people that have had support tickets closed/ignored and failed to get a resolution to problems.

Prices are variable (I've seen some quote £350+) but ubiquiti's own EU store is putting it out for about £275. Doesn't seem unreasonable considering a good consumer router can command that.

 

[Trip]

The UK prices for this device is totally insane $500++ (USD) , all the Unifi/Amplifi/Alien offerings are grossly overpriced here and the track record on support from Ubiquiti is not much of a recommendation , I know several people that have had support tickets closed/ignored and failed to get a resolution to problems.

Are those people consumer end-users, or are they VARs/integrators who buy routinely from UI? Similar to Mikrotik, UI's entire support model (or lack thereof) was never constructed to directly support the end user. Don't get me wrong; I'm not bringing that up just to excuse outright negligence by UI (that needs to be rectified, regardless), but consumers need to know that if you really need immediate accountability, it's best to buy from and contract support through a VAR who offers those services. And stuff like 'UniFi Elite" is at best a bolt-on, sidecar product; it's no substitute for a proper TAC.

I know that sucks as an answer, and there are plenty of "Yeah, but..." rebuttals to be had on behalf of at least providing a baseline level of service -- I get that, trust me -- but it is what it is. It's why, for however far out of touch some of their products are, stuff like Cisco small business is a much more viable option for vendor-direct support. Ultimately, each of us needs to do our due-diligence and match vendor support offerings to the use-case.

 

[bigfatron]

Now i'm in possession of one I thought i'd give a bit of feedback and initial impressions...

Initial setup was fairly straightforward (elected to set up via Chrome from a wired desktop, but you can use an app over bluetooth or via default wireless). Seemed to take a few retries to pick up my WAN connection (Virgin Media Superhub 3 in modem mode) but easy going after that to set up an initial SSID and password for the wireless and get things up and running. I'd already set up a Ubiquiti login to use and the 2FA worked from the off, although it wouldn't recognise the username (I had to use the email address as the user part of the login instead).

Setting up a guest SSID I did by following instructions i'd downloaded and was simple enough. There is a portal option you can enable but I didn't want to use that.

To minimise disruption i'd moved over SSIDs and passwords from my old setup. My wireless devices (a mix of Android phones, tablets and smart devices) mostly connected fine with no complications. The only oddities were...

- A Google Home Max that was previously on my main SSID flat refused to connect. Even hard-resetting and setting up from scratch it refused. Yet a Home Mini connected with no issues. Later when i'd set up a dedicated IoT VLAN and SSID (following a best practices guide off Ubiquiti's site) it connected first time.

- An Amazon Echo seemed to have connected but wasn't working. Again, this seemed fine when I set it up on my IoT SSID/VLAN.

I've still got a cloud cam and a Google Home Mini to shift over onto the IoT SSID, but moving a Chromecast and a smart plug over was pretty painless. Having followed the aforementioned guide then I can stream to the Home Max and the Chromecast fine from my main SSID even though its also a different VLAN.

Most the setup for the device I did via the web portal. Its a wee bit fiddly finding your way around at first and what lives where (some things you change in the dashboard views, a lot of the meaty stuff is in the slightly less fancy settings screens and the slightly confusing beta 'new settings' that lives a level below that). I did fiddle around with some things on the app but I prefer having a bigger screen real estate to work with and it made it easier to have documents up at the same time to work from.

One minor quirk from the portal was I couldn't find any way to reboot the thing remotely except for ssh'ing into it and issuing a reboot command that way. The option's either not there or well hidden.

For those interested in the WiFi capability of the Access Point, this has replaced an Asus AC68 and before/after tests of signal strength in a couple of locations shows the UDM is ever so slightly better (a couple of dBm better on the 5GHz channel).

For those interested in the aesthetics, its a lovely thing. Solidly built, lovely finish and well presented right down to the packaging. It wouldn't seem out of place if it had an Apple logo on it. Definitely a device that would score well on 'spousal acceptance factor' but for any network cables you might have hanging out of the back of it! Having the ports arranged vertically on the back of the device seems a slightly odd choice on an aesthetic level, although I suppose putting them horizontally or in a cluster might've been a challenge.

 

[System Error Message]

the name is misleading. I would expect a dream machine to have something to do with dreams. Its not my dream device for sure

 

[Trip]

One minor quirk from the portal was I couldn't find any way to reboot the thing remotely except for ssh'ing into it and issuing a reboot command that way. The option's either not there or well hidden

Per /r/ubiquiti thread, in the UniFi web portal go to Manage Dream Machine, login, go to Settings > Hardware and there should be a reboot option.

 

[bigfatron]

Per /r/ubiquiti thread, in the UniFi web portal go to Manage Dream Machine, login, go to Settings > Hardware and there should be a reboot option.
View attachment 21047

Cheers Trip. I think I was that buried in the UniFi portal that I forgot there was a separate UDM web UI too!

 

[FarmerBob]

But then . . . Alien

 

[dude]

Willie's Q&A on the UDM - Subscribe to Willie's youtube site for more UDM stuff:

Great site Willie. I have an ER3 running (spare eth2) Q: Should I set it up thru that or plan to start from scratch with my Arris? Lots of things in everyday use to add later (ubi) and stuff to move over. Like solar, alarm, cams etc.

Michael

Ps. More ubi videos!

 

[AndreiV]

Great site Willie. I have an ER3 running (spare eth2) Q: Should I set it up thru that or plan to start from scratch with my Arris? Lots of things in everyday use to add later (ubi) and stuff to move over. Like solar, alarm, cams etc.

Michael

Ps. More ubi videos!

Why are you trying to ask "Willie" questions on this site?

If you want to have a "Willie" spam/lovefest why not post on his site or YouTube channel ?