PfSense doesn't do Wi-Fi all that well. What are some good WAPs for a residenti
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In my experimentations, it was beaten into me like a dead horse that pfSense is not a WAP, doesn't do Wi-Fi well, and doesn't bridge well. OK, that's fine. My experiments were painful and now I need to figure out what hardware to buy. I'm primarily familiar with consumer/SOHO WAPs/routers.
I've heard a few brands mentioned as good, like Ubiquiti. Are any of their models OK, or do I need to watch out for models that have certain gotchas?
Use case is primarily for a few (<10) PCs and smart phones (<10) in a residence.
I'd prefer the WAPs to be 2.4 and 5GHz; have optional external antennas; use 12V, 5V, or PoE; and be well supported. Icing on the cake would be exterior grade and if they can run something like OpenWRT well (or better highly configurable software). Cheaper is better, and I'm looking for 1 or 2, less than $100, preferably less than $60. Do I have unrealistic expectations?
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I swear by Ubiquiti Unifi units.
Right now I have two UAP-AC-LR units, but pretty much they are all great, and a fantastic bargain compared to Cisco units too.
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Why do you want all those capabilities for a residential unit? External antennas?
If you don't buy it I might. :)
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Cheaper is better
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Netgear Nighthawk X8 running in AP mode.
MU-MIMO WiFi ac with 5,3 GBit/s -
UBNT UniFi APs
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MikroTik hAP, mAP, cAP, RB435G, RB493G, RB953GS-5HnT-RP
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Netgear, Buffalo, TP-Link router with DD-WRT or OpenWRT running in AP mode
Would be my favorites then.
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Why do you want all those capabilities for a residential unit? External antennas?
If you don't buy it I might. :)
i am using the ruckus zf7363 so far no big problem, you can consider it bought it from chinese seller.
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You do nothing wrong in acquiring Ubiquiti APs if you don't take the old square UAP-AC.
They have the lowest price point for such performance, which let consumer router/ap looks like toys.If you don't need 3x3 MiMo stick with the UAP-AC-Lite https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/ or ~61m more range UAP-AC-LR https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lr/.
If you need or want 3x3 MiMo take the UAP-AC-Pro https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-pro/
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pfsense wifi isn't going to magically get better until freebsd drivers get real support from the wifi hardware vendors directly, I don't see anything improving the current status quo anytime soon.
Most people I run across their #1 complaint really boils down to coverage, not raw speed across the same room. Obviously with poor coverage you get awful speed, but that is more a symptom of the underlying problem.
The ubnt AP-AC LR is probably the best choice for 9/10 people that already have a router/modem/etc: under $100 with excellent range and basically kicks consumer crap to the curb where it belongs. The other 1/10 probably wants the pro ;)
No real world user cares when a consumer wizz-bang router gets an extra 30Mbps in a test chamber. They want their basement/bedroom/patio/whatever to have a steady connection that doesn't drop or stutter.
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I'm happy with my Ubiquity UniFi AP-AC-Lite, it meets my needs for coverage and throughput a bit cheaper than the more capable Ubiquity models.
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lr/
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-pro/
There is a comparison chart at the bottom of the pages above as well as datasheets and information about how the UniFi gear works. For simple setups the Android App seems to be adequate for setup and management but a controller (Cloud Key, or the controller software running on a computer) is a lot nicer.
I just downloaded their Linux controller and am running it on a system I already had up 24x7, a Windows version is also available too but a Raspberry Pi system or one of their Keys might meet your needs better.
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As already stated multiple times the unifi stuff, I have a lite, pro and lr.. I use to have the old AC model. Active on their forums and got on their beta list somehow because of posts, etc. And got a free lite and lr before they started selling them. Which was a fantastic!!
When the Pro's came out I got one, and just recently sold the old AC model to fellow pfsense forum user for $75 which I thought was quite fair since they still selling that model for $300 and he had some other of that line, etc. So was a win win.. I got offset of the new version cost, and he got a older AC pro model for less than the current lite models.
You really can not beat the price point on these things.. They rock, the forums over there are good and helpful. They continue to develop and work on new firmware all the time..
