Seamless roaming

chpalmer

@chpalmer

It would be nice if that controller software could run on pfSense.

There are some that have.. I have a copy of windows home server going here so thats what I do..

JKnott

My main Linux system is always up, so I could run it there, but it would be nice to have it on some network gear. With Cisco, the software is installed in switches.

Qinn

@johnpoz Which Unifi do you use and which would you advise, I need at least 4 vlan's per radio.

johnpoz

@JKnott said in Seamless roaming:

With Cisco, the software is installed in switches.

No while some switches now can act as the controller.. Before you had to buy a piece of hardware, normally 2 of them.. And if they were not on... nothing worked. Current models are the 9800 WLC, but yeah they have gone with cloud and embedded and or virtual.. Same sort of thing with unifi, you can run the controller anywhere - or you can buy the cloud key to run it on.. Or if you get the new Dream Machine Pro it will run right on the router..

The controller doesn't have to be running 24/7 - its just nice if it is.

There are people that have installed it on their pfsense box - I would NOT recommend that at all.. If you were going to do it, then run pfsense as a vm, and run whatever else on that hardware as another vm..

If I was going to buy today I would buy either the nanoHD or the flexHD... Or if you have budget the HD or the https://unifi-shd.ui.com/

Currently running the UAP-AC-PRO, the lite and the LR.. the pro is in the hallaway, the LR is in the kitchen and the guestroom is the lite.

Nano or the flex are the big sellers because of pricepoint and features.. They do have a new wifi 6 lite model out in beta you could try as well ;)

JKnott

@Qinn said in Seamless roaming:

I need at least 4 vlan's per radio

Do you mean 4 SSIDs?

Qinn

@JKnott said in Seamless roaming:

@Qinn said in Seamless roaming:

I need at least 4 vlan's per radio

Do you mean 4 SSIDs?

Yes a least 4 SSID's and you have be able to give them a VLAN ID/TAG

JKnott

@Qinn

That depends on the AP. My TP-Link only supports 4.

Qinn

@JKnott I know, that's why I asked John if it's available with the Unifi ;)

@Qinn said in Seamless roaming:

@johnpoz Which Unifi do you use and which would you advise, I need at least 4 vlan's per radio.

johnpoz

So with the unifi sure you can do 4 ssids.. If you turn off monitoring and they are wired uplinks you can do 8.. So if you wanted you could do 8 on 2.4 and 8 on 5.. For a total of 16.

Or just get real fancy and do dynamic assigned vlans and just run 1 or 2 ssid and assign your vlans dynamically based on auth or mac... Now your unlimited to how many vlans you can run through your AP.

Qinn

@johnpoz Thanks John, I am beginning to "shift over" to Unifi ;) I think I will kick of with 2 X AP AC Pro.

johnpoz

Get the nanoHD vs the Pro.. Really!!! Or the flexHD... No reason to buy the pro at this time..

I show the PRO on amazon for like 133, and the nanoHD for like 157.. For 25 bucks your nuts if you don't get the HD model vs pro..

Qinn

@johnpoz said in Seamless roaming:

Get the nanoHD vs the Pro.. Really!!! Or the flexHD... No reason to buy the pro at this time..

I show the PRO on amazon for like 133, and the nanoHD for like 157.. For 25 bucks your nuts if you don't get the HD model vs pro..

Thanks for the advise John, I think a nanoHD 2 pack it will be :)

JKnott

@johnpoz

I just looked at the data sheet for that unit. I see they still support 802.11b. I wonder if anyone still uses that. I hope not, as it's a performance killer for the entire area. The local library stopped supporting it several years ago and I have my AP configured for N only, as every device I have is capable of N. It's a performance killer because every device that wants to use g or n has to go into b compatibility mode, where it sends a b frame to reserve time for the g or n frame. G only doesn't cause such a significant performance hit for n, as the n device just has to slow down the header, when there are g devices in the area.

JKnott

@Qinn said in Seamless roaming:

Thanks for the advise John, I think a nanoHD 2 pack it will be :)

Do the 2 packs come with PoE adapters? According to that video, single units came with them, but not the 5 packs. If I'm not mistaken, those Ubiquity APs can only be used with their injectors or their PoE switches, as the APs run on 24V.

johnpoz

I don't think they sell a 2 pack ;) But @JKnott is right when you buy the multi pack they normally do not come with the injectors... Some old AP did use passive 24v poe, and that could be problematic.. But the current devices should be poe/poe+ (also known as af and at) and be able to powered from any poe switch that supports the correct poe.

New poe bt also coming out.

chpalmer

Mine are using my POE panel on 48volts.

Qinn

@johnpoz said in Seamless roaming:

I don't think they sell a 2 pack ;) But @JKnott is right when you buy the multi pack they normally do not come with the injectors... Some old AP did use passive 24v poe, and that could be problematic.. But the current devices should be poe/poe+ (also known as af and at) and be able to powered from any poe switch that supports the correct poe.

New poe bt also coming out.

True the come in 1 or 3 pack, so I ordered 2 and will see if they can manage the space needed, it looks like they will arrive Tuesday, also ordered a 8 port managed switch that can handle 802.3af (PoE), 802.3at (PoE+), 802.3az.
Thanks to all, maybe need some assistance from you guys configuring them ;)

johnpoz

Its the older AP that used the 24v passive stuff. If your curious you can look here
https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000263008-UniFi-Supported-PoE-Protocols

What switch did you get, a unifi one?

Qinn

@johnpoz No a Netgear GS310TP-100EUS, would you suggest a unifi one, why and which one would you advise jhon?

johnpoz

No I really wouldn't suggest a unifi one.. Unless you wanted to go full on unifi ;)

Only thing would suggest, is always get more ports than you currently need - you can never have enough ports - hehehe

Thought shit my 28 port cisco sg300 would be more than I could ever need.. Well its pretty populated.. Glad I sure didn't go with the 20 port option..

edit: And more features.. When getting a switch, get as full managed as you can for your budget! You never know when you might need feature X.. And you saved a few bucks and your shiny new 6 month old switch doesn't support it ;)

Never know when you might want do say routing on the switch - so L3 might seem like nah never do that, and few months down the road.. Wow wish I could do that.. Or multicast acls, didn't think I would would ever use that in my home network - But I do.. And its one of my favorite features of the switch.. You would be amazed at how much crap some devices can spew onto the network.. Being able to just block it at the ingress point is nice..

edit2:
One feature I would for sure be looking for if in the market for a new switch would be 10ge support.. Better would be multigig 802.3bz with 10ge... Figured out how to add a 2.5gig usb nic to my nas, would of been better if could of just connected that to my switch vs having to connect it to my main pc via separate san..