Question Business class WIFI recommendation

[AJAshinoff]

I'm posting because my long time association with NetGear has proven fruitless. Instead of answering a question they refer me to a reseller. Unacceptable.

I have a dozen Orbi Pro SRR60 routers and twice that of the Orbi satellites. None of these devices are failing but time is not on their side.

I'm looking for a Pro / Business class WiFi solution to gradually replace the Orbi's on both of my campuses and all of my buildings. Deliberate outdoor WiFi accessibility is unnecessary.

What I need is a minimum of three bands, with three SSID's, and one of those bands must be a guest band with a configurable login page.

I should add that rather than a broad campus wide single solution, a smaller zone oriented is more appealing to the staff as some areas rather not have wifi available (long story).

 

[kanewolf]

I'm posting because my long time association with NetGear has proven fruitless. Instead of answering a question they refer me to a reseller. Unacceptable.

I have a dozen Orbi Pro SRR60 routers and twice that of the Orbi satellites. None of these devices are failing but time is not on their side.

I'm looking for a Pro / Business class WiFi solution to gradually replace the Orbi's on both of my campuses and all of my buildings. Deliberate outdoor WiFi accessibility is unnecessary.

What I need is a minimum of three bands, with three SSID's, and one of those bands must be a guest band with a configurable login page.

I should add that rather than a broad campus wide single solution, a smaller zone oriented is more appealing to the staff as some areas rather not have wifi available (long story).

Are the satellites running with wired backhaul?
How many clients per WIFI source?
The standard answer is the UniFI line of hardware from Ubiquiti. I have a UniFI network.

 

[AJAshinoff]

Are the satellites running with wired backhaul?
How many clients per WIFI source?
The standard answer is the UniFI line of hardware from Ubiquiti. I have a UniFI network.

A couple of the satellites have a backhaul, but more often than not the structures weren't agreeable to running lines.
We are a church. The number of users is variable, anywhere between 10-300 people. One Orbi router with 3 satellites once accommodated more than 400 people for an event. I have 2 campuses and 5 buildings.

Do the UniFI devices have multiple bands and include a guest band/login page?

 

[kanewolf]

A couple of the satellites have a backhaul, but more often than not the structures weren't agreeable to running lines.
We are a church. The number of users is variable, anywhere between 10-300 people. One Orbi router with 3 satellites once accommodated more than 400 people for an event. I have 2 campuses and 5 buildings.

Do the UniFI devices have multiple bands and include a guest band/login page?

The APs don't really know about anything like "guest". they know SSIDs and VLANs. Traffic policies is handled at the firewall. Traffic policies are defined using the UniFI controller software. The UniFI router can provide a guest login page or you can provide an alternate URL. UniFI is not simple. It is intended for advanced users or installers.
Lots of churches use UniFI. It is designed for a wired infrastructure. It can do wireless uplink, but that is not optimal.
Even if you do wireless between buildings, you would be well advised to use a full wired infrastructure within each building, IMO.

 

[AJAshinoff]

The APs don't really know about anything like "guest". they know SSIDs and VLANs. Traffic policies is handled at the firewall. Traffic policies are defined using the UniFI controller software. The UniFI router can provide a guest login page or you can provide an alternate URL. UniFI is not simple. It is intended for advanced users or installers.
Lots of churches use UniFI. It is designed for a wired infrastructure. It can do wireless uplink, but that is not optimal.
Even if you do wireless between buildings, you would be well advised to use a full wired infrastructure within each building, IMO.

All of my workstation in any space on any campus are physically wired to the network, none but stubborn mac users depend on wireless, but wifi access is needed (celphone, tablets, certain devices). As I have things now the routers are in strategic areas and wired to our network with a static IP. Orbi satellites connected to that router are places in key areas through out the building to provide better and more complete coverage. Orbi has a range of 2500sq ft. so even with the walls being what they are we do okay.
Assuming the UniFi devices are not mesh, I have enough wires in place, and can get enough injectors if need be, to place more than one access point in the building I'd be testing in. The building used to be a bank so its walls are disagreeable to anyy modification let alone broadcast signal.

For us between buildings isn't necessary. Essentally folks just roam where they need to an automatically switch to a different router using the same name and slightly different IP. Any access in the parking lots is a bonus, but not needed.

I've been researching Ubiquiti since you mention them and this one looks promising. I may order one to benchtest it and discover its capabilities.

Ubiquiti UNFI U6 Enterprise WI-Fi Tri-Band Access point

 

[kanewolf]

All of my workstation in any space on any campus are physically wired to the network, none but stubborn mac users depend on wireless, but wifi access is needed (celphone, tablets, certain devices). As I have things now the routers are in strategic areas and wired to our network with a static IP. Orbi satellites connected to that router are places in key areas through out the building to provide better and more complete coverage. Orbi has a range of 2500sq ft. so even with the walls being what they are we do okay.
Assuming the UniFi devices are not mesh, I have enough wires in place, and can get enough injectors if need be, to place more than one access point in the building I'd be testing in. The building used to be a bank so its walls are disagreeable to anyy modification let alone broadcast signal.

For us between buildings isn't necessary. Essentally folks just roam where they need to an automatically switch to a different router using the same name and slightly different IP. Any access in the parking lots is a bonus, but not needed.

I've been researching Ubiquiti since you mention them and this one looks promising. I may order one to benchtest it and discover its capabilities.

Ubiquiti UNFI U6 Enterprise WI-Fi Tri-Band Access point

"Mesh" means a very specific thing in the UniFI world. It means wireless uplink. All APs can wirelessly uplink to another UniFI AP. They will ONLY uplink to another UniFI device. It is just not optimal. Your WIFI is much more stable and higher performance with a full wired backbone.
The UniFI controller software allows you to have up to four SSIDs per AP. You could have a completely different set of 4 on another or you can have all your APs exactly alike. BUT, you might want a SSID for staff to only be available in the office area, for example and not in the main hall.

The U6 Enterprise is top of the line. Is it NECESSARY? Maybe in some areas. You might use U6 Lite in the office area since it has a limited number of users. You mentioned outdoor. Only the U6 Mesh (BADLY NAMED) is outdoor rated. The AC-M-PRO is an older model, but is probably the best outdoor AP in the UniFI line.

All the APs are POE powered. So you probably want POE enabled switches to connect all this up.

What are you using for your primary router? ZWall? PfSense?

 

[gggplaya]

I use Ubiquiti, the prices are reasonable even for home users but was designed for business use.

1. You can have up to 8 SSID's per access point and you can set the channels for each, or set to auto.
2. You can specify which SSID's are guest networks which isolates them from the LAN as well as guest isolation so they can't connect to others on the guest network. They can only connect to the internet.
3. Yes, using a Unifi controller, such as a unifi router or a unify cloud key, or self hosting the unifi software on a PC server, you can enable a guest login for the wifi.
4. Unifi will do everything you want for your buildings, but probably not for people without decent IT knowledge. It's not as ready to use as Orbi.
5. Be careful with new product releases. The firmware can be buggy for the first year after release. But after that year, they are rock solid, set it and forget it.

 

[kanewolf]

I use Ubiquiti, the prices are reasonable even for home users but was designed for business use.

1. You can have up to 8 SSID's per access point and you can set the channels for each, or set to auto.
2. You can specify which SSID's are guest networks which isolates them from the LAN as well as guest isolation so they can't connect to others on the guest network. They can only connect to the internet.
3. Yes, using a Unifi controller, such as a unifi router or a unify cloud key, or self hosting the unifi software on a PC server, you can enable a guest login for the wifi.
4. Unifi will do everything you want for your buildings, but probably not for people without decent IT knowledge. It's not as ready to use as Orbi.
5. Be careful with new product releases. The firmware can be buggy for the first year after release. But after that year, they are rock solid, set it and forget it.

I will add a few things...
#1 -- Eight SSIDs are possible with wireless uplink disabled. The OP mentioned wireless uplink several times. With wireless uplink enabled, you are limited to four SSIDs. Auto is usually a bad thing with UniFI. People are much smarter than the software.
#2 -- Guest designation is handled in the router. You would have to have a UniFI gateway to have simplicity in guest network creation. Just UniFI APs will not automatically create guest networks. This is why I asked about the primary router.

 

[gggplaya]

#2 -- Guest designation is handled in the router. You would have to have a UniFI gateway to have simplicity in guest network creation. Just UniFI APs will not automatically create guest networks. This is why I asked about the primary router.

I don't believe this is true. I'm handling guest access only with Unifi. Even without Client Device Isolation turned on, it still won't allow me to access other computers on the LAN. I know because I just tried it. I keep client device isolation turned on anyways so wifi devices can't talk to each other, but just setting it as a Guest hotspot isolates it from the LAN.

 

[kanewolf]

I don't believe this is true. I'm handling guest access only with Unifi. Even without Client Device Isolation turned on, it still won't allow me to access other computers on the LAN. I know because I just tried it. I keep client device isolation turned on anyways so wifi devices can't talk to each other, but just setting it as a Guest hotspot isolates it from the LAN.

You have to have VLANs for isolation. So either a lot of work to set them up OR UniFI switches and router.

 

[gggplaya]

You have to have VLANs for isolation. So either a lot of work to set them up OR UniFI switches and router.

I'm telling you, UNIFI can do it without VLANS. I'm guessing it only allows the clients to connect to the gateway and nothing else. Try it for yourself if you don't believe me.

 

[kanewolf]

I'm telling you, UNIFI can do it without VLANS. I'm guessing it only allows the clients to connect to the gateway and nothing else. Try it for yourself if you don't believe me.

I can't. I have all UniFI hardware.

 

[gggplaya]

I can't. I have all UniFI hardware.

I don’t have a unifi router or unifi switches, only unifi access points. It won’t allow me to connect or ping anything on the lan when connected to the guest ssid.

You can also google Unifi guest network without vlans. I assure you it works.