Home Networking setup & equipment advice.

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Or am I just overthinking this and should I just buy something like the eero mesh router, connect that to a switch for all of the wired Ethernet ports and then use one more erro node placed in a more central location and call it a day?

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As a ubiquiti/cisco user, this is the easiest route

Edge router is probably not a great solution for them.


1) it doesn’t talk to the UniFi Controller which is what makes the access points work and do things. Put a little more simply: any dumb router will work as well with unifi Access Points as an Edgerouter. LINK so you’re going to manage it like you would a normal router (typing in the IP address into a web browser) and it isn’t going to see/talk to the AP inside of its interface. It will provide internet to it and be a DHCP server, but it’s not the “typical” unifi solution.
2) be careful with which PoE is on the edgerouter if any. Most edgerouter products still use passive 24v I believe. Most of their AP use 48v now (802.11af/at).


If you want internet in a 1700sqft house, you can probably put any modern router centrally and do fine.


If you want a mesh system, there are 10-15 good options.


If you want a scalable solution that will allow you to add more AP over time, use subjects or VLANs, possibly add (overpriced) camera/monitoring, and (in the future) VOIP that all gets controlled from one device, then you want unifi.


One thing worth trying in this situation would be a Unifi Dream Machine LINK
$300 router that has one of their AP, one of their small controller modules, and their firewall/security gateway all in one box. Or in other words, it has all the pieces of a router you would expect PLUS scalability (though with this one, you can’t add talk or video. That one is the UDM pro which subtracts the AP, adds space for a hard drive, and doubles the Ethernet ports).


You’ll spend less and get probably as good/better results with basically any Mesh system that allows you to connect with an Ethernet cable IF you don’t want multiple SSIDs, vlan support, and managed switch ports (I am 99% certain the UDM allows you to do this. If you know what this is, you’ll care enough to check that out. But I’m being lazy, and it’s probably not something you need). TP Link Deco m5 is what I know a handful of folks using with good results. If you go this route, you need a switch in addition to the 2-4 AP.


UDM would give you the ability to tie 4 rooms together before needing another switch, which would probably be sufficient in most use scenarios. The one sort of cool thing these have is in-wall AP that I think tend to look better than most mesh appliances, but that’s a matter of taste. It’s also much more expensive, so if the Ethernet port is uncovered in the middle of a room, maybe something worth looking at. But if they’re already tucked in cabinets or behind walls, there’s probably no aesthetic advantage (though they have options for 2 and 4 port switches on some of their AP which may or may not be of use).



TLDR:
I wouldn’t do it like you proposed if I did unifi
I would probably buy a UDM and add an AP if necessary
You could get as good/better results around half price with TP link m5 deco and your favorite brand of $20-40 8-port gigabit switch.

This sounds like you were originally waaaay over complicating this.

Buy a good wireless router that’s simple to use and be done. 1700 sqft shouldn’t need much more than that. I put my parents on a lower end Nighthawk router it covers their similar sized house fine.

Since the house is hardwired, you’ll just use a switch to connect all the wires to the router. If they need to add a switch at the room side (say a desktop switch by their computer) that’s fine as well. You can daisy chain switches without much issue. There’s a recommended limit to it, but this setup will be fine.

Thanks all for feedback.

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Buy a good wireless router that’s simple to use and be done. 1700 sqft shouldn’t need much more than that. I put my parents on a lower end Nighthawk router it covers their similar sized house fine.

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this is initially what I was planning on doing, but my concern was that it was going to be tucked away in a closet limiting the WiFi coverage too much. But with how inexpensive that 2 pack tp link decco mesh system is it seems like a no brainer.

Have you checked out the Amplifi mesh system from Ubiquiti?

I've had it for over 4 years now and never had a problem with it. I bought the thing in 2016 and it never turned off or had to be reset until Hurricane Laura.

I've got 250 down from Cox and I easily get 120-150 down over wifi throughout my whole 3000+ sq ft house.

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not to buy a “fast Ethernet” switch

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I hadn't even considered that they might still make those.

And talk about poor naming. Never call anything "fast" in tech, because one day soon it will be the slowest option available.

Yep I have the HD.

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hey you should give me a USG Pro4.

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Dumb question:
Why a USG Pro4 over a UDM Pro if you are starting from scratch?

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Dumb question:
Why a USG Pro4 over a UDM Pro if you are starting from scratch?

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from what i have read, a Dream machine is an all in one package but it does lack some controllability features. Now that you bring it up i might want to look at the DM because I probably done really need that specific controllability.

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wouldn’t be better off having a wired router in the closet with a wireless access point plugged into an Ethernet port in a more central location in the house, instead of a traditional wifi router being stuck in the closet?

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YES