Forum Discussion

joelk89's avatar
joelk89
Tuning in
8 months ago

Ceiling mounted access points

We are renovating our house and our electrician is running some Ethernet cables from where the Virgin Router will be (Hub 5) to a couple of locations that have, historically, struggled with WiFi. 

Our electrician has suggested getting some ceiling mounted access points. 

For an absolute idiot like me, can someone point me in the direction of such an access point that works well with my hub? 

Ideally, it would use the same SSID etc. so can roam around the house without connecting to different SSIDs. 

Thank you

Access Points
router
  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    8 months ago

    Having a common SSID / Password is no problem that is done during the configuration.

    Have a look at : https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/store/wifi-access-points/
    there many devices at all sorts of price points.

    I would allow for a PoE network switch ( Power over Ethernet ) so you will not need to run mains cables as well as Ethernet cables to each ceiling mounted Wi-Fi AP.

    Perhaps your electricians have done this before and can point to some kit that the have previously installed.

    • joelk89's avatar
      joelk89
      Tuning in
      8 months ago

      Thank you, Tudor - so should I get 2 x U7 Pros or would I get away with 2 x U6 Lites? 

      The floor space is not particularly big, nor is the demand from devices (a couple of iOS devices, a couple of laptops). Appreciate your help 

      • Tudor's avatar
        Tudor
        Very Insightful Person
        8 months ago

        U7 Pros are more future proof as they offer WiFi 7 and have 2.5Gb ports (they also work fine at 1G). Don’t forget with both, as they are PoE, you will need injectors or a small PoE switch. The switch could be 1G or 2.5G, depends how much money you want to spend and/or future proofing. In any case make sure you use Cat6 cable, good up to 10G for the lengths you are likely to use in a home. See this:

        https://www.truecable.com/blogs/cable-academy/cat6-vs-cat6a

  • Sephiroth's avatar
    Sephiroth
    Alessandro Volta
    8 months ago

    The ceiling mounted AP suggestion has merit if the only route upstairs is via the roof void.  However, if the cable has to pass behind a wall in the target room, you might as well bring an Ethernet point out to the wall, near a power point.  Then a freestanding AP can be used.  In either case, positioning won’t matter in a given room except perhaps a little thought as regards an adjacent room in which case a freestanding AP would be best.

    • Tudor's avatar
      Tudor
      Very Insightful Person
      8 months ago

      I find an upstairs back room ceiling mount WAP gives excellent coverage in my garden. 

  • MasterOfArts1's avatar
    MasterOfArts1
    On our wavelength
    8 months ago

    The issue is every environment is different.... then there is EMC / EMF especially with copper. 

    My advice is buy a couple of unmanaged switches, splitters and RG6 coax and get the sparky to deploy it to suit your environment. With regards to the wifi side of things treat it like any other antenna system đź‘Ť

  • joelk89's avatar
    joelk89
    Tuning in
    4 months ago

    Hi All - thank you for your help so far.  Our renovation has just completed, so I am looking at hooking up my U7s.

    I have my Hub 5, which is connected to a POE switch with a CAT6 cable.  The POE switch is then connected, via 2x CAT6s, to my 2x U7s.

    I've now gone to the app to set up the U7s, and it's telling me I don't have a 'UniFi Cloud Gateway'.  My question: do I need this?  The app allows me to set up without, but I wonder if there are any benefits I am missing out of?

    To recap, I only want to boost signal in my home - I'm not too fussed about remote management, but do I need this Gateway to move from room to room without disruption (ie, accessing one AP in one room and moving to another AP in another room)?  Sorry to sound so basic, but I appreciate your help, as always.  

    Thank you 

    • Tudor's avatar
      Tudor
      Very Insightful Person
      4 months ago

      I’ve never used the app, as I have a UDM Pro that runs the controller. The controller itself "UniFi Network Application" cab be run on a Raspberry Pi, Mac or Windows machine. Take a look at www.community.ui.com where there is oceans of useful information. 

    • avi68's avatar
      avi68
      Superfast
      4 months ago

      You don't really need the cloud gateway, the two APs can work in standalone mode. However, if you want features like seamless roaming (moving from one AP to the other without being briefly disconnected) then you'll need the controller.

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    4 months ago

    I would imagine for 2 AP’s you will not need controller software? I use 3 Omada (TP-Link) AP’s and the app does me just fine. 

  • Sparks22's avatar
    Sparks22
    Tuning in
    4 months ago

    Hi,

    you need a mesh, something like a tp-link deco m5 can be wall (or I guess ceiling) mounted.

    virgin hub in modem mode and put as many mesh nodes as needed, with one connected to the hub.

    there are similar options from net gear and others.

    I have m5’s and they work well to give seamless signal in the whole house

    • Adduxi's avatar
      Adduxi
      Very Insightful Person
      4 months ago

      The problem I find with the Mesh units, is invariably they need a power supply.  With PoE units, they don't need one as they are powered over the cable.  Granted the Mesh is by far the easier solution, but ceiling AP's, to me anyway, are a more elegant solution.