cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

WAP vs range extender

scollier95
Joining in

Hi all,

Very new to all things networking so apologies in advance if this question lacks sense or substance.

Moved into a new flat and have VM Wifi, with a Hub 3. This works fine and speeds are totally acceptable, the only issue is that it doesn't reach one side of the flat. As such I am looking for ways to extend the range. Luckily there is wired ethernet that goes all around the flat.

My initial thought was to get a range extender (e.g. the Netgear X4S) and plug this into one of the ethernet ports on the side of the flat with no wifi. However in the description for this kit it mentions that this puts it into wireless access point mode.

So perhaps I should be getting an actual wireless access point instead? It seems that Ubiquiti Unifi products are well reviewed here. However these appear to be very complicated to set up and require additional kit as the Hub 3 has to run as modem-only.

Can anyone give me some advice as to what the best thing is to do here? Are there trusted wireless access points out there that are plug-and-play with the Hub 3? Or is the ranger extender acting like a WAP the best option?

Many thanks,

Sam

3 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS

Accepted Solutions

lotharmat
Community elder
A WAP shouldn't need the hub in Modem mode as it will be the hub that is handling the NAT and DHCP

(I think the complication can arise with power over ethernet and you may need an 'injector')

There are a few networking gurus on here that will give you a much better answer than I can but it's always good to use dedicated kit to get the best speeds and reliability!



------------------------------------------------------------------
Hub 3 - Modem Mode - TP-Link Archer C7

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

Tudor
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

A single Ubiquiti/Unifi Wireless Access Point does not require additional equipment. You can set it up from a phone/iPad. You only need to run additional software if you need any of the extra services it can perform, like issuing vouchers to use the WiFi! I use all Unifi equipment and it is excellent.


Tudor
There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't and F people out of 10 who do not understand hexadecimal c1a2a285948293859940d9a49385a2

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

Adduxi
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

Something like this would suffice for getting wifi and extra ethernet ports as well.  

NETGEAR Dual Band 802.11 ac Wireless, SOHO Small Business, 300/867 Mbps (2.4/5 GHz) (WAC104-100UKS):...

A single Unifi AC Lite or TP-Link EAP225 would also be a good bet, however as they are PoE you need to factor in the need for the supplied power injector.

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more

Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

8 REPLIES 8

lotharmat
Community elder
A WAP shouldn't need the hub in Modem mode as it will be the hub that is handling the NAT and DHCP

(I think the complication can arise with power over ethernet and you may need an 'injector')

There are a few networking gurus on here that will give you a much better answer than I can but it's always good to use dedicated kit to get the best speeds and reliability!



------------------------------------------------------------------
Hub 3 - Modem Mode - TP-Link Archer C7

Tudor
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

A single Ubiquiti/Unifi Wireless Access Point does not require additional equipment. You can set it up from a phone/iPad. You only need to run additional software if you need any of the extra services it can perform, like issuing vouchers to use the WiFi! I use all Unifi equipment and it is excellent.


Tudor
There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't and F people out of 10 who do not understand hexadecimal c1a2a285948293859940d9a49385a2

Adduxi
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

Something like this would suffice for getting wifi and extra ethernet ports as well.  

NETGEAR Dual Band 802.11 ac Wireless, SOHO Small Business, 300/867 Mbps (2.4/5 GHz) (WAC104-100UKS):...

A single Unifi AC Lite or TP-Link EAP225 would also be a good bet, however as they are PoE you need to factor in the need for the supplied power injector.

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more

Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks

Thanks so much everyone for your help on this, seems clear that I can achieve what I want with another WAP without having to do anything to the Hub 3.

Does anyone know whether this solution will enable me to have one wifi name that devices automatically switch between? Or will there have to be two separate names that you have to change between manually as you move around the flat?

@Adduxi what do you mean by the supplied power injector? Is that another piece of kit that will have to be installed near the Unifi/TP-Link WAP?

Thanks,

Sam

Tudor
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

You can use one name, but devices, certainly iPhone, will switch between different named SSIDs without intervention. 


Tudor
There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't and F people out of 10 who do not understand hexadecimal c1a2a285948293859940d9a49385a2

Can confirm that Android 9 and Linux mint also work well (from personal experience)



------------------------------------------------------------------
Hub 3 - Modem Mode - TP-Link Archer C7

Adduxi
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

@scollier95 wrote:

@Adduxi what do you mean by the supplied power injector? Is that another piece of kit that will have to be installed near the Unifi/TP-Link WAP?

 


A PoE injector is a small piece of networking kit that "injects" power into an ethernet cable.  They can be located wherever is convenient to both the cable and a power supply.  However many people, including myself, would recommend a PoE switch.  These switches can run power over ethernet to any devices connected to the switch, e.g. Cameras, Access Points.  It's a tidier solution than using additional injectors, but is an extra cost.

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more

Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks

Tudor
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

PoE switches are definitely the best option. I have a 24 port and 2 x 8 port ones. If I happened to use all those ports for devices I would require 38 power plugs!


Tudor
There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't and F people out of 10 who do not understand hexadecimal c1a2a285948293859940d9a49385a2