Home networking upgrade

[Idiot Boyfriend]

Hello, I am looking to get some general info on a home networking upgrade. I currently have a TP-Link router (1gbps, older router) and recently got 1gbps fiber. I have been looking around at router options and have been considering a UniFi U6 Enterprise, with a 4 port switch (for POE and the 2 devices that are wired. I am considering a larger one as I plan to upgrade my security cams to POE ones down the road). Ive been looking at this one as it seems to meet the needs I have while being budget friendly. Ive never used a Ubiquiti product before, and watching LTT videos has widened what I would consider for networking. A few of the things I'm looking for are the following. 2.5 gig port (I have the option up to 2gbps) larger number of antennas / wifi streams, a high number of connected devices and parental controls. I have a very large household (13 people total), however the home isn't very large. a single access point, even with my current one has allowed 5ghz connection every where in the home. The large number of connected devices (there are at least 40 online at all times, which seems to tax my current setup pretty hard) consists of 2-4 computers, 6 consoles, 4 smart TVs, 4 smart appliances, 5 security cams (these are cloud and local recording cams), 15 smart lights, and 13 cell phones.

Ive done a bit of research and it seems this unit has everything I am looking for. Would it bit foolish to get this unit over a homegrade unit? (I've got a budget of about $300 USD) If there are any other options that would be better it would be appreciated.

[OhioYJ]

Just to clarify, the U6E is just an AP, it is not a router. You will still need a router of some sort. What did you plan to do for this?

 

What is your home layout like, single floor, two story? Basement? How many square feet? Personally I was running 2 U6E APs in my house, and it's just under 1100 sqft (a little overkill). Have you thought about where you will place these? They are ideally ceiling mounted, although you can wall mounted them, it's recommended to ceiling mount them. It's not ideal to have them just sitting on a table like a regular router (although I'm sure some people do).

[Idiot Boyfriend]

Ah see thats why I reached out, so this option may be out of the question. In my excitement I over looked the AP being just an access point. home lay out is a single floor, at roughly 1000 sqft. So a single one would work just fine. I do have a ceiling mount location for it. I was looking at adding a Flex Mini 2.5G, but I haven't used a switch in nearly 20 years, which I remember some issue with the switch we had being round robin due to some settings (early AOL DSL days). I was also looking at the TP Link Archer AX10000, but with the looming ban and gov. crack down I'm not sure if I should go that route. There is also no mention of total connected devices during my quick skim on the manual.

 

Over all, It doesn't have to be the U6E, but given the consumption of LTT videos, and seeing them all over the place for anything wifi they do, I wanted to check down that road.

[OhioYJ]

25 minutes ago, Idiot Boyfriend said:

In my excitement I over looked the AP being just an access point.

They can go direct to a switch, but you need the router to get to the internet. So my setup, APs --> Switch --> Opnsense Firewall (Router) --> Internet.

 

36 minutes ago, Idiot Boyfriend said:

I was also looking at the TP Link Archer AX10000, but with the looming ban and gov. crack down I'm not sure if I should go that route. There is also no mention of total connected devices during my quick skim on the manual.

To be fair, they are just considering a ban of TP Link devices last I heard. Until that time, if that's what you want? I don't know anything about it honestly. I'm not sure I've ever seen a consumer style device give a device number though. You'll normally only see these numbers on APs.

[Idiot Boyfriend]

so would the flex mini work as a router to speak of? id only have 3 wired devices, the ap being one. been doing more reading and it seems like an option that I'm not really set up for. Im assuming I need a server to run the software, then add a switch and AP to get it running. I suppose I could run it from my desktop, but seems like another load added. maybe once I go down the road of building a server/nas style computer it would be more fitting.

 

Seems I may have stumbled across the answer. as much as id like to break into that space its a big investment. 

What I've found is this

NETGEAR Nighthawk Tri-Band WiFi 7 Router

Show 100 devices and has 2, 2.5 gbps Lan ports, wifi 7 and covers 2500 sqft. Seems fairly forward looking for my house hold. haha

 

Thank you for the help here, it cleared up a lot of questions.

[OhioYJ]

4 hours ago, Idiot Boyfriend said:

so would the flex mini work as a router to speak of?

No. Unfortunately that's not enough POE to run an AP either.  If you look at the specs of say the U6E, it's wanting 0.5A, that mini switch it is 0.05A. While you can run router / firewall software in an VM, my opinion would be it would be better to run on a dedicated device. Note you can get POE injectors to power an AP. I did this original. Though, the U6E is a 2.5G connection, and POE injectors in 2.5G are pretty rare (like almost non-existent). It was the reason when I went to the U6E, I ditched injectors and went to a POE switch.

 

A lot of people use the cheap mini PCs (<-- that is just a random example from Amazon, look around, I'm not necessarily recommending that one)  that are found all over Amazon, AliExpress, etc. The big thing is typically is making sure it's got Intel network hardware, as then it will definitely work with pfsense, opnsense etc. However, this route, you still need the AP and a switch. Not to mention it's got a learning curve. It's not as simple as just buying a router.

 

I know how much people here at my house love when I take down the internet for updates or upgrades. Especially when they don't go as planned. You have a lot more people to be frustrated with you in your house.

 

4 hours ago, Idiot Boyfriend said:

NETGEAR Nighthawk Tri-Band WiFi 7 Router

I won't claim to be up on the router stuff too much these days. My network does use Netgear switches though. Netgear is generally decent stuff. That does seem like a much simpler solution to your problem. It should be just be plug and play for you.

[Idiot Boyfriend]

14 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

No. Unfortunately that's not enough POE to run an AP either.  If you look at the specs of say the U6E, it's wanting 0.5A, that mini switch it is 0.05A. While you can run router / firewall software in an VM, my opinion would be it would be better to run on a dedicated device. Note you can get POE injectors to power an AP. I did this original. Though, the U6E is a 2.5G connection, and POE injectors in 2.5G are pretty rare (like almost non-existent). It was the reason when I went to the U6E, I ditched injectors and went to a POE switch.

 

A lot of people use the cheap mini PCs (<-- that is just a random example from Amazon, look around, I'm not necessarily recommending that one)  that are found all over Amazon, AliExpress, etc. The big thing is typically is making sure it's got Intel network hardware, as then it will definitely work with pfsense, opnsense etc. However, this route, you still need the AP and a switch. Not to mention it's got a learning curve. It's not as simple as just buying a router.

 

I know how much people here at my house love when I take down the internet for updates or upgrades. Especially when they don't go as planned. You have a lot more people to be frustrated with you in your house.

 

I won't claim to be up on the router stuff too much these days. My network does use Netgear switches though. Netgear is generally decent stuff. That does seem like a much simpler solution to your problem. It should be just be plug and play for you.

Defently agree on the updates thing. Nothing like 8 kids saying hey why isn't the internet working. I may look at picking up some of these (maybe older models) down the road to play with it. I am fairly tech savvy but the server side of things I haven't dabbled much in. Tons of desktop support tho.

[OhioYJ]

1 hour ago, Idiot Boyfriend said:

I may look at picking up some of these (maybe older models) down the road to play with it. 

You can also use any PC with at least two network interfaces. Some people will use full size machines are the SFF Dell / HP / Lenovo / etc machines as well. The small box machines I linked to above are just preferred for energy reason and size.  The other gotcha is pfsense and OPNsense are BSD based which doesn't support just any NIC, which is why I keep mentioning the Intel NICs. Not all Intel NICs are supported, but with an Intel odds are pretty high it will be. With RealTek, it's hard to say. Some you can install drivers for, but it's not straightforward, not does that mean it will necessarily be reliable after that (ask me how I know). 

 

I'm using an Intel NUC, that's dual NIC for my setup. 

[Idiot Boyfriend]

2 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

You can also use any PC with at least two network interfaces. Some people will use full size machines are the SFF Dell / HP / Lenovo / etc machines as well. The small box machines I linked to above are just preferred for energy reason and size.  The other gotcha is pfsense and OPNsense are BSD based which doesn't support just any NIC, which is why I keep mentioning the Intel NICs. Not all Intel NICs are supported, but with an Intel odds are pretty high it will be. With RealTek, it's hard to say. Some you can install drivers for, but it's not straightforward, not does that mean it will necessarily be reliable after that (ask me how I know). 

 

I'm using an Intel NUC, that's dual NIC for my setup. 

Well, I will say im glad I asked before just jumping in. I did some research and no one really says all of the other things you need to get these to work. It still seems really nice, but takes some doing

[Bdavis]

Personally I would buy the ubiquiti cloud gateway Max and a U7 pro access point. You will also need one POE injector. This setup allows full 2.5gb from wan to access point. With tax and shipping you're about $400. So it might stretch your budget slightly.

[Idiot Boyfriend]

On 1/18/2025 at 11:57 PM, Bdavis said:

Personally I would buy the ubiquiti cloud gateway Max and a U7 pro access point. You will also need one POE injector. This setup allows full 2.5gb from wan to access point. With tax and shipping you're about $400. So it might stretch your budget slightly.

Its alright if its a bit over, I'm a little flexible on the budget, so long as I can use something more expensive for a longer time. Over all I am trying to get an upgrade that can last me at least 3-5 years (I plan on moving so my living situation will change). The cloud gateway would be a router of sorts then? I could go all wifi, just my desktop PC has a B450m wifi board on it so I don't think the wifi is the greatest. Its also my "home server" for plex, and hosts all of my content/ back ups there is why Id like to keep it wired. As mentioned above I plan to build a 2nd PC that is a "server pc" in the near future which I this solution would work better for a nas

 

-Edit a few days later. Found the LTT video on the cloud gateway max.