Agreed. UniFi is fantastic. Taking the time to run direct CAT6 from the switch to each of my access points was well worth it, and the handoff between access points has been flawless.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Linksys Aims to Fill Apple's AirPort Void With Cheaper Dual-Band Velop Mesh Wi-Fi System
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Agreed. UniFi is fantastic. Taking the time to run direct CAT6 from the switch to each of my access points was well worth it, and the handoff between access points has been flawless.
I guess, but even then, why would they refocus on making money? Updated router would sell like hotcake because people need updated router.
Unfortunately, I think you're right. Though it'll be a cold day in hell when I no longer have a local copy and backup of all of my data... and some of my data will never, ever see the cloud.
I don't deny that cloud services syncing data across devices is handy, in many cases. What people are starting to forget though is that once they no longer store and serve locally, all of their data is not only at the mercy of the service providers, but also at the mercy of that fine gossamer thread that connects them to all "their" data. They are putting all their eggs in the most flighty/risky/unstable/inconsistent utility out there... their internet connection, and one day, it's going to bite them all in the butt.
I think people uttered the same thing when apple dropped their laser printers and even monitors.
Is a router something that apple should be doing? It does take a certain level of attention especially in this day and age of security. I'm not defending apple as much as seeing a point in their choosing to drop that product.
Just like their display line, I personally think Apple is planning a relaunch, but I see an AppleTV/HomeKit/HomePod combo (pick two, not all three) coming down the road in a couple of years.
Next year’s display should be a fun treat.
Well after extensive testing, the Amplifi product was super nice, but it performed far worse than the Velop kit. UniFi wasn't an option for me due to cabling needs.
I'll agree that I wasn't optimistic with the brand, but I tested against all the peer products and it was clearly the best for my 3 story home. It's not been flawless in operation, but pretty good. I've needed to reboot the system once in 3 months b/c nothing could connect. A couple other times a single node went all orange blinky lights and I rebooted a single node. Otherwise it's been flawless.
I very nearly went with Eero despite being slower, but in the end the small size of the company, the layoffs that happened about that time, the fact that it's really their only product... and there's a dependence on their behind the scenes magic to make the system work.. scared me off. What good is an awesome $400-500 Wifi kit if the company behind it isn't in business?
understood but look at the size of them, especially the 3 band version. They're huge.
“Is a router something that apple should be doing?” They have been doing this all these years. Why stop now?
Do you remeber the previous model? The flat looking. I still have that as well as the current model. They are both running great.
What i’m seeing here is that apple is depending on others ,as in third parties, to handle the situation and not apple themselves. This is just plain lazy imo. They got the money, but they are focusing too many things.
I think the router business just got too "small" for Apple. Engineering routers costs money and for a company like Apple that isn't really a networking company like Cisco it's money and Human Resources better spent elsewhere. When Apple pushed out Airport originally it was a much smaller, flexible company. Plus back then Airport was amazingly cool. Today it's as exciting a masking tape.
I have mixed feelings about the loss of Airport in the line up but given Apple's inability to really hit all the notes of late, it seems best it has one less thing to look over.
If a single router and one extender or hub and spoke type wi-fi setup works for you, Netgear Orbi is absolutely the way to go these days. Really blows the rest of the home mesh systems away in range and speed.
one word: power bricks.
this is one thing i always loved with apple products - they always had a proper ac/dc power supply inside. you just needed to plug in the power chord (or with the old airport express: the device itself).
these boxes are sooooo uncool anyway.
this is one thing i always loved with apple products - they always had a proper ac/dc power supply inside. you just needed to plug in the power chord (or with the old airport express: the device itself).
these boxes are sooooo uncool anyway.
Apple hasn't always used an internal power supply.
I had a 4th gen AEBS that had an external brick and somewhere during that time, they moved the power supply for the time capsule to the outside because the internal one seemed to constantly fail at 18 months.
The original Mac Mini (at least through the 2009 units) had external power supplies.
I'm not sure what's "uncool" about these boxes. They work well and you're grasping at straws.
That would be my guess. If Apple is dropping the product line, then it makes sense the functionality will be integrated into other products. There's no reason why AppleTV or HomePod can't double as a wifi satellite.
Amplifi is a Ubiquiti brand. Generally gets good reviews, although you should note that the little panels on the "Meshpoint" satellite units are magnetically attached to the plugs and are highly directional antennae, which should be pointed towards the router or your favored "chaining" satellite (ie, always point upstream towards the Internet). The downside of the design is that suddenly the WiFi stops working and a week later you figure out it is because a dog brushed up against the Amplifi antenna and moved it off of perfect alignment (if you look at the signal strength maps coming off those things, just a degree is enough to be noticeably "out of alignment"). That said, the routers are gorgeous and use more standard "taurus" omni-directional antennae, and I believe you can use just the routers chained to each other instead of the meshpoint wall plug units, which is more expensive but gets rid of the main nit reviewers have with the standard setup.
It makes sense if you are using an ethernet backhaul, then the dual bands are both available for client connections.
For most systems with dual- and tri-band offerings (ex, Orbi), they are mis-and-match, the dual-band/tri-band units can be on the "far reaches" of the network coverage area without much downside, filling in coverage in little dark spots. For instance, we did this with our Orbi system - an RB50 with RS50 full-size AC3000 satellite covering the majority of the house, then a little RW30 wall unit plugged in in the far hallway illuminating the otherwise-dark far corner of the house.
Absolutely agree with that advice. Start with the router - a newer router might illuminate the dark corners of your house the older one is leaving. Usually router placement is neither optimal nor optional - new houses tend to have the "telecomms closet" in a place which is convenient for the builders / telecom company, not best for WiFi coverage, and short of running your own lines from the point of ingress to an ideal location that is your only option for router placement (although please, if you have a WiFi router sitting inside the metal wiring cabinet in the wall, at least try mounting it outside the metal enclosure so you get better coverage). Next fill in the largest dark spot or two with satellites, and play with placement and strength of those satellites for a while. Only if the situation is completely intractable with one satellite should you buy a second satellite, and the same goes for the third if necessary. Note that when auditioning a setup, don't at all be afraid to lower the strength of a satellite so that it doesn't complete in areas that it shouldn't be illuminating.
Biggest tip: stand in a dark spot in your house and visualize not just the raw distance to the nearest router/satellite, but what is between you and it. Walls and floors impede the signal far more than just empty space, but especially if they contain wiring or pipes. Of, if you want to get fancy, get a network mapping utility to see where the signal is actually low and what "low" means (a low signal:noise ratio, just not much signal at all, network collisions with other nearby systems, etc), although those work a lot better if you have a reasonably-accurate floorplan of your house already digitized.
Last edited:
Since when does the USG include the controller
FYI, AFAIK it doesn't, I have the USG and a cloudy controller, why should I have both if the controller was on the USG already.
Instead of rolling your eyes, take a look here:Since when does the USG include the controller
FYI, AFAIK it doesn't, I have the USG and a cloudy controller, why should I have both if the controller was on the USG already.
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-routing/usg/
It says:
EDIT: It looks like I read that wrong. In that case, I see no reason to have a USG over an ERL, as the ERL features come faster.
Anyone can download the controller software anonymously so I’m not sure why they’re marketing department spins it that way.
Last edited:
Are there any mesh systems available that don't call home and attempt to productize the customer? That seems to be the hidden raison d'etre for a lot of these products' existence...
Putting the power supply inside of the last generation AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule was a huge mistake, because it required a fan. Go read the reviews on Apple.com and you’ll see fan failure and overheating is a big issue. If a product like a WiFi router that runs 24/7/365 uses a fan it’s not if, but when will it break.
The improvements added to the 802.11 standard by the 802.11ac amendment, are not supported on 2.4GHz. The fact that it advertises as supporting 802.11ac, means that it supports the 5GHz band.
ok, now look at an appletv and look at virtually anything available in the same form factor. all the android based stuff has some dc barrel jack and an ugly looking power brick, that eats up a lot of space.
look at an imac or a mac mini. or even the now discontinued led/tb display. most vendors (samsung, lg, benq) have ugly power bricks, which are just one in a dozen, different models share them, they are in no way optimised for the use case.
The rolling eyes was not meant to be condescending, if it came over that way then my apologies.
I found out the hard way, thought it was included while it's not.
I agree they should be more clear so others don't make the same mistake, but, I still think UBNT is a very good company which cares about their customers.