How many Unifi APs for this setup?

[tek9]

Good morning, all.
I have a client that's moving into a new space shortly and would like to have reliable wifi to cover the area.
It's new construction, around 3,000 sf, looks something like a square. I attached a MSPaint mockup. The large square in the middle is the common area. The squares on the right are offices, with the narrow square being the data closet. The larger squares up top are offices/conference rooms or something.
I'd like to get the newer Unifi AC Pro APs, and was wondering where, and how many, should I install. The walls are typical drywall, wood studs, as far as I know, so minimal interference there. Ceiling is a drop ceiling. Not many users on the network. Maybe 10 or so. They want their Internet to be nice and fast.
What is the range for these units? Should I get a single AC LR unit, or rather the Pro units. If I get multiple units, should I place them diagonally, one in the top right corner of the common area, and one in the lower left? I want to cover everything, obviously.
I'm aware there are many variables, but can anyone give me an idea of the ideal placement for the APs, and the expected range for the AC units?
Thanks in advance.

 

[phaZed]

You can likely just use one AP in the commons area and be done.

 

[HCHTech]

I concur. That setup looks like a piece of cake install.

 

[tek9]

OK. Should I use the the LR for the longer range, or the Pro for the higher speed?

 

[NETWizz]

That said, you would be surprised sometimes how wireless does not propagate. Why not draw it up in heatmapper?

 

[tek9]

This place is over an hour away from me each way. I'd rather have an idea on what I'm supposed to bring with me before I set out.

 

[altrenda]

If your users are anything like mine, those 10 people can easily result in 15 to 20 connections. My users have multiple devices, with laptops, phones, tablets, whatever. I try to keep connections to around 20 per access point.

If speed is their priority, and with room for growth, I would go with 2 AP pros vs the LR's. With the older Unifis, the performance hit with the LR's was noticeable.

I hate complaints about WiFi, so I always over build.

 

[tek9]

So if I do go with two Pro units, since the layout is very simple, would it make a difference where in the room I place the APs? I'm guessing I should set them to low power.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I like to actually go onsite to finalize, and test.
I agree 1x AC LR will probably do it, quote 3x APs. They're only a hair over a hundge bucks...so quote high. Install what's necessary, invoice what you installed. If you come in lower than the quote...you're a hero!

Since it's an office, and they're probably doing wired ethernet....and wall jacks...consider one or two of those Unifi "In-Wall" plate models....have them in one or two of those office cubicles to cover that end. Have 'em on low power.

More APs on low power is better than 1x AP on high power.

 

[tek9]

I was actually considering the Pro AC units which are $200 a piece. Do you suggest I get the older APs, or the newer AC Lites instead of the Pros? It seems that the only thing I gain with the Pro units is the increased speed on Wireless AC. All the laptops are brand new AC capable, and their LOB is cloud based, so Internet speed is important.
This office is going to be wireless only. That's what they want. It's only going to be 4 roaming laptops and a wireless printer, so the wired route is out.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Unless their internet connection is above 850 megs...I don't see any advantage of going to the Pro model (which is a little faster for 5.0 than the LR or Lite models...up to 1300 megs instead of 850 megs).

Wireless printer..ugh.

 

[phaZed]

All the laptops are brand new AC capable, and their LOB is cloud based, so Internet speed is important.
This office is going to be wireless only. That's what they want. It's only going to be 4 roaming laptops and a wireless printer, so the wired route is out.

IMO, just one standard UAP is going to do the business. Two of them only to be safe. I guarantee that the commons will be fully covered per your pic, no matter where you put it. The rooms, if just partitioned with sheetrock and wooden studs = no problem either.

You say internet speed is important, but wireless will have little to do with that, as I'm sure you know. So, with Wireless N speeds and the UAP being able to deliver 300Mbps..... if their internet connection is something standard like 75/75 100/100 - Then there is NO chance you will ever be bottlenecked by the wireless as your slowest link is the net connection. The only time a faster wireless is going to help is if there is a lot of intra-site transfers from one CPU to another.

 

[tek9]

Thank you all for replying.
I was so hung up on getting them the fastest AC units, that my brain didn't register the fact that they don't have much intranet traffic. So I guess I will be going with the AC Lite units.
Regarding the printer, they don't anticipate doing much printing. It's just there for the one off times. I might, in the end, drop a wire for the printer, to get it wired instead of wireless.

 

[BlackLabTechs]

Based on square and 3000 sq ft. it looks like the area is roughly 55'x55'. So 1 ap in the middle would be more than sufficient. If money wasn't an issue you could spread 2 out for redundancy in case one physically fails. But those units are pretty stable.

 

[Big Jim]

what kind of real world range do you get out of these APs and what are the differences between the AC Pro, Lite and LR ?

What router would you usually pair these with ?

doing an install over the next week and need to extend the wifi without network cable in one room

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Over 500 feet in the clear. The Lite may be more like 300 or 350 feet. But..that's in the "clear". Wireless range and performance varies drastically from location to location based on so many variables about the surrounding environment.
The Pro model adds 3x3 MIMO. Higher speeds on the 5 radio.
We just do the AC LR models, although I have the original pre-shipment Lite demo model still in our office.

As for what routers...I have them behind pretty much everything out there. No problems.

 

[Big Jim]

my understanding is that you cant wirelessy bridge to a non unifi device is that correct ?

the job I am just about to undertake needs wifi in several rooms, one of the rooms has a decent signal strength on an ipad but doesn't work properly until the user walks closer to the router.
The router is a tecnicolour what I intended to do is replace that with something with better strength and if that didn't work put an additional AP in the room I am talking about but obviously the AP needs to be able to wirelessly bridge to the router.
Or would the better option be to put a unifi AP next to the router and keep the same router ?


2nd question, there is a building across the yard around 70 - 80 feet away, I want to cover wifi in there as well, will an LR router on the internal wall of the 2 buildings be close enough with it having to travel through 2 brick walls ?

I haven't used these unifi APs yet but they do sound like the answer to a lot of problems that get thrown my way.

 

[Big Jim]

it is actually 2 houses that have been bought and turned into a nursery, then a 3rd room/building built at the back of the playground.
I've quoted for 3 APs and a new router, if they are as good as people say they are, I am probably only going to need 3 APs in total.

I don't know who installed the current setup but it is very strange.
2 cat 5 wall plates near the router, each one leads to another wall plate elsewhere

elsewhere in the building there are 3 wall plates installed near the ceiling as well as a small 4 port hub(just randomly screwed on the wall near these wall plates)
1 of these wall plates leads upstairs to another wall plate
1 leads to the wall plate near the router
1 leads to a random location not sure where yet as when the hub is switched on the light doesn't light up. I have tried to trace wires but they run up and down walls outside right round the building, the cabling used for the telephone lines and CCTV all looks exactly the same as well.
Its a bit of a mess tbh

 

[Big Jim]

So the unifi devices arrived yesterday and I had a chance to have a play.
I went for a 3 pack of LR APs

the range is good but I was expecting a little better to be honest, won't really know if they will cover the area I need until I go on site at the weekend but I think I will be pushing it's limits if I am being honest.
I installed one in my office upstairs at home and then walked down the garden with my phone to see where the signal dropped, I would say I was 40 - 50 feet away from the office and the speed dropped to about 0.5mb (was 45mb in the house directly below the AP)

setup was an absolute doddle though, annoying having to wait minutes at a time for the APs to do there thing but the interface itself was responsive and the APs worked as expected, bridging them was literally the easiest thing I have ever done.


What are my options if the distance I am trying to bridge over is too far ?
The only place to run a cable is along a fence, which isn't really ideal but I suppose do-able with some trunking.




EDIT, 1 thing I didn'y realise is that a normal POE switch does not power these as they run at 24v, slightly annoying but I can install 2 POE injectors near the switch to keep the install neat

 

[tek9]

The Ubiquiti switches can power their APs. You can set individual ports to be regular POE or Passive 24V POE.