Yet Another Network Hardware Topic

[Elvis]

For what I hope is the last time, got our new (old) house wired today. We could only get one wire to the TV cabinet in the family room. And that was a struggle. All the networking gear is being moved to a closet that will work nicely when the room it's in gets the home theater makeover one of these days.

Right now I'm going from the ISP's router (ISP only admin) to two Unifi managed switches. Two Unifi AC-Pro APs are connected to one switch for wireless.

I was considering running the two APs off the router and each switch off the router. (Only 4 open ports). I'd put the 24 port switch in the network closet. I'd put the 8 port switch in the TV cabinet in the family room, and I'd fill all 7 of the available ports there.

However, I do have a USG I could use so I could admin the router.

I also have an 8 and 24 port unmanaged NetGear ProSafe switches, both are new. I can get my hands on a PakEdge router, also.

My priority right now is to maximize the bandwidth Mon-Thu for my wife's work, she's teaching/lecturing online from home this semester. Otherwise, it's Airplay 2 audio/Sonos via Airplay2 receivers/ATV, video streaming through the ATV or Hopper. Right now the EA-3 is just acting as a universal remote and garage door opener. We aren't using any of its audio capabilities.

Thanks for the inputs.

[RobbieF]

What does "I could admin the router" & "(ISP only admin)" mean?

How big is your internet connection?  

 

[tekki70]

i would have 1 device connected to the router a switch, use that as your core switch and have all other switches connected to the core switch. this will be less hops for devices, and it leaves all the processing power in the router to deal with internet traffic wan to lan. that core switch will handle your in house communication creating a faster overall experience.

[Elvis]

18 hours ago, RobbieF said:

What does "I could admin the router" & "(ISP only admin)" mean?

How big is your internet connection?  

 

I can't admin the ISPs router, which is required. AT&T Fiber <-> ISP Point to Point Dish on AT&T Tower <-> ISP Point to Point Dish on my property <-> ISP Router in my house <-> My network

How big is my internet connection? Not sure what you mean. We get 30 down/10 up on a good day.

So I have a UniFi Security Gateway (USG) I could add between the ISP's router and my network so I could administer that USG router. Right now I just have the switches and APs connected directly to the 4 ports on the ISPs router.

[Elvis]

3 hours ago, tekki70 said:

i would have 1 device connected to the router a switch, use that as your core switch and have all other switches connected to the core switch. this will be less hops for devices, and it leaves all the processing power in the router to deal with internet traffic wan to lan. that core switch will handle your in house communication creating a faster overall experience.

This is how I used to have it.

AT&T Fiber <-> ISP Point to Point Dish on AT&T Tower <-> ISP Point to Point Dish on my property <-> ISP Router in my house <-> UniFi 8 Port PoE Switch

The UniFi 8 port switch <-
-> AC Pro AP Upstairs/Backyard
-> AC Pro AP Downstairs/Front Yard
-> UniFi 24 port switch
-> Alarm
-> Lutron SmartBridge Pro
-> EA-3

Which I considered the UniFi 8 port switch the "core" switch, as you say.

Rather than breaking open the new unmanaged switches, I just put the Switch 8 in the entertainment center to run the EA-3, TV, Receiver, ATV, Xbox, etc. and put the Switch 24 in the new network closet. Since there were 4 ports open on the ISP's router, I just hooked the two switches and two APs to it. Right now my wife's two PCs (wired connections) are getting the best performance for her Zoom video conferencing. 

The ISP will do IP reservations, etc. on the router for me if needed. 

I'm tempted to leave it alone for now and after I complete the whole home audio, see if it needs tweaking.

[RobbieF]

This would be the ideal Network Topology.   However, dependent on the Physical cabling location, this could change.  

At the price point - Keep with a flat network, using all UniFi managed switches for visibility.

 

I'm also using 30mb down and 10mb up - It's more than enough for streaming Netflix and browsing simultaneously.  Have 4 working adults in my house all been served via this connection.  With regards to QOS - I always say, don't create solutions for problems you don't have   Unless you are telling me you're experiencing other problems?

 

[ejn1]

18 minutes ago, Elvis said:

This is how I used to have it.

AT&T Fiber <-> ISP Point to Point Dish on AT&T Tower <-> ISP Point to Point Dish on my property <-> ISP Router in my house <-> UniFi 8 Port PoE Switch

The UniFi 8 port switch <-
-> AC Pro AP Upstairs/Backyard
-> AC Pro AP Downstairs/Front Yard
-> UniFi 24 port switch
-> Alarm
-> Lutron SmartBridge Pro
-> EA-3

Which I considered the UniFi 8 port switch the "core" switch, as you say.

Rather than breaking open the new unmanaged switches, I just put the Switch 8 in the entertainment center to run the EA-3, TV, Receiver, ATV, Xbox, etc. and put the Switch 24 in the new network closet. Since there were 4 ports open on the ISP's router, I just hooked the two switches and two APs to it. Right now my wife's two PCs (wired connections) are getting the best performance for her Zoom video conferencing. 

The ISP will do IP reservations, etc. on the router for me if needed. 

I'm tempted to leave it alone for now and after I complete the whole home audio, see if it needs tweaking.

What are the make and model numbers of your At&T equipment in your house?

[Elvis]

2 minutes ago, ejn1 said:

What are the make and model numbers of your At&T equipment in your house?

No AT&T equipment here. The ISP (signalnetbroadband.com) leases space on the AT&T tower across the lake from us. He has Cambium Networks "point to many" equipment on the tower. He installs a Cambium Networks dish for each client pointing at the tower and that dish connects to an ISP-owned Cambium Networks router in my house. ISP has equipment on nearly every AT&T tower in the area that has a fiber connection (vs. microwave, I think).

The tower has AT&T fiber to the tower and he is an enterprise customer to AT&T, which makes it look like I am an AT&T enterprise customer.

The router is a CN 195. Not sure of the model number of the dish, but it looks like ePMP 190.

[Elvis]

https://www.cambiumnetworks.com/products/pmp-distribution/

 

[Elvis]

29 minutes ago, RobbieF said:

This would be the ideal Network Topology.   However, dependent on the Physical cabling location, this could change.  

At the price point - Keep with a flat network, using all UniFi managed switches for visibility.

 

I'm also using 30mb down and 10mb up - It's more than enough for streaming Netflix and browsing simultaneously.  Have 4 working adults in my house all been served via this connection.  With regards to QOS - I always say, don't create solutions for problems you don't have   Unless you are telling me you're experiencing other problems?

 

So you think it is important to put the USG in the mix so I can manage it? It would give me the ability to attach my AT&T hotspot to WAN2 and use it as a fail-over connection to the Internet, so this seems smart. 

The only change I'd make to your diagram, and this is a question, is to connect the two APs directly to the core switch. Seems unnecessary to add a switch between the APs and the core switch -- unless I'm missing something?

[RobbieF]

Yeah - The AP's can be connected to the core switch, makes sense.  And yes, putting in the USG Gateway segments your network within your control.  Upstream provided equipment is then just "hot Swappable" - As the WAN port / ports are configured for DHCP, and don't care about what is upstream, as long as it gets an IP address.  You also end  up with full visibility of the network within the UniFi stack:

Definitely get a Cloudkey Gen2

[Elvis]

Thank you very much. That's the plan.

[ejn1]

Instead of a cloud key gen2. Another alternative is to get a Unifi dream machine pro for not much more .   This would give 8 switch ports plus has the controller software built in and you would not need the USG.

[Elvis]

15 minutes ago, ejn1 said:

Instead of a cloud key gen2. Another alternative is to get a Unifi dream machine pro for not much more .   This would give 8 switch ports plus has the controller software built in and you would not need the USG.

Yes, my USG gets so hot you can't touch it. So my plan is:

UDM-Pro <-
-> AP Upstairs
-> AP Downstairs
-> In-Wall AP/Switch (forget the model #) wife's office (AP will give better coverage to porch nearby)
-> Switch24
-> Switch8

 

[Pounce]

44 minutes ago, Elvis said:

Yes, my USG gets so hot you can't touch it. So my plan is:

UDM-Pro <-
-> AP Upstairs
-> AP Downstairs
-> In-Wall AP/Switch (forget the model #) wife's office (AP will give better coverage to porch nearby)
-> Switch24
-> Switch8

 

I have essentially this setup.

I also have a USG in a second install and I was curious about your heat comment. I just hit it with my FLIR camera and it's running about 100F. I think it runs about 30% cpu. Weird yours is so hot...not sure I need to fondle my USG all that much, but I don't think it should be too hot to touch. Maybe you need a software update?

[ejn1]

49 minutes ago, Elvis said:

Yes, my USG gets so hot you can't touch it. So my plan is:

UDM-Pro <-
-> AP Upstairs
-> AP Downstairs
-> In-Wall AP/Switch (forget the model #) wife's office (AP will give better coverage to porch nearby)
-> Switch24
-> Switch8

 

Given your wife business you can also look at a Unifi LTE backup to add to your system as failover.    This would connect as a second WAN into the UDM Pro and if you have a glitch in service,   The LTE would kick in assuming you have Cellular service at your home. 

[Pounce]

2 minutes ago, ejn1 said:

Given your wife business you can also look at a Unifi LTE backup to add to your system as failover.    This would connect as a second WAN into the UDM Pro and if you have a glitch in service,   The LTE would kick in assuming you have Cellular service at your home. 

That's a good suggestion. I run cable and ATT, but the LTE suggestion is solid. You can do this really cheap these days or it really is a lot less expensive than in the past.

[RobbieF]

23 minutes ago, ejn1 said:

Given your wife business you can also look at a Unifi LTE backup to add to your system as failover.    This would connect as a second WAN into the UDM Pro and if you have a glitch in service,   The LTE would kick in assuming you have Cellular service at your home. 

Good call on the LTE, and defo get a UDM Pro if you are thinking Unifi CCTV (Termed UniFi Protect). Note that UniFi Protect via the UDM Pro doesn’t integrate with C4

[ejn1]

4 minutes ago, RobbieF said:

Good call on the LTE, and defo get a UDM Pro if you are thinking Unifi CCTV (Termed UniFi Protect). Note that UniFi Protect via the UDM Pro doesn’t integrate with C4

I have my cameras in C4 with the generic IP driver.    Just no thumbnails.  Honestly rarely use C4 though as there are better viewing interfaces IMO.

[Elvis]

40 minutes ago, Pounce said:

I have essentially this setup.

I also have a USG in a second install and I was curious about your heat comment. I just hit it with my FLIR camera and it's running about 100F. I think it runs about 30% cpu. Weird yours is so hot...not sure I need to fondle my USG all that much, but I don't think it should be too hot to touch. Maybe you need a software update?

I didn't own a FLIR when I was using it. So I don't know how hot it actually got exactly. It was hot enough to mar an old oak desk, which now has a nice square imprint in the corner. 

[Elvis]

I have an LTE modem with an unlimited SIM card. I've had that in the USG configured for failover and it worked great. I never got a notification when it happened, which I'm sure was user error. We only moved 400 yards as as the crow flies, but our LTE reception is poor here. I'll probably need an external antenna to make it adequate.

[Elvis]

32 minutes ago, ejn1 said:

I have my cameras in C4 with the generic IP driver.    Just no thumbnails.  Honestly rarely use C4 though as there are better viewing interfaces IMO.

I'm interested in what interface you use? Are there any apps for Android TVs? Are the cameras PoE?

[ejn1]

6 hours ago, Elvis said:

I'm interested in what interface you use? Are there any apps for Android TVs? Are the cameras PoE?

There is an app CCTV Viewer that I use in Apple TV that is a lot easier than C4 imho. I think the guy was making an app for Android but not 100%.   I also use the free Unifi Protect app on ATV.   The iOS app is awesome for Protect.

[Elvis]

6 minutes ago, ejn1 said:

There is an app CCTV Viewer that I use in Apple TV that is a lot easier than C4 imho. I think the guy was making an app for Android but not 100%.   I also use the free Unifi Protect app on ATV.   The iOS app is awesome for Protect on IOS

This sounds awesome. Having an Android TV app would allow me to call up on up on the TV with one press of the remote instead of having to muddle through ATV to get to it.

[ejn1]

3 hours ago, Elvis said:

This sounds awesome. Having an Android TV app would allow me to call up on up on the TV with one press of the remote instead of having to muddle through ATV to get to it.

This is the Apple TV app link...  

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cctv-viewer/id1450658761

I couldn't find an android app but maybe you can email him to see if its in the works.    This works with my Unifi Protect Camera setup.