Wireless Access Points

[OzziGoblin]

Hi everyone

I'm in need of some recommendations, obviously, I'm using Opnsense as my firewall, but as I'm living in a double story home, I need a mesh wifi solution.  Currently I'm using 4 wifi AP's so that I can separate IOT & Guest clients from home client devices.

Can anyone recommend some AP's that I can use that will allow vlans over wifi and still support a mesh system?

I've heard Ruckus can do this but I'd appreciate some feedback from the Opnsense community.

I'd like to replace the current system with 2 AP's but I'd like to have more VLAN's on the wireless network.
Does anyone have any recommendations that they have successfully implemented?

thanks

[Stormscape]

Personally I use TP Link's Omada APs. They're quite good and can do fast roaming and mesh very easily, if you set up the Controller, which can run on any Windows/Linux machine, or you can use a dedicated hardware controller.

[nero355]

Personally I use TP Link's Omada APs.

They're quite good and can do fast roaming and mesh very easily, if you set up the Controller, which can run on any Windows/Linux machine, or you can use a dedicated hardware controller.

IMHO stuff like TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti UniFi can become very annoying if there is something wrong with the Controller :
You can access them via SSH or some sort of CLI anyways, but any changes can't be saved and are lost after the next reboot... -_-

And when you host the Controller yourself the MongoDB dependancy is also extremely annoying because you need to check which version you will need to run and which CPU instructions are mandatory for that specific version !!

I love my UniFi In-Wall units, but the next time I need to buy something I would rather have a situation in which every Switch or Accesspoint has it's own webGUI and SSH access :)

[passeri]

Mikrotik offers WiFi6 devices such as the wAP and cAP but not mesh as plug and play. On the other hand, they give you absolute control of every other aspect of operation including nigh-endless vLans or virtual radios. Do you have ethernet between the levels?

[OzziGoblin]

unfortunately there is no network between levels, but I suspect that may resolve the issue I'm facing.

Thanks everyone else for your replies, I was hoping that there was some solution that avoided seperate controllers as that's another level of management that needs to remain stable.

[OPNenthu]

(Not a pro installer; just sharing some thoughts/experience)

I had to figure out how to install WiFi for my parents but their place is also two levels with no Ethernet wiring.  Drilling was a last resort.  The problem is that the older building is also dense and the mesh backhaul would be too weak.  UniFi uses the 5GHz band for that.

Fortunately many homes here are wired with coaxial for TV (antenna, satellite, and cable all use it) so I was able to use that with MoCA-Ethernet adapters.  These are good for up to 2.5GbE depending on the quality of the wiring and the MoCA spec used.  Not sure what the situation is in Australia but maybe this is an option?

I chose a coax termination point on each level (on opposite ends of the house to minimize interference) and installed a small UniFi switch at each point.  Then I connected a U6 Mesh AP to each switch.  The controller lives as a headless VirtualBox VM, set up as a Windows service to start at boot on a small N100-type PC.

Why U6 Mesh?  Despite its name, it works in either standalone or mesh mode and can sit on a shelf without any wall or ceiling mounts.  It also radiates outward in a circle, as opposed to up/down or in a cone pattern.  That way a single one can cover a floor level laterally if well placed.  Roaming works well now but I had to knock down the radio power (especially on the 2.4GHz band) to minimize overlap, and I'm not sure how you would do that without the controller.  They have a mobile app for setting up APs without a controller, but I don't know what it does/doesn't support.

Coincidentally, this video just dropped as another neat option that blends in to the walls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2FbzCyiNr4

[marjohn56]

Having used both Omada for 4 years until I moved house and Unifi devices for nearly years two since I moved,  I will give an honest opinion.

TP Omada are cheaper and they work fine, however I have found that the Unifi devices are more stable and allow a greater degree of 'tweaking'.

I'm currently using 4 Unifi U6 Mesh devices, 3 of these are wired and one is mesh, and one Unifi AC mesh with a directional antenna in the garden, the garden one meshes with a U6 Mesh located under the eves of the house. You can try and set them all up with a phone app, but it's not fun. If you are going to use VLANs then create your own self-hosted server, it's pretty easy. It doesn't need to run all the time, there's also a plugin for Opnsense which Micheal maintains, though mine is running on a VM on my server.                                                                               
The mesh works really well providing you make sure there's a good signal between the master and slave device. Preferably only slave one device to each wired master.

One final note, if you go down the U6 mesh route, don't use one outside, they are not weatherproof, as experience has taught me, or at least use a silicone cover which are available.

[OPNenthu]

The mesh works really well providing you make sure there's a good signal between the master and slave device. Preferably only slave one device to each wired master.

Hi @marjohn56, quick question about this: for the meshed APs, do WiFi clients still get to use the 5GHz band or are they forced back to 2.4GHz?

[stanps]

Fortunately many homes here are wired with coaxial for TV (antenna, satellite, and cable all use it) so I was able to use that with MoCA-Ethernet adapters.

+1 on MoCA-Ethernet!