Excellent explanation of the network channels and widths. So often I see people online just say "it's different for every site - just figure it out" when asked how someone logically decides what settings to choose, which is terribly unhelpful. Your video is great thanks!
Update: Applied the rest of the steps for the 802.11 Rate and Beacon Controls and now my devices are connecting to closer APs instead of all jumping on ones much farther away!!! This is so awesome..thanks!!!
I really want to kiss you... I had waaaaay over complicated things and this really broke it down for me. Thank you for the time in making this. I've been frustrated for a year.
I recently deployed a UDM Pro, 3 UAP-HD-AP’s, and 2 FlexHD’s in a 19k sq ft home. So far working well but I have been keeping a close eye on it to make sure it is working well due to a high SLA expectation. Is my first large scale deployment. Thanks for the useful tips
Step 1. Never mount your access points as shown in the thumbnail. You will be shooting 50% of the radio power straight into the ground. I see this often for home builds because it’s easier to mount the AP on a wall rather than the ceiling, but it totally kills the range of your AP. Great video though - very detailed and explains how to choose the correct channel selection based on design. Cheers!
Well done review. I used to tune a lot of the same parameters on Cisco WLCs and it was nice to have recommendations and explanations for Ubiquiti settings. There are a lot of people offering "expertise" on networking but a lot of them either don't give a clear explanation or really don't understand how WiFi, Ethernet, etc. work.
Appreciate the insight, I'll be installing A UDM-pro and three nano APs into my household fairly soon. I'll make sure to keep what you said in mind when I go to configure them.
This is a very good summary on the best options with UniFi. One point of clarification is that a UniFi Wireless Instructor recommended the use of "Block LAN to WLAN Multicast and Broadcast Data" for all GUEST network SSID's.
This helps save on precious airtime, worth turning on for guest networks for sure. However on general home networks, they can cause problems with certain cast devices. Thankfully you can whitelist these in unifi.
This is true for Guest networks. They don't really need that feature. I mention it for compatibility as a lot of devices rely on broadcast/multicast data between the WLAN and LAN to function. This happens a lot with things like chromecasts or mobile diagnostic equipment.
Something else to consider with the 5GHz channels - channel 36 is 5150 MHz, channel 161 is up somewhere around nearly 5800MHz. That means your channels are nearly 1GHz apart. Similar to the difference between 2.4GHz and 5GHz, that means channel 36 is going to have a lower maximum speed/bandwidth and better obstacle penetration, whereas channel 161 will give higher speed but less obstacle penetration. A different of 700 MHz is fairly significant. This applies to 2.4GHz as well, just not to the same extent. That means you probably want to prioritise channels 1 (2.4GHz) and 36 (5GHz) in the part of your home with most walls and fewer devices (perhaps bedrooms or near the back wall of your home where you want to sit outside?), and channels 11/161 where you have fewer walls but more devices (perhaps your living room) It doesn't *really* matter, but the difference is noticeable in some scenarios and when you're installing multiple access points, it seems like it makes sense to optimise channels for the location
The upper radio frequencies versus penetration at 5ghz occurred to me yesterday. I've got one AP AC LR. A small house and mostly Ethernet to computers. Mobile devices such as iphone and ipad using wireless. One very old laptop with wifi analyzer software on it. The rest of our computers are running various Linux distros. Lawrence Systems has a channel on here that frequently discusses pfSense and Unify hardware. Per a couple of his videos I created a vlan for IoT devices, Anything that might not be all that secure. We have two. An Echo and Ring doorbell. The Ring is the only 2.4 ghz device. Being outside the AP even at 2.4ghz is marginal in the summer. So even though I don't like extenders I installed a TP Link just for the Ring. Been working fine. Other than creating a "crapwifi" vlan network the configuration for the AP is pretty much as installed. I disabled the 2.4ghz radio when I installed the extender. A couple of days ago I ran into something I thought unusual. I changed the channel on 5ghz from auto to 36. It was already on 36. Checking out the crapwifi network with an ipad noticed that it kept disconnecting at a 3 second rate. All the apple devices would do it. But the extender, Echo, and laptop no issues. Only an Apple problem and only on the vlan wireless network. Not the wireless lan network. Back to auto and problem goes away.
Very useful video. Good to see straightforward suggestions! I'd love to see a continuation of the way you made this video for the rest of the Unifi controller. For example, how about a video on just LAN settings, and another video on just WAN settings and another on routing/firewall, etc.
The Long range access points don't transmit at higher power. They extra range is in the better antenna. The antenna being more efficient can transmit the same amount of power further. It also means weaker signals will be picked up by the better antenna.
Just got my APs and ER12! I have my APs setup working with my old Dlink router....next step is replacing the Dlink with the ER12.....I have 2 APs, 3 switches in separate rooms, and then about 4 more direct connections at the router for hardlines elsewhere. Any advice or things you learned? Setting up the APs were simple compared to my old TPlinks....
A couple months ago the client tab page shows my laptop s tx rate capped at 144 Mbps when connected at 5 GHz band. I tried different troubleshoots but no clue, even resetting the APs. A couple days latter I finally figured out it was because the DFS, and I live in a suburban area. So I am glad that you mentioned to exclude them.
Hi, Thanks for these on UniFi really helping me understand my home network, adding a USG next and will look at all the settings you suggest, the AP info is most helpful
Excellenmt video's Mr Toasty! FYI Tom (Lawrence Technical Services) recommends leaving the channels etc on Auto. Makes sense with Multiple Unifi devices, not so much if you mix-n-match.
Excellent video. Also you can try to set RSSI if you have sticky devices when AP signals are overlapping. It's proven to be a handy feature when it comes to roaming.
So if I have a MacBook that keeps dropping periodically, I should bump my 5Ghz to 80? According to him, I should drop it to 20 if I’m having reliability issues.
I've had newer mac minis not even connect to VHT80 even when it was steps away(and instead connecting to a far away radio with very limited signal strength and barely any connection...same issue with windows based Dell laptop). Changing to VHT40 resolved it and made things much more stable.
Cannot agree more on not use DFS channel. Tried it once, iperf tested the Mac connectivity, super satisfied with the speed, none of my neighbors were using those channels, feeling made the right decision and the test work paid off! A few hours later: all devices from Google Nest lost connectivity silently, any devices with Google or Nest brand does not support DFS band.
Yes, not all clients that support 5ghz band, support the DFS channels. I ran into this with Amazon tablets and their early generation smart speakers when I tested DFS channels. Certain Amazon devices immediately dropped off when the channel was set to the DFS range, while other devices continued working just fine.
Overlapping Channels are a problem on 2.4GHz only, but take into account your local situation also. 1, 6, 11 are great if there is no other interference, but if you have a lot of WiFI networks around, if you have 2 AP's in your house, you may be better with using intermediate channels. Just try to keep your two access points 6 channels apart if you can. If you are using 40MHz bandwidth on 2.4GHz, then all bets are off with overlapping channels. DFS channels ar channels that are not guaranteed. Your AP may move to a different channel if a RADAR comes on, so do avoid these when you can for sure. Totally agree with that.
You're right on the Dynamic Frequency Selection DFS. It is used for weather radars etc. Every AP has a built in "scanner" for detecting a radar and it will never use a freq in that range if it detects it, hence why the 2.4GHz signal is always first to show and it can take up to 10mins for a 5GHz SSID to be seen. But, the sweet spot on 5 GHz is ch100. It has to do with the output of the WiFi signal. Below ch100 the max output is 200mW (milliWatts) and above ch100 it is 1000mW or 1W. a 5GHz channel has different freqs then just 5000MHz, ch100= 5500MHz, ch144= 5720MHz. A physical property of a wave is: it impairs the higher the frequency is. So, the higher in channel you go, the signal will not carry as far. Use the auto DFS on your AP to see if ch100 is clear, it's usually the one it picks first.
Unfortunately not all devices that support 5ghz wifi support DFS channels. One needs to be aware of this or else moving to a DFS channel can cause some devices to completely drop off the network (or switch to 2ghz) while others work just fine. For example, most of the Amazon tablets we have work fine on non-DFS, but go dark on DFS channels while our phones are just fine (I only have 2ghz wifi available for IOT).
how to manage an Arlo security camera setup in a home network with UAP, edgeswitch and edgerouter?...as Arlo a bit of a pain since cant change wifi and it hops onto closest strong 2.4ghz channel. also should put it on separate subnet/vlan and clamp down bandwidth? only have 100/20 from isp.
Good video, BTW setting DTIM to 3 resolves Apple devices connecting to the network. Sometime you might get invalid password when trying to join an Apple device to a UniFi network. By setting this value to 3, you will resolve this issue. The DTIM is how the AP (wireless router) warns its clients that it is about to transmit the multicast (and broadcast*) frames it queued up since the previous DTIM.
I watched this video and it was very well explained. My only comment is the information provided on selecting channels for each AP. In the video you sat that channels 1, 6 and 11 for 2.4 Ghz are non interfering channels. The for the 5Ghz you sat that there are the following channels 36, 40, 44, 48 and 149, 153, 157 and 161. If I look at my setup I only see the first 4 channels, 36, 40, 44, 48. The 4 additional channels 149, 153, 157 and 161 are no available for selection within my config. Do you perhaps know why this is the case? The rest of teh information is very good and clear, even more clar than what unifi support provide. That's where I learnt how to set up my AP and wifi network. As an extra, what are your thoughts on teh unifi dashboard, and have you implemented any other dashboards that provide better visibility and the dashboards are more versatile. I found two solutions. The first was exprting the data to zabbix using unifi-proxy (I could not get this one to work because of issues with the unifi templates) the second was exporting the data to grafana using unifi-poller. that is an exceptional soultion. Works like a dream. Thanks Lawrence
Hello fellow European. Those channels are only allowed in USA/Canada. In Europe they are not allowed because of something called the ISM band. For Industrial, Scientific and Medical purpose only.
Hi, I appreciate this video, it's helpful to compare against my notes for quite high density installs. Would you consider doing any updated version of this video at some point, now that a lot of the features you mentioned are in the production build of Unifi devices? I'm particularly interested in port isolation and multicast and broadcast control. I've been using port isolation where all my APs are connected to an access layer switch, and the network is suffering particularly high broadcast and multicast traffic, particularly when a lot of devices come online at once, for example a few dozen iPads or laptops. But I'd be interested to know your thoughts. Many thanks for the video.
Thanks for the comment. I've considered updating this video, but I actually struggle myself with fine-tuning the newer features. I have some pointers I could put into a video, but I feel like I'm a bit behind in my own ability to leverage and understand the newer changes.
thanks for the great video, you brought me up to speed with everything. I have one question though: what happens in a multi floor configuration with ? Say, what would you do if you would 3 identical floors of what you drawed, one on top of eachother? what would you do with the channnel overlapping between floors? Talking about a solid concrete floor.
Solid concrete definitely dampens the signal a substantial amount. However, what I try to do with multiple floors is to stagger the channel. It's very hard (if not impossible) to get these perfect... but this is what I generally try to do. Hopefully it makes sense. Floor 1: AP1(Ch1) - AP2 (Ch6) - AP3 (Ch11) Floor 2: AP1(Ch6) - AP2 (Ch11) - AP3 (Ch 1) Floor 3: Ap1 (Ch11) - AP2 (Ch 1) - AP3 (Ch 6) You have to take into account both the neighboring APs on the same floor, as well as the AP directly above. This layout is assuming the APs are placed in the same location on each floor. The best way would be to use a spectrum analyzer to see which channels are actually interfering the most, but this would be a good starting point for the design.
would be awesome if you did an updated one. with dozens of firmware and features updates and new hardware/wifi6 and where stuff is in the controller changing, it would be super helpful
Thanks Toasty for this video. We have Unifi at home since 2017. In August the system suddenly slowed down and dropped connectivity, especially if you moved around the house. Lots of people working from home, so this was not acceptable. Was about to chuck out the Unifi as some say it is a nightmare to fix, but when it works it is fantastic. Have put in some of the changes you suggest, so let's see how it goes!
It's best to do a wireless survey to get an understanding of what is going on, too many people fiddle with settings without a good understanding of the actual problem. Any devices that are stationary and use a lot of bandwidth or are latency sensitive should be hardwired. I have >70 TCP/IP devices in my home and have no issues with Unifi, but all the desktops, game consoles, security cameras, and streaming devices are hardwired, wifi is reserved for phones, tablets, chromebooks, and IOT switches.
@@timezonewall Thanks! I'll work on this. Don't have much energy as we were hit with Covid! Ended up in an ambulance to hospital... Might get a tech head to look at it as I'm only a dabbler...
@@BarryOGrady Sorry you were affected by Covid. We've been holed for the most part and have escaped it so far, but know several people who got it. I'll be happy to try and answer any questions on Unifi or networking, I may not be an "expert", but am quite knowledgeable and a tech head.
@@timezonewall - had to take time out! Tired all the time... Thanks for the offer. We have 6 APs on the controller. Upgraded the controller to 6.0.43 today. Turned off (plugged out) one of the APs as it is close to one other. System still not good. It seems you can connect but when it comes to bandwidth, you get 1Mbs when you are not right close to the AP. Uplink Connectivity Monitor off. Advanced settings off. I wonder should I just revert all APs to auto settings (auto channel and auto power)... Luckily the Apple TV is fed by a homeplug so we will survive!
@@BarryOGrady For me setting the AP channels manually works better. I use different SSIDs for 2.4ghz and 5ghz. My 5ghz devices don't even know about the 2.4 network, reserving the very crowded and noisy 2.4g for low bandwidth IOT devices. Band steering should also accomplish this, but I prefer to enforce myself with separate SSIDs. As far AP power, I have all of mine set to low. This, along with setting "minimum RSSI" improves the chances that the client device will handoff. I use 20mhz channel width for everything, that's plenty fast for streaming to portable devices and improves the network overall. I only use (on 5ghz) 36, 40, 44, and 48 as these have the best compatibility with 5ghz clients. On the controller I use the classic settings, not the "new settings" as there some things that I couldn't do in the past on "new settings" but I'm sure this is improving with each release. I have advanced settings turned on, and have minimum data rate control set to 12Mbps on both bands, and CCK rates disabled on 2.4ghz since I don't have any 802.11b devices. "Auto-Optimize Network" is disabled, having it on gave me poor performance as it made terrible choices on channel selection and bandwidth for my APs. Uplink connectivity monitor is disabled. I was hosting my controller on Windows, but just migrated it to a docker container in a linux VM on a XCP-ng server I've been working on. 6APs is a lot for a typical residential setting, but how many one needs depends on the configuration of the building and construction materials used. Only getting 1Mbps is indicative of a problem somewhere, rather it's in your configuration, AP placement, neighboring interference, etc is hard to say. A methodical Wifi site survey is important to understanding what is happening.
Great video… I can’t believe you have 1180 clients with score of 100:) Hope you can do a video on MDNS as for the life of me I can’t get this feature working properly across multiple VLANs
DTIM settings other than 3 drains MacBook batteries while they are asleep. Example, set to 3 over night say 10 hours goes from 100 to 99% set to default over the same period will drop to 80%. I figured that out when I went from Asus device to Ubiquiti and noticed. I switched back to the Asus and the issue went away so I started looking at settings and this was different so I changed it on the Unifi and the issue went away.
RF scan is helpful, but the best thing to do is a full wireless survey where one walks around the property with a portable device analyzing your AP(s) signal and the neighbors signals on both 2ghz and 5ghz.
@@KavanMavati An RF scan is fine if you have a single AP and you are just trying to find the best channel. A wireless survey does much more than that, and is very much a part of a professional installation. There is no other way to determine what a client will see through out the entire coverage area. It's also is the best way to determine how many access points are needed and where to locate them. It involves not only the portable testing device, is also utilizes APs mounted on a tripod that can easily be moved to test different placements. I have a feeling we are talking about two different things.
@@timezonewall well I am aware of the other benefits the wifi analyzer. We are talking about wifi channels, Dosent matter how many Aps you have, been an IT for so long the matter fact I seen Aps in busy environments set to auto that's operate better than a manual. There is so many tools out there can do the job its all personal preference.
@@KavanMavati We were talking about somewhat different things. You are _only_ talking about setting the channel, I was going beyond that to determine coverage area. Sometimes different channels work better in different parts of the same building which can lead to needing multiple APs. Even if a single AP is all one is going to have, a wireless survey is still helpful in optimizing the placement, but it's not particularly needed to set the channel as auto should do fine with that.
Hey man, found your channel today, great info. I've been struggling with a lot of little bugs in my wifi. I just installed a DM Pro last weekend, along with 2 FlexHD's and 2 USG-Mini switches. Wifi has been very glitchy. Your video had the best explanation I've found of what some of those settings actually do, and how they interact.
I have a home in the country that has an upper and lower level. Both are 1500 square feet and are about eight foot elevation difference. We spend time equally on both levels. Would access points be more effective on the ceiling of the upper or lower level or mixture of both? I was thinking two U6Pro to start with and possibly a third one later if I am missing coverage. For years I have gotten by with just a wireless router and now have a Netgear Orbi with two satellites where one satellite the wireless backhaul has failed and works only wired. I’ve had more problems with the Orbi than we do at our school with access points.
Generally, it would be better to have a mix, but every environment is different. I personally have two APs for a two-story house. One on the east side of lower level and one on the west side of the upper. That seems to work best for me, but YMMV.
@@ToastyAnswers Thanks! I have my UDM Pro, USW 16 Lite and two U6 Pro access points installed upstairs and downstairs and I have not had any coverage issues, even in my attached garage I get signal.
The reason I haven't gone deeper into this is the lack of information I've been able to find. I've seen conflicting reports where auto means "high" or "scanning" or "low". I haven't tested this for myself so I'm not sure how to recommend a configuration. The best I can say is that it is better to hard-code the configurations rather than leaving it up to the devices to figure it out for you.
@@ToastyAnswers I have been setting them to “medium” and it seems to be the happy medium. Do you venture into band steering at all? I’m pretty sure I watched every Unifi video in your series.
I'm not really sure. I believe the channels will disable automatically if radar is detected. As long as you don't experience any issues while using DFS channels, it's safe to assume there isn't radar in the area. I have not been in an area with radar so I can't confirm if this is how it works.
Usually it's motion sensor doors (they use radar) at a grocery store for example. Ever notice it messes up your radio signal when you are in front of them? Same principle (sort of) but if you walk around with a radio and get bad reception in places, chances are there could be the same interference that disrupts wifi signal radar or otherwise.
For the 5Ghz, it shouldn't be using the same channel for all three APs? Specially when using MESH techno ? And this is not a good idea if you are using the MESH techno to disable the wireless uplink :) The main AP has to be only on "downlink mode" when all secondaries APs have to be in "uplink mode" ...
On the latest controller setting what do you recommend for the Minimum Data Rate Control? There is now just a check box for Auto which removes settings sliders for adjusting them or if you turn off auto then you adjust the rate controls per radio.
I haven't actually seen the "auto" setting for this. I typically set the data rates to 9mbps for 2.4ghz, and 12mbps for 5ghz. This very much depends on the density and other network factors, but these are the settings I start with.
I would also not recommend using the DFS channels... Unifi sometimes reports that there was a radar signal and will disable the AP or switch channel when that happens. If planes fly over your house you might have this happen frequently
This is exactly how it was designed to work. DFS channels if you don't live near airports, is typically fine. The worst that can happen is the AP switches to a non DFS channel. If you live in a crowded WiFi area like an apartment, it's recommended to use DFS channels especially if you're using those fatter channel widths.
@@forid200 I know this. This is why i advised against it. If you want a perfect connection and do not want to be bothered with channel switching keep it off the DFS channels. it might save you a headache later :)
@@Jeroen_a It really depends on the location. I haven't heard of a plane at cruising altitude affecting DFS, now if one is located near an airport that is a different manner. Another consideration is how well radar detection is implemented in the AP, in other words a router with a high rate of false positives, a common issue, makes using DFS channels pointless.
I know this video is more than a year old, but less than half of the options you mention in this video is in my current settings interface. Did they update it to make it simpler or what happened?
You're not wrong. They updated the interface and it looks a whole lot different than when I made this video. I have an entry on my to-do list to re-create this using the new interface. However, in the mean time, my video (ruclips.net/video/xnC8srOCuR8/видео.html) covers the different interfaces and the issues I've had with them.
Really really awesome video Just one question , I use home automation wifi simple devices that only work on 2.4 are they going to be ok with unifi AP`s will they keep connection ? your thoughts
They should be fine, but these devices are affected more by some of the topics I cover in this video. What I mean is, the optional features are more likely to affect these and you probably want to lean more towards the "compatibility" end of the spectrum when working with them.
I have a question for you...I run 3 UniFi® HD In-Wall throughout my home and my 4th AP is in my basement which is unfinished and there I run UniFi® AP AC PRO. My in wall units have no problem switching off from unit to unit depending on where we are in the house. When we go into the basement, we rarely switch off to the basement unless I reconnect what ever device is down there (i.e. smart phone). I even have a ring pro chime that is located in the basement but it typical connects to the AP in my kitchen instead of the basement. My question is, do you think my system is not switching off because the basement AP is a different device than the other AP's in my home? If not, do you have a hunch what the issue might be? If not sure, do you know the best place to find an answer? Apparently there is not much customer support on this system via Unifi. TIA
The same rules would apply, however you have to "think in 3D". The main floor AP will most likely overlap with the basement and second floor APs if they are stacked on top of each other. You just have to take this into account when planning the channels.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Excellent explanation of the network channels and widths. So often I see people online just say "it's different for every site - just figure it out" when asked how someone logically decides what settings to choose, which is terribly unhelpful. Your video is great thanks!
This is basically a summary of what I learned after hours of research. No nonsense, great video.
Update: Applied the rest of the steps for the 802.11 Rate and Beacon Controls and now my devices are connecting to closer APs instead of all jumping on ones much farther away!!! This is so awesome..thanks!!!
can you pls share more about it ? ;)
@@RK-ly5qj Just watch the video...
Simply the best video for setting up, optimizing and troubleshooting unifi wifi issues. Every wifi admin must know.
This video is great! I increased my WIFI speed by 200Mbps from this tutorial!!
I really want to kiss you... I had waaaaay over complicated things and this really broke it down for me. Thank you for the time in making this. I've been frustrated for a year.
Immensely helpful - 99% of the settings in this video are accessible if you disable the new UI!
type the option name into the search field. worked for me.
After just 10 min and a first few changes I'm getting better speeds again...thx so much!!!
I recently deployed a UDM Pro, 3 UAP-HD-AP’s, and 2 FlexHD’s in a 19k sq ft home. So far working well but I have been keeping a close eye on it to make sure it is working well due to a high SLA expectation. Is my first large scale deployment. Thanks for the useful tips
Step 1. Never mount your access points as shown in the thumbnail. You will be shooting 50% of the radio power straight into the ground. I see this often for home builds because it’s easier to mount the AP on a wall rather than the ceiling, but it totally kills the range of your AP. Great video though - very detailed and explains how to choose the correct channel selection based on design. Cheers!
This was a fantastic video. Especially the sections describing channel isolation and channel width. Thanks.
My Alexa's and ring devices were not able to connect to my ubifi network. Your video completely helped. Thanks!
This video just helped figure why we couldn't print via WiFi! Thx
Well done review. I used to tune a lot of the same parameters on Cisco WLCs and it was nice to have recommendations and explanations for Ubiquiti settings. There are a lot of people offering "expertise" on networking but a lot of them either don't give a clear explanation or really don't understand how WiFi, Ethernet, etc. work.
Appreciate the insight, I'll be installing A UDM-pro and three nano APs into my household fairly soon. I'll make sure to keep what you said in mind when I go to configure them.
You are super brief and the experience talks. This was tight!
Following your advise I was able to clean up and stabilize my wifi. Thanks!
This is a very good summary on the best options with UniFi. One point of clarification is that a UniFi Wireless Instructor recommended the use of "Block LAN to WLAN Multicast and Broadcast Data" for all GUEST network SSID's.
This helps save on precious airtime, worth turning on for guest networks for sure. However on general home networks, they can cause problems with certain cast devices. Thankfully you can whitelist these in unifi.
This is true for Guest networks. They don't really need that feature.
I mention it for compatibility as a lot of devices rely on broadcast/multicast data between the WLAN and LAN to function. This happens a lot with things like chromecasts or mobile diagnostic equipment.
The rate control for 5ghz fixed my roaming issue, thx!
finally a good video how to set up my home network
Something else to consider with the 5GHz channels - channel 36 is 5150 MHz, channel 161 is up somewhere around nearly 5800MHz. That means your channels are nearly 1GHz apart. Similar to the difference between 2.4GHz and 5GHz, that means channel 36 is going to have a lower maximum speed/bandwidth and better obstacle penetration, whereas channel 161 will give higher speed but less obstacle penetration. A different of 700 MHz is fairly significant.
This applies to 2.4GHz as well, just not to the same extent. That means you probably want to prioritise channels 1 (2.4GHz) and 36 (5GHz) in the part of your home with most walls and fewer devices (perhaps bedrooms or near the back wall of your home where you want to sit outside?), and channels 11/161 where you have fewer walls but more devices (perhaps your living room)
It doesn't *really* matter, but the difference is noticeable in some scenarios and when you're installing multiple access points, it seems like it makes sense to optimise channels for the location
The upper radio frequencies versus penetration at 5ghz occurred to me yesterday. I've got one AP AC LR. A small house and mostly Ethernet to computers. Mobile devices such as iphone and ipad using wireless. One very old laptop with wifi analyzer software on it. The rest of our computers are running various Linux distros. Lawrence Systems has a channel on here that frequently discusses pfSense and Unify hardware. Per a couple of his videos I created a vlan for IoT devices, Anything that might not be all that secure. We have two. An Echo and Ring doorbell. The Ring is the only 2.4 ghz device. Being outside the AP even at 2.4ghz is marginal in the summer. So even though I don't like extenders I installed a TP Link just for the Ring. Been working fine. Other than creating a "crapwifi" vlan network the configuration for the AP is pretty much as installed. I disabled the 2.4ghz radio when I installed the extender.
A couple of days ago I ran into something I thought unusual. I changed the channel on 5ghz from auto to 36. It was already on 36. Checking out the crapwifi network with an ipad noticed that it kept disconnecting at a 3 second rate. All the apple devices would do it. But the extender, Echo, and laptop no issues. Only an Apple problem and only on the vlan wireless network. Not the wireless lan network. Back to auto and problem goes away.
Very useful video. Good to see straightforward suggestions! I'd love to see a continuation of the way you made this video for the rest of the Unifi controller. For example, how about a video on just LAN settings, and another video on just WAN settings and another on routing/firewall, etc.
That is a great suggestion! I'll add it to my list.
The Long range access points don't transmit at higher power. They extra range is in the better antenna. The antenna being more efficient can transmit the same amount of power further. It also means weaker signals will be picked up by the better antenna.
1180 clients with score 100 :) unbelievable...
Gonna test your settings on Monday, and see how it goes.
Thank you for the videos, they've helped me a lot. I just received my ER12 and Unifi nanoHD and used them to get everything up and running.
Just got my APs and ER12! I have my APs setup working with my old Dlink router....next step is replacing the Dlink with the ER12.....I have 2 APs, 3 switches in separate rooms, and then about 4 more direct connections at the router for hardlines elsewhere. Any advice or things you learned? Setting up the APs were simple compared to my old TPlinks....
A couple months ago the client tab page shows my laptop s tx rate capped at 144 Mbps when connected at 5 GHz band. I tried different troubleshoots but no clue, even resetting the APs. A couple days latter I finally figured out it was because the DFS, and I live in a suburban area. So I am glad that you mentioned to exclude them.
Interesting! I hadn't actually heard of specific instances of them causing issues outside of not working at all. Thank you!
@@ToastyAnswers Excluded the DFS under the WiFi AI, ran the scan then everything is back to normal again.
Hi, Thanks for these on UniFi really helping me understand my home network, adding a USG next and will look at all the settings you suggest, the AP info is most helpful
Nice video! I did however notice the Boxxy profile picture for your MS account glad to see some people remember the queen!
Haha! It's been my profile picture for so long now.... thanks for noticing!
¡Eres una reata Respuestas Tostadas!
In English: You are genius
Toasty Answers!
This was just the info I need to get started - great basic info. Thanks!
Excellenmt video's Mr Toasty! FYI Tom (Lawrence Technical Services) recommends leaving the channels etc on Auto. Makes sense with Multiple Unifi devices, not so much if you mix-n-match.
Thanks. That was really helpful. I didn't know much about channels prior to viewing this.
5k subs, thats awesome! Love the videos!
Awesome video thanks for all of the detailed information.
Excellent video. Also you can try to set RSSI if you have sticky devices when AP signals are overlapping. It's proven to be a handy feature when it comes to roaming.
If you're lucky enough to have newer Apple products, using HT80 for 5Ghz channels is a must. Apple products really perform well with HT80 enabled.
So if I have a MacBook that keeps dropping periodically, I should bump my 5Ghz to 80? According to him, I should drop it to 20 if I’m having reliability issues.
I've had newer mac minis not even connect to VHT80 even when it was steps away(and instead connecting to a far away radio with very limited signal strength and barely any connection...same issue with windows based Dell laptop). Changing to VHT40 resolved it and made things much more stable.
Excellent video. Was able to adjust my channels based on your recommendations. New sub!
Finally no more sticky clients! Thanks!!
Very good video. I'll be sharing this for sure.
Cannot agree more on not use DFS channel. Tried it once, iperf tested the Mac connectivity, super satisfied with the speed, none of my neighbors were using those channels, feeling made the right decision and the test work paid off!
A few hours later: all devices from Google Nest lost connectivity silently, any devices with Google or Nest brand does not support DFS band.
Yes, not all clients that support 5ghz band, support the DFS channels. I ran into this with Amazon tablets and their early generation smart speakers when I tested DFS channels. Certain Amazon devices immediately dropped off when the channel was set to the DFS range, while other devices continued working just fine.
This video helped me tremendously. Thank you.
Overlapping Channels are a problem on 2.4GHz only, but take into account your local situation also. 1, 6, 11 are great if there is no other interference, but if you have a lot of WiFI networks around, if you have 2 AP's in your house, you may be better with using intermediate channels. Just try to keep your two access points 6 channels apart if you can. If you are using 40MHz bandwidth on 2.4GHz, then all bets are off with overlapping channels.
DFS channels ar channels that are not guaranteed. Your AP may move to a different channel if a RADAR comes on, so do avoid these when you can for sure. Totally agree with that.
You're right on the Dynamic Frequency Selection DFS. It is used for weather radars etc. Every AP has a built in "scanner" for detecting a radar and it will never use a freq in that range if it detects it, hence why the 2.4GHz signal is always first to show and it can take up to 10mins for a 5GHz SSID to be seen. But, the sweet spot on 5 GHz is ch100.
It has to do with the output of the WiFi signal. Below ch100 the max output is 200mW (milliWatts) and above ch100 it is 1000mW or 1W.
a 5GHz channel has different freqs then just 5000MHz, ch100= 5500MHz, ch144= 5720MHz.
A physical property of a wave is: it impairs the higher the frequency is. So, the higher in channel you go, the signal will not carry as far.
Use the auto DFS on your AP to see if ch100 is clear, it's usually the one it picks first.
Thanks! Will try channel 100
Unfortunately not all devices that support 5ghz wifi support DFS channels. One needs to be aware of this or else moving to a DFS channel can cause some devices to completely drop off the network (or switch to 2ghz) while others work just fine. For example, most of the Amazon tablets we have work fine on non-DFS, but go dark on DFS channels while our phones are just fine (I only have 2ghz wifi available for IOT).
Good video, moving from Apple airport to Unifi and can use the help!
Thank you so much for your very clear and well explained video. I learned a lot!
Lot’s of greetings, Dennis 🇳🇱
Great video! It showed me what I don't know, but should know. :D
Super helpful video. Thanks for posting it.
Thank you sir! I used your tips to re-configure a bit. Good stuff!
would love a video to show how to make this work with 1gig internet...what settings are slowing that down....etc
Thanks for this. Definitely came in handy
Setup 2 APs with this. Thanks man!!
how to manage an Arlo security camera setup in a home network with UAP, edgeswitch and edgerouter?...as Arlo a bit of a pain since cant change wifi and it hops onto closest strong 2.4ghz channel.
also should put it on separate subnet/vlan and clamp down bandwidth? only have 100/20 from isp.
Good video, BTW setting DTIM to 3 resolves Apple devices connecting to the network. Sometime you might get invalid password when trying to join an Apple device to a UniFi network. By setting this value to 3, you will resolve this issue. The DTIM is how the AP (wireless router) warns its clients that it is about to transmit the multicast (and broadcast*) frames it queued up since the previous DTIM.
Such a brilliant video. Thanks a lot :)
Please keep making videos. They're great
it would be nice to see a new video for the controller software 7 that's current end of 2022
I plan to re-make this video with a more up-to-date version of the controller.
@@ToastyAnswers that would be great. New Controller seems to be very good fwiw
Superb explanations , thank you!
Worth noting that “Auto” under transmit power just means “use the highest” in UniFi.
I was not aware of this, and I'm just curious where this information comes from.
I watched this video and it was very well explained. My only comment is the information provided on selecting channels for each AP. In the video you sat that channels 1, 6 and 11 for 2.4 Ghz are non interfering channels. The for the 5Ghz you sat that there are the following channels 36, 40, 44, 48 and 149, 153, 157 and 161.
If I look at my setup I only see the first 4 channels, 36, 40, 44, 48. The 4 additional channels 149, 153, 157 and 161 are no available for selection within my config. Do you perhaps know why this is the case?
The rest of teh information is very good and clear, even more clar than what unifi support provide. That's where I learnt how to set up my AP and wifi network.
As an extra, what are your thoughts on teh unifi dashboard, and have you implemented any other dashboards that provide better visibility and the dashboards are more versatile. I found two solutions. The first was exprting the data to zabbix using unifi-proxy (I could not get this one to work because of issues with the unifi templates) the second was exporting the data to grafana using unifi-poller. that is an exceptional soultion. Works like a dream.
Thanks
Lawrence
Hello fellow European. Those channels are only allowed in USA/Canada. In Europe they are not allowed because of something called the ISM band. For Industrial, Scientific and Medical purpose only.
I was not aware of this. Thank you! I'm learning.
Hi, I appreciate this video, it's helpful to compare against my notes for quite high density installs. Would you consider doing any updated version of this video at some point, now that a lot of the features you mentioned are in the production build of Unifi devices? I'm particularly interested in port isolation and multicast and broadcast control. I've been using port isolation where all my APs are connected to an access layer switch, and the network is suffering particularly high broadcast and multicast traffic, particularly when a lot of devices come online at once, for example a few dozen iPads or laptops. But I'd be interested to know your thoughts.
Many thanks for the video.
Thanks for the comment. I've considered updating this video, but I actually struggle myself with fine-tuning the newer features. I have some pointers I could put into a video, but I feel like I'm a bit behind in my own ability to leverage and understand the newer changes.
Fantastic video. Thank you for the dive into these, was struggling with these a little while back and you addressed the questions I had back then.
thanks for the great video, you brought me up to speed with everything. I have one question though: what happens in a multi floor configuration with ? Say, what would you do if you would 3 identical floors of what you drawed, one on top of eachother? what would you do with the channnel overlapping between floors? Talking about a solid concrete floor.
Solid concrete definitely dampens the signal a substantial amount. However, what I try to do with multiple floors is to stagger the channel. It's very hard (if not impossible) to get these perfect... but this is what I generally try to do. Hopefully it makes sense.
Floor 1: AP1(Ch1) - AP2 (Ch6) - AP3 (Ch11)
Floor 2: AP1(Ch6) - AP2 (Ch11) - AP3 (Ch 1)
Floor 3: Ap1 (Ch11) - AP2 (Ch 1) - AP3 (Ch 6)
You have to take into account both the neighboring APs on the same floor, as well as the AP directly above. This layout is assuming the APs are placed in the same location on each floor.
The best way would be to use a spectrum analyzer to see which channels are actually interfering the most, but this would be a good starting point for the design.
would be awesome if you did an updated one. with dozens of firmware and features updates and new hardware/wifi6 and where stuff is in the controller changing, it would be super helpful
Updating this video has been on my list for about a year now. Hopefully I can get to it haha.
@@ToastyAnswers please update to new controller 7.2.96
Wat een prachtige natuur visie schitterend gewoon echt genieten bedankt nr lydia
Thank you for this video, very helpful!
Thanks Toasty for this video. We have Unifi at home since 2017. In August the system suddenly slowed down and dropped connectivity, especially if you moved around the house. Lots of people working from home, so this was not acceptable. Was about to chuck out the Unifi as some say it is a nightmare to fix, but when it works it is fantastic. Have put in some of the changes you suggest, so let's see how it goes!
It's best to do a wireless survey to get an understanding of what is going on, too many people fiddle with settings without a good understanding of the actual problem. Any devices that are stationary and use a lot of bandwidth or are latency sensitive should be hardwired. I have >70 TCP/IP devices in my home and have no issues with Unifi, but all the desktops, game consoles, security cameras, and streaming devices are hardwired, wifi is reserved for phones, tablets, chromebooks, and IOT switches.
@@timezonewall Thanks! I'll work on this. Don't have much energy as we were hit with Covid! Ended up in an ambulance to hospital... Might get a tech head to look at it as I'm only a dabbler...
@@BarryOGrady Sorry you were affected by Covid. We've been holed for the most part and have escaped it so far, but know several people who got it. I'll be happy to try and answer any questions on Unifi or networking, I may not be an "expert", but am quite knowledgeable and a tech head.
@@timezonewall - had to take time out! Tired all the time... Thanks for the offer. We have 6 APs on the controller. Upgraded the controller to 6.0.43 today. Turned off (plugged out) one of the APs as it is close to one other. System still not good. It seems you can connect but when it comes to bandwidth, you get 1Mbs when you are not right close to the AP. Uplink Connectivity Monitor off. Advanced settings off. I wonder should I just revert all APs to auto settings (auto channel and auto power)... Luckily the Apple TV is fed by a homeplug so we will survive!
@@BarryOGrady For me setting the AP channels manually works better. I use different SSIDs for 2.4ghz and 5ghz. My 5ghz devices don't even know about the 2.4 network, reserving the very crowded and noisy 2.4g for low bandwidth IOT devices. Band steering should also accomplish this, but I prefer to enforce myself with separate SSIDs. As far AP power, I have all of mine set to low. This, along with setting "minimum RSSI" improves the chances that the client device will handoff. I use 20mhz channel width for everything, that's plenty fast for streaming to portable devices and improves the network overall. I only use (on 5ghz) 36, 40, 44, and 48 as these have the best compatibility with 5ghz clients. On the controller I use the classic settings, not the "new settings" as there some things that I couldn't do in the past on "new settings" but I'm sure this is improving with each release. I have advanced settings turned on, and have minimum data rate control set to 12Mbps on both bands, and CCK rates disabled on 2.4ghz since I don't have any 802.11b devices. "Auto-Optimize Network" is disabled, having it on gave me poor performance as it made terrible choices on channel selection and bandwidth for my APs. Uplink connectivity monitor is disabled. I was hosting my controller on Windows, but just migrated it to a docker container in a linux VM on a XCP-ng server I've been working on.
6APs is a lot for a typical residential setting, but how many one needs depends on the configuration of the building and construction materials used. Only getting 1Mbps is indicative of a problem somewhere, rather it's in your configuration, AP placement, neighboring interference, etc is hard to say. A methodical Wifi site survey is important to understanding what is happening.
Great video… I can’t believe you have 1180 clients with score of 100:)
Hope you can do a video on MDNS as for the life of me I can’t get this feature working properly across multiple VLANs
you're my boy toasty....you're my boy
set dtim to 3 is good for iphones and apple in general. if you have problem with apple devices set those settings from default 1 to 3
DTIM 3 has been set as the new default value by UniFi.
@@dailymotion101 thats great
DTIM settings other than 3 drains MacBook batteries while they are asleep. Example, set to 3 over night say 10 hours goes from 100 to 99% set to default over the same period will drop to 80%. I figured that out when I went from Asus device to Ubiquiti and noticed. I switched back to the Asus and the issue went away so I started looking at settings and this was different so I changed it on the Unifi and the issue went away.
Super Helpful! Thanks so much.
Good Video. FYI Utilize RF Environment scan is a great build-in feature for choosing the best channel for your AP.
RF scan is helpful, but the best thing to do is a full wireless survey where one walks around the property with a portable device analyzing your AP(s) signal and the neighbors signals on both 2ghz and 5ghz.
@@timezonewall been there done that's it's old fashion way.build in RF scan so far is the best way to go no need third party application
@@KavanMavati An RF scan is fine if you have a single AP and you are just trying to find the best channel. A wireless survey does much more than that, and is very much a part of a professional installation. There is no other way to determine what a client will see through out the entire coverage area. It's also is the best way to determine how many access points are needed and where to locate them. It involves not only the portable testing device, is also utilizes APs mounted on a tripod that can easily be moved to test different placements. I have a feeling we are talking about two different things.
@@timezonewall well I am aware of the other benefits the wifi analyzer. We are talking about wifi channels, Dosent matter how many Aps you have, been an IT for so long the matter fact I seen Aps in busy environments set to auto that's operate better than a manual. There is so many tools out there can do the job its all personal preference.
@@KavanMavati We were talking about somewhat different things. You are _only_ talking about setting the channel, I was going beyond that to determine coverage area. Sometimes different channels work better in different parts of the same building which can lead to needing multiple APs. Even if a single AP is all one is going to have, a wireless survey is still helpful in optimizing the placement, but it's not particularly needed to set the channel as auto should do fine with that.
Hey man, found your channel today, great info. I've been struggling with a lot of little bugs in my wifi. I just installed a DM Pro last weekend, along with 2 FlexHD's and 2 USG-Mini switches. Wifi has been very glitchy. Your video had the best explanation I've found of what some of those settings actually do, and how they interact.
Excellent video, I learned a lot, thanks!
Thank you. Thank you.Thank you. cleared up a lot of Questions I had
Excellent! Thank you so much.
I have a home in the country that has an upper and lower level. Both are 1500 square feet and are about eight foot elevation difference. We spend time equally on both levels. Would access points be more effective on the ceiling of the upper or lower level or mixture of both? I was thinking two U6Pro to start with and possibly a third one later if I am missing coverage. For years I have gotten by with just a wireless router and now have a Netgear Orbi with two satellites where one satellite the wireless backhaul has failed and works only wired. I’ve had more problems with the Orbi than we do at our school with access points.
Generally, it would be better to have a mix, but every environment is different. I personally have two APs for a two-story house. One on the east side of lower level and one on the west side of the upper. That seems to work best for me, but YMMV.
@@ToastyAnswers Thanks! I have my UDM Pro, USW 16 Lite and two U6 Pro access points installed upstairs and downstairs and I have not had any coverage issues, even in my attached garage I get signal.
Could you perhaps dive more into transmit power and band steering suggestions? I been told Auto is equivalent to "high"
The reason I haven't gone deeper into this is the lack of information I've been able to find. I've seen conflicting reports where auto means "high" or "scanning" or "low". I haven't tested this for myself so I'm not sure how to recommend a configuration. The best I can say is that it is better to hard-code the configurations rather than leaving it up to the devices to figure it out for you.
@@ToastyAnswers I have been setting them to “medium” and it seems to be the happy medium. Do you venture into band steering at all? I’m pretty sure I watched every Unifi video in your series.
is there a way to know if there's radar in the area? i'm not near a big wheater station or something so is it fine?
I'm not really sure. I believe the channels will disable automatically if radar is detected. As long as you don't experience any issues while using DFS channels, it's safe to assume there isn't radar in the area.
I have not been in an area with radar so I can't confirm if this is how it works.
Usually it's motion sensor doors (they use radar) at a grocery store for example. Ever notice it messes up your radio signal when you are in front of them? Same principle (sort of) but if you walk around with a radio and get bad reception in places, chances are there could be the same interference that disrupts wifi signal radar or otherwise.
For the 5Ghz, it shouldn't be using the same channel for all three APs? Specially when using MESH techno ? And this is not a good idea if you are using the MESH techno to disable the wireless uplink :) The main AP has to be only on "downlink mode" when all secondaries APs have to be in "uplink mode" ...
would you trust unifi's auto scan and channel assignment over a novice doing this manually as in your video?
On the latest controller setting what do you recommend for the Minimum Data Rate Control? There is now just a check box for Auto which removes settings sliders for adjusting them or if you turn off auto then you adjust the rate controls per radio.
I haven't actually seen the "auto" setting for this. I typically set the data rates to 9mbps for 2.4ghz, and 12mbps for 5ghz. This very much depends on the density and other network factors, but these are the settings I start with.
Great video. At the end I see you turned off meshing, is this because you have each AP with POE+ & Back to LAN (Ethernet)?
Yes, all my APs are connected with Ethernet. I don't want the APs trying to mesh together when it isn't necessary.
FYI the LR models have more sensitive antennas to be able to hear devices from further distances as well. How well that really works I have no idea.
That was the biggest advantage, but now the NanoHD has the same antenna gain.
I would also not recommend using the DFS channels... Unifi sometimes reports that there was a radar signal and will disable the AP or switch channel when that happens. If planes fly over your house you might have this happen frequently
This is exactly how it was designed to work. DFS channels if you don't live near airports, is typically fine. The worst that can happen is the AP switches to a non DFS channel. If you live in a crowded WiFi area like an apartment, it's recommended to use DFS channels especially if you're using those fatter channel widths.
@@forid200 I know this. This is why i advised against it. If you want a perfect connection and do not want to be bothered with channel switching keep it off the DFS channels. it might save you a headache later :)
@@Jeroen_a It really depends on the location. I haven't heard of a plane at cruising altitude affecting DFS, now if one is located near an airport that is a different manner. Another consideration is how well radar detection is implemented in the AP, in other words a router with a high rate of false positives, a common issue, makes using DFS channels pointless.
DFS is emergency frequencies as well as Radar type devices. If you were near an airport you would expect a very bad use experiance with those channels
I know this video is more than a year old, but less than half of the options you mention in this video is in my current settings interface. Did they update it to make it simpler or what happened?
You're not wrong. They updated the interface and it looks a whole lot different than when I made this video. I have an entry on my to-do list to re-create this using the new interface. However, in the mean time, my video (ruclips.net/video/xnC8srOCuR8/видео.html) covers the different interfaces and the issues I've had with them.
The UniFi pro I have does not give the option to turn off bata
Excellent. Thank you.
Was there a cutoff when the AC-LR AP's became 5g capable? I have 6 year old AC-LR's and don't see 5g settings under Device on the controler.
Good stuff... more please. Subscribed
Great video. For 5ghz radio the channels available are 36 40 44 48 then the DFS ones. I cannot view 149 153 157 or 161... Where are these?
These may not be available in your country. Some channels are reserved for special purposes depending on where you live.
If I have more than one AP do they have to be hard wired to the router?
No, but hardwired connections are always the best when it comes to performance.
I noticed a brick wall plus fridge = By by 5Ghz even from only 7 meters away. 2.4 does fine.
Great video! Can you do one on threat management next?
I'll add it to the list. I don't currently own any of the routing/switching equipment from Unifi, but I have deployed it a few times in the past.
@@ToastyAnswers Att: Ubiquiti....... Send this man a USG pronto
Really really awesome video Just one question , I use home automation wifi simple devices that only work on 2.4 are they going to be ok with unifi AP`s will they keep connection ? your thoughts
They should be fine, but these devices are affected more by some of the topics I cover in this video. What I mean is, the optional features are more likely to affect these and you probably want to lean more towards the "compatibility" end of the spectrum when working with them.
I have a question for you...I run 3 UniFi® HD In-Wall throughout my home and my 4th AP is in my basement which is unfinished and there I run UniFi® AP AC PRO. My in wall units have no problem switching off from unit to unit depending on where we are in the house. When we go into the basement, we rarely switch off to the basement unless I reconnect what ever device is down there (i.e. smart phone). I even have a ring pro chime that is located in the basement but it typical connects to the AP in my kitchen instead of the basement. My question is, do you think my system is not switching off because the basement AP is a different device than the other AP's in my home? If not, do you have a hunch what the issue might be? If not sure, do you know the best place to find an answer? Apparently there is not much customer support on this system via Unifi. TIA
What about a setup in a house with multiple floors and a garage? For example, basement, main floor, second floor, garage.
The same rules would apply, however you have to "think in 3D". The main floor AP will most likely overlap with the basement and second floor APs if they are stacked on top of each other. You just have to take this into account when planning the channels.
If I adjust the 2.4 and 5ghz channels, will the radios still mesh together? I have several mesh points around my property.
Hey there , my radio setting at 5 g the channels is only DFS how i can change that ?
thanks