Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI
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@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
If he truly wants hands off - I'd look at another solution where at minimum the hardware self updates - many home routers will do that - I'm guess most business class do not.
Unifi will do that. Basically no consumer equipment does.
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@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@DustinB3403 The don't have anything actually, it's all cloud based there.
This is fully what I expected you to say - hell, if possible, the whole office could be on Chromebooks.. though sadly, they likely have some device requirement that doesn't work with Chromebooks, so they are forced to have Windows - like scanners and label printers, etc.
Yep, and some ancient dental software.
once there is any dental software, then it's all HIPAA covered.
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@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@DustinB3403 The don't have anything actually, it's all cloud based there.
This is fully what I expected you to say - hell, if possible, the whole office could be on Chromebooks.. though sadly, they likely have some device requirement that doesn't work with Chromebooks, so they are forced to have Windows - like scanners and label printers, etc.
Yep, and some ancient dental software.
once there is any dental software, then it's all HIPAA covered.
I'm assuming that's on the other network mentioned above, not this one.
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@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
If he truly wants hands off - I'd look at another solution where at minimum the hardware self updates - many home routers will do that - I'm guess most business class do not.
Unifi will do that. Basically no consumer equipment does.
Unifi will auto update when new firmware is released?
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@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
If he truly wants hands off - I'd look at another solution where at minimum the hardware self updates - many home routers will do that - I'm guess most business class do not.
Unifi will do that. Basically no consumer equipment does.
Would you suggestion then be:
setup Vultr with $5/m VM, install Ubuntu/Debian, set to auto update daily
install Unifi controller
set unifi to update all devices daily?that could work.
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@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
But, for zero maintenance, would it be easier to use one of the Cloud controller keys to set this up?
Nothing is zero maintenance, and definitely avoid the Cloud Key, that's just extra hardware where none is needed.
Good to know. I've seen some providers use them, but I assumed it was to avoid the need of installing controller software. Why you'd want to avoid that, is unknown to me.
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Why not use the ISP gateway modem/wifi, if you don't want to manage it?
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@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
If he truly wants hands off - I'd look at another solution where at minimum the hardware self updates - many home routers will do that - I'm guess most business class do not.
Unifi will do that. Basically no consumer equipment does.
Would you suggestion then be:
setup Vultr with $5/m VM, install Ubuntu/Debian, set to auto update daily
install Unifi controller
set unifi to update all devices daily?that could work.
The 5$ instance tends to break if you do any type of logging. I upgraded mine to the 10$ instance and haven't really had any issues.
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@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
But, for zero maintenance, would it be easier to use one of the Cloud controller keys to set this up?
Nothing is zero maintenance, and definitely avoid the Cloud Key, that's just extra hardware where none is needed.
Good to know. I've seen some providers use them, but I assumed it was to avoid the need of installing controller software. Why you'd want to avoid that, is unknown to me.
I'm not sure I agree with Scott on this. In my above example, running a vultr instance costs $5/m forever, running the Cloud Key costs the upfront purchase price ($80), granted it takes 16 months (plus time value of money) to get over that costs, but from that point on, the only cost is the electricity it uses.
Also, the cloud key is local, so no need to worry about hackers trying to hack it, assuming it can be set to auto update (again, not sure this can be done), then it will take care of itself.Now for Scott to say why my thinking is all wrong on this.
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@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@dbeato said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
I would use the Unifi Controller on a server you host and not use the Cloud Key. Maybe you can charge monthly for the maintenance of the AP and firmware upgrades (All Automated if you want).
I could do this, but don't really want to for this one.
I just want to help them out and upgrade their existing WIFI network, and then get out of dodge.I would use the USG and a UAP, assuming that you can setup the USG in the app.
If you cannot use iPhone/Android app to configure a USG, then I would drop to the AmpliFi Instant.
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@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
If he truly wants hands off - I'd look at another solution where at minimum the hardware self updates - many home routers will do that - I'm guess most business class do not.
Unifi will do that. Basically no consumer equipment does.
Unifi will auto update when new firmware is released?
Yes
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@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
If he truly wants hands off - I'd look at another solution where at minimum the hardware self updates - many home routers will do that - I'm guess most business class do not.
Unifi will do that. Basically no consumer equipment does.
Would you suggestion then be:
setup Vultr with $5/m VM, install Ubuntu/Debian, set to auto update daily
install Unifi controller
set unifi to update all devices daily?that could work.
Generally, yes. That way it stays automated in a way that allows for minimal management.
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@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
But, for zero maintenance, would it be easier to use one of the Cloud controller keys to set this up?
Nothing is zero maintenance, and definitely avoid the Cloud Key, that's just extra hardware where none is needed.
Good to know. I've seen some providers use them, but I assumed it was to avoid the need of installing controller software. Why you'd want to avoid that, is unknown to me.
No, I think it's to sell extra devices.
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@coliver said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
If he truly wants hands off - I'd look at another solution where at minimum the hardware self updates - many home routers will do that - I'm guess most business class do not.
Unifi will do that. Basically no consumer equipment does.
Would you suggestion then be:
setup Vultr with $5/m VM, install Ubuntu/Debian, set to auto update daily
install Unifi controller
set unifi to update all devices daily?that could work.
The 5$ instance tends to break if you do any type of logging. I upgraded mine to the 10$ instance and haven't really had any issues.
They don't want maintenance. So just don't log.
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@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
But, for zero maintenance, would it be easier to use one of the Cloud controller keys to set this up?
Nothing is zero maintenance, and definitely avoid the Cloud Key, that's just extra hardware where none is needed.
Good to know. I've seen some providers use them, but I assumed it was to avoid the need of installing controller software. Why you'd want to avoid that, is unknown to me.
I'm not sure I agree with Scott on this. In my above example, running a vultr instance costs $5/m forever, running the Cloud Key costs the upfront purchase price ($80), granted it takes 16 months (plus time value of money) to get over that costs, but from that point on, the only cost is the electricity it uses.
Also, the cloud key is local, so no need to worry about hackers trying to hack it, assuming it can be set to auto update (again, not sure this can be done), then it will take care of itself.Now for Scott to say why my thinking is all wrong on this.
Because the cloud key has to be maintained and sometimes replaced. Not annually, but it can't just be ignored... but it will be. But it is costly to pay someone to maintain it for you. I don't know how easy it is to update the cloud key, but I do know that backing it up is a big pain. But Vultr will do that for you for $1.
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@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@fuznutz04 said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
But, for zero maintenance, would it be easier to use one of the Cloud controller keys to set this up?
Nothing is zero maintenance, and definitely avoid the Cloud Key, that's just extra hardware where none is needed.
Good to know. I've seen some providers use them, but I assumed it was to avoid the need of installing controller software. Why you'd want to avoid that, is unknown to me.
I'm not sure I agree with Scott on this. In my above example, running a vultr instance costs $5/m forever, running the Cloud Key costs the upfront purchase price ($80), granted it takes 16 months (plus time value of money) to get over that costs, but from that point on, the only cost is the electricity it uses.
Also, the cloud key is local, so no need to worry about hackers trying to hack it, assuming it can be set to auto update (again, not sure this can be done), then it will take care of itself.Now for Scott to say why my thinking is all wrong on this.
Because the cloud key has to be maintained and sometimes replaced. Not annually, but it can't just be ignored... but it will be. But it is costly to pay someone to maintain it for you. I don't know how easy it is to update the cloud key, but I do know that backing it up is a big pain. But Vultr will do that for you for $1.
You already mentioned not logging, updating a cloud key is pretty easy. I have one and it updates easily.
I still have yet to see how you update the firmware on the devices automatically though... of course in a ubuntu setup - where it's doing auto updates, updating the controller software is automatic through updates.
Though, in typing this - when you manually run updates on ubuntu/debian, when it comes to installing the unifi Controller update - it always stops and verifies that a backup was done - can you silence that?
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@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
You already mentioned not logging, updating a cloud key is pretty easy. I have one and it updates easily.
You mean the OS... updating the cloud key itself, not just the software on top of it?
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@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
You already mentioned not logging, updating a cloud key is pretty easy. I have one and it updates easily.
You mean the OS... updating the cloud key itself, not just the software on top of it?
yes - it's easy - at least manually it's easy - you click the upgrade button and it just does it. That also generally updates the controller software at the same time.
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Backups you have a point - but if you really only worry about backups when a change is made, then you don't really have to worry about it much.
though getting a new backup on each version, after a version upgrade, would be a good idea...
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@Dashrender said in Ubiquiti - Small office Router and WIFI:
Backups you have a point - but if you really only worry about backups when a change is made, then you don't really have to worry about it much.
though getting a new backup on each version, after a version upgrade, would be a good idea...
When you are on a cloud key and it is $15 of hardware that could die any moment, you worry a bit more.
