I wish @ubnt would give non YouTube’s some love.
After watching @LinusTech tips latest video on his network upgrade (why is it only YouTubers get free stuff? I’d quite happily make a video about upgrading my home network), I’ve played with around with my future network plans as I’ve realised I need a bit more functionality where the access points are. So I thought I’d have a look and see what Ubiquiti Products could help me out.
The problem I found I had with my plan was that whilst I had great WiFi coverage I didn’t have any switches anywhere but in the office. There were two options to fix this hole in my networking plan.
The first was to include an UniFi Switch 80 60W with each of the UniFi AC Lite access points. This would give me an 8 port switch with PoE on 4 of those ports.
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| Unifi AC Lite Access Point | £80.40 |
| Unifi Switch 80 60W | £111.60 |
| Total | £190 |
The second option was to use a UniFi In-Wall HD. It has an ethernet port on the back of the device that is hidden in a wall box that connects to you central switch. It also has a 4 port switch on the bottom of the device to enable plugging in IP phones, computers and other devices. The In-Wall HD also has a built-in access point.
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| UniFi In-Wall HD | £166.80 |
| Total | £166.80 |
Considering I won’t need to connect more than one PoE devices in each of the four locations and won’t need more than three extra ports for computers and such like the In-Wall HD seems like the better option here. Not only does it cost less (around £24) but I’ll also have less equipment at each location as everything is built into the In-Wall HD.
The main reason I need to be able to pass through PoE though is that I will be adding IP Phones in the 4 locations. I’ll plan on using 4 Clearly IP 230 Phones paired with the Clearly IP PBX 716 VoIP Server Appliance. I’ll be placing the phones in the living room, office, kitchen & bedroom.
Whilst I could install my phone system server (IPBX) as a virtual machine on a computer, I much prefer to have a separate device run these types of things and run a backup system on a computer if needs be. This was the IPBS system has dedicated hardware it doesn’t have to share with other apps or systems.
The Clearly IP PBX 716 will allow me to merge our homophone line with my VoIP service so everything can run on the same phones. I also won’t have to worry I need a new number for something as they are really simple to add in FreePBX (the PBX Server on the appliance).
| Product | Price | Qty | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clearly IP 230 VoIP Phone | £90.72 | 4 | £362.88 |
| Clearly IP PBX 716 (with Free PBX) | £454.20 | 1 | £454.20 |
| Total | £817.09 |
Well the savings I made between to the two access point and switch options aren’t going to cover the costs of the IP phones but I’m still saving around £100 in total just on there.
| Product | Price | QTY | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| UBNT Dream Machine Pro | £375.09 | 1 | £375.09 |
| UBNT USW-16-POE Gen 2 | £295.56 | 1 | £295.56 |
| UBNT UniFi In-Wall HD | £177.33 | 4 | £709.32 |
| Cat6 Cable 305m | £45.00 | 1 | £45.00 |
| 1 gang back box | £1.62 | 4 | £6.48 |
| Clearly IP 230 VoIP Phone | £90.72 | 4 | £362.88 |
| Clearly IP PBX 716 (with Free PBX) | £454.20 | 1 | £454.20 |
| Total | £2,248.53 |
I don’t think that £2,248.53 is all that bad considering I’ll be giving our home network a lot more capability, complete singular SSID WiFi coverage (unlike our current very spotty multi SSID networks) as well as a phone system that will work with the landline and not just virtual numbers.
What do you think of, what is hopefully, my future network setup? What would you change? can you recommend another PBX server appliance? Let me know in the comments below.
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