Unifi Dream Machine

[Paul Glover]

As with these days when you sign up for internet with a provider you get their bundled router, depending on your needs they might be fine for you. With as many connected devices that I have these days (and growing) I found myself rebooting my router fairly regularly, mainly because the internet would appear to stop or my Sonos speakers stopped working.

Previously I have often purchased a new router, not quite budget, but mid-range. Which would do a better job and provide me some more advanced firewall options, but not much more. I even dabbled with the odd Draytek.

From afar I have been admiring Ubquiti Wifi devices for a couple of years, then got talking with someone I worked with who had taken the plunge and spent a few pounds on their kit. Because of this and what he showed me I decided I wanted to join him, but before I pulled the trigger they went and released this in the USA: https://eu.store.ui.com/products/unifi-dream-machine

So I waited and come December I finally managed to order one, a week or so later it arrived and I haven't looked back.

i now have all this data, I can see what is doing what and will alert any devices doing something it shoudn't. But the best thing is being able to have devices on different ethernet or wireless networks, my IOT devices have been split away from my main devices by being on a seperate VLAN. They can still reach the internet when required, but they have been blocked from reaching other networks that I have.

Another big selling point is it's reliability, I have powered it down after making changes etc but it's been 50 days since it was last restarted. I'd be lucky if a basic router could reach that! Also, it's wireless range and features are top notch.

I know this isn't your typical computer hardware, but your router is at the heart of your internet and I wanted to share my experience.

There are some great videos on Youtube if you want further info.

Like with anything, you get what you pay for and I will never go back!

 

[Kek700]

May I ask some questions, they are probably of the dim variety.
I have a typical EE supplied router ( which has been troublesome on occasion )
Have often thought about removing this, replacing it with something after market.
Have been informed that there is no point as I only use it for house WiFi and hard wired into my PC for online racing.
Is there any point, or can I, simply replace my EE router with this in the hopes of improved performance and reliability,
Will it simply replace the EE router, and communicate with the internet as if it were the EE router.
Or will i have just bought myself a load of grief.
Thought I would ask before referring to youtube and getting sucked in, if you get my drift.

 

[pattikins]

I use a notebook stand cooler with my Plusnet router/modem. It's not an elegant solution, but it works and I don't have any reliability issues.

 

[Paul Glover]

May I ask some questions, they are probably of the dim variety.
I have a typical EE supplied router ( which has been troublesome on occasion )
Have often thought about removing this, replacing it with something after market.
Have been informed that there is no point as I only use it for house WiFi and hard wired into my PC for online racing.
Is there any point, or can I, simply replace my EE router with this in the hopes of improved performance and reliability,
Will it simply replace the EE router, and communicate with the internet as if it were the EE router.
Or will i have just bought myself a load of grief.
Thought I would ask before referring to youtube and getting sucked in, if you get my drift.

My point of view is, if it causes you problems then I would replace it. With what is the question. The router which I bought is not cheap and not for your average user, I'd would do a bit of research. Likely EE have their own forums, why not do a bit of reading to see what others tend to use?

 

[Kek700]

Thanks for the advice Paul, will do as you suggest.

 

[maelstrom]

Have been informed that there is no point as I only use it for house WiFi and hard wired into my PC for online racing.
Is there any point, or can I, simply replace my EE router with this in the hopes of improved performance and reliability,

It depends. If you get a weak WiFi signal in parts of your house where you use a laptop/phone/tablet AND it noticeably affects the performance of your devices, then an upgrade is probably worth it. I would start off by using a broadband performance testing app like SpeedTest (https://www.speedtest.net) in your weak signal areas to see what you're actually getting. The worst part of my house still gives me about 10 Mbps which is more than enough for streaming movies and browsing the Internet.

The best way to spread the signal around the house is not necessarily with a single, expensive router, but with either a Powerline network or a WiFi Mesh network. With the Powerline system, you connect your router by a cable to an adapter which plugs into a power socket in your home. You can then plug another adaptor into a socket in the weak-signal area and the broadband signal is sent through your house wiring. The second adapter can be a wired port, wireless or both. With the Mesh system, usually one node of the system replaces your existing router and connects to your incoming wired broadband signal. This then links wirelessly to other nodes positioned around your house spreading the signal more efficiently. Both systems have their pros and cons but both generally work well.

 

[Paul Glover]

It depends. If you get a weak WiFi signal in parts of your house where you use a laptop/phone/tablet AND it noticeably affects the performance of your devices, then an upgrade is probably worth it. I would start off by using a broadband performance testing app like SpeedTest (https://www.speedtest.net) in your weak signal areas to see what you're actually getting. The worst part of my house still gives me about 10 Mbps which is more than enough for streaming movies and browsing the Internet.

The best way to spread the signal around the house is not necessarily with a single, expensive router, but with either a Powerline network or a WiFi Mesh network. With the Powerline system, you connect your router by a cable to an adapter which plugs into a power socket in your home. You can then plug another adaptor into a socket in the weak-signal area and the broadband signal is sent through your house wiring. The second adapter can be a wired port, wireless or both. With the Mesh system, usually one node of the system replaces your existing router and connects to your incoming wired broadband signal. This then links wirelessly to other nodes positioned around your house spreading the signal more efficiently. Both systems have their pros and cons but both generally work well.

Personally I would steer towards Mesh rather than powerline, fortunately for me my house isn't big enough for it to be a problem.

 

[maelstrom]

Personally I would steer towards Mesh rather than powerline, fortunately for me my house isn't big enough for it to be a problem.

Why? Mesh is certainly a safer option if you have a complicated, highly modified ring main in your house. However, I'm currently on my second TP-Link Powerline system which runs without issues. My first system was reliable but quite slow and when an adapter died after several years of use I decided to upgrade to a newer, faster setup. Very pleased with the new system (6 months in). The biggest advantage of using a Powerline system is cost. You don't need to replace your existing router and to get the same coverage generally only costs half to two thirds of a comparable Mesh system.

 

[Paul Glover]

Mesh is certainly a safer option if you have a complicated, highly modified ring main in your house. However, I'm currently on my second TP-Link Powerline system which runs without issues. My first system was reliable but quite slow and when an adapter died after several years of use I decided to upgrade to a newer, faster setup. Very pleased with the new system (6 months in). The biggest advantage of using a Powerline system is cost. You don't need to replace your existing router and to get the same coverage generally only costs half to two thirds of a comparable Mesh system.

Valid points, I have a powerline for one device at my place as the onboard Wifi died. Works well for me.

Regarding cost, it depends on your needs. Also if you can grab a deal here and there on a mesh system, worth keeping an eye out.