After nearly a week of researching WiFi 6E options, I've decided I'm probably going to opt for my first Ubiquiti setup. I want 6E regardless, I have 2x laptops ready for it, I've wanted to get off WiFi 5 for a couple of years now (Ruckus APs.)
Ruckus is not an option due to price, over $1k per AP (vs the $50 per AP I paid for R500's back in 2021.) Ubiquiti look like the cheapest by quite a bit
I have an IT background, sysadmin 10+ years, currently running Sophos XG on an old Dell but XG has limited support for newer hardware, making 2.5Gbps awkward.
I'd like to go full 10G but this sounds difficult with limited 2.5G compatibility (for access points + PC.)
Ultimately I've went full circle and it looks like Ubiquiti will be my simplest option:
-Dream Machine SE (2.5G WAN, 10G DAC to E-24)
-Enterprise 24 PoE
-U6 Enterprise access points
I understand this stuff is expensive but realistically, I can only see potential savings by using a SFF PC instead of the Dream Machine, for the sake of a few hundred I'd rather keep it simpler.
My current fibre is 1Gbps IPoE (I had PPPoE ordered and cancelled for IPoE), with my country trialling 1.2/1.8Gbps next year. The Dream Machine SE is supposed to manage upto 3.5G with security enabled, I'm expecting at least 3 years from this setup. All in, it's not much more than 3x 6E Orbis.
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice before I order? I've read so many mixed reviews about Ubiquiti, I don't even know what's real anymore. While I can manage a complex setup, I just want what's going to be most reliable/stable.
I was looking at the 8 port initially but for a couple hundred extra, decided the 24 port will suit be better, one-device that does all instead of multiple switches.
I went back n fourth between the 2 myself. Took about 2 weeks for me to decide. I ended up with the 8 port only because I figured I wouldn’t be getting more than 8 U6 enterprise AP’s and the cameras are all 1Gbe so I didn’t see the need. At some point I will get a 24port but most likely a professional and not the enterprise.
I think the 24p is 12x 1G and 12x 2.5G so I figured I can just route all devices into one and even save a little bit of money on electric (eg. instead of running extra switches, I bought various lengths of the skinny Ubiquity ethernet cables to wire devices direct.)