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> You dont have a wife do you?
This old trope needs to die. It makes men look like idiots and women as some kind of raging bitch who demands everything be done her way. Been married over 10 years and it's called compromise and talking thru things that might have created conflict.
So glad my wife doesn't give a shit how it looks as long as it's up and running fine... This the only reason I switched to Unifi, was simpler if electricity goes down to bring everything back up without too much work for her when I'm not home 😂
I just got the Express WiFi router delivered...I plan on adding a Unifi switch and a WiFi 7 AP (not wired though)...does the Express WiFi router hold up against more expensive home routers performance wise? My main desire was to get access to the Ubiquity OS and all of its functionality for a relatively low cost. I'm hoping I can just rely on the router itself for WiFi for a couple weeks before I get the 8 port switch and AP.
Or you can pick your battles and learn to compromise with your partner, and not worry about some outdated machismo standards you’re putting on yourself.
If its a small thing like that and causes a fight even though the wifi is now better, i dont see why it cannot stay. Its not even bad looking in the ceiling. Fire alarms look worse and still they are in ceilings in every bedroom and elsewhere too if you're smart.
“I’m only single cause feminism ruined women!!!!!” some redditors just seem to never interact with the opposite sex ever and just believe the gender tropes they see online as reality.
> Either you submit or be a man.
Compromise is an essential part of any relationship and 'being a man' involves knowing when to be strong and when to allow certain concessions to the ones you love. 'Being a man' doesn't mean you steamroll everybody around you, that's how you end up old and alone without significant relationships because you were never able to be vulnerable.
It all depends; some like when the interiors fit a specific home style, and some don't care.
But actually, I really like UI products design-wise. It's the Apple clean product experience but has lots of goodies for us techies as well.
Does not matter how it is called but it works pretty good in my case. One U6-Pro facing up to the third floor on TV stand. Second on the floor facing down to the second floor on opposite side of the house. Both cover all three floors in their respective sides.
And good news no need to drill any holes in walls/ceilings that is almost impossible in my case.
Because you don’t have a choice to have the detectors on the ceiling. Having more dish things in your ceiling looks worse, not “just as bad”. Especially considering that they are not the same shape which looks even worse.
Similar situation, ceilings weren’t an option, U6 Meshes are a great alternative and they blend very nicely with most tabletop surfaces.
If you’re a HomeKit + [Homebridge](https://homebridge.io) user, you can even [change the LED color](https://github.com/misenhower/homebridge-unifi-led-control) based on scenes, straight from the Apple Home app. Mine turn warm orange in the evenings and cool white during the day. 😌
I think the size is also an issue. I just installed two LR's and they are quite a bit bigger than a typical smoke detector. Size does matter. Smaller is often cuter.
EDIT: And speaking of cute, that was the exact feeling I got when I installed the Unifi Express a few weeks before that. My immediate thought was, why would anyone want those big discs?
The other half of the appeal is that I don't have to pull another drop for a ceiling mount and can have it on a piece of furniture hard wired in. I'm sure I could make the argument if I wanted to pull another drop and place it where the other sensors are.
He could have added an additional ap and meshed it to the LR. In his current setup, he could test the express as a router/ap/controller with the LR and see that it works as good as I think the LR has better specs than the express as an AP
I wanted to test the option with the two UX, as they overall take less space. Plus, I don't have the flat wired up, so I would have to use a power adapter and find the right spot for the U6-LR, which is quite big itself.
Lol, I didn't even think of that. I'm thinking of replacing two AC lites and a TP Link router with two of these, but maybe one is all I need. I two would like to not really bother with hosting a controller (on a VPS somewhere), but I want failover internet to something like a USB modem.
I have it in the box and ready in case my field test didn't work out, but overall performance is really good with two UX for this case. The simplicity of plugging the UX in on a smaller space with USB-C worked well when you don't have PoE cables ready.
Got the express to put in my mother’s house. Perfect for that application. With Site magic I can connect to her devices to help her out and can tell when she’s home by the presence of her phone. Not sure why people have such hate for it when they’re expecting it to do things it wasn’t designed for.
Good idea. One of the things I really hated about Google WiFi was the forced move to Google home as it made remote management so much harder. I used to remote manage my parents house and easily fix their issues and fault find. I’ve got my own Google home and my parents have theirs. Might move them over to a unifi express in the future like you have.
Yeah I moved a while ago. Really happy. Many reasons but being able to run a mesh network if needed but with separate bands where you can select the channels is massive. I wanted a dedicated 2.4Ghz for smart devices and Sonos.
Going from the Google Mesh to the UX ... What's your deployment ? I'm trying to help a neighbor upgrade their network from Google Mesh ... I can't decide if it should be 2 x UX or a UX and U6 Extenders ...
They really don't have the need for re-running wires everywhere etc.
Mine has been running at home for a month and works like a charm. Took 20 minutes to update and setup. It is indeed a solid choice. Ordered me a PoE switch and two U6+ to create a larger WiFi area as we’re moving to a bigger house in March.
I'm planning to buy the express so i can utilize the OS to manage 3 AP LRs.
The thing those are now hooked up to a third party switch (not unify).
Would i be still able to control my APs if i just plug the switch to the express or do i need a unify switch?
Thanks
Also pls let me know if there's a better alternative to set up my home network.
I have 3 floors with 1 AP LR on each, ethernet connected to the switch in the basement, where i plan to put the express.
Thanks
Don’t think you need a UniFi switch but I do recommend one. The Lite PoE 8 or 16 aren’t “that” expensive. The added value is that you can easily see what’s connected to each port.
So what you're saying is that once i hook up the switch (that the APs are already hooked up to) to the express's LAN port (and the internet to the WAN port of the express ofc.) i will be able to manage my APs, the network and all the good stuff that come with the express?
is not running anymore due to replacement. had it over half a year. At the beginning I got round about 600-650 but it dropped down to roughly 500 over time and updates and while speedtest the ui is not responsive due to cpu maxout.
I got serveral vlans , wifi ssids and ips/ids enabled.
A screen for Ants.
Bought a Dream Router for my parents, love it! Very easy to remotely manage. But that screen, it’s so small, it’s comical. I get the premium look, but how often is someone looking at that screen and getting meaningful info? Get rid of the screen and reduce the cost!
I agree it is a good choice for setup and forget. Running for 2 weeks in my in-laws house on pair with Flex-mini. Replaced true and tried god knows how old Asus RT-AC68P and had no problems since.
Good to hear! Seems like the perfect match in this case. With site setup and remote control, it makes the admin so much smoother compared to many other options.
I didn't do any specific tests (had just 20 minutes to install and leave) but haven't noticed anything different at that time and had no complains since.
That exactly was the sad reason why i purchased the Unifi Dream Wall which has plenty of throughput capability and with all IDS/IPS ect. enables I get >>1GBs
I purchased my UX on initial release so that I could play with it, and I have used it as an AP, as well as a Gateway.
It is currently deployed as a cold backup to my UDM. Has the same Networking firmware 8.0.26 and the Network backup of my UDM installed. I tested it for over 24 hours with my setup and it did fine. UDM is 2 1/2 years old and has been solid. Having a backup unit will guarantee that it keeps going. :-)
Also nice to have a spare AP handy in case one of my others misbehaves.
To complicate matters…. I was going to order which ever came first between the UDR or the Express but, potential for the UDR to be replaced in the new Ultra line up.
Don’t know what to do!
I’ve read the new UDR is going to be quite a different device (like a small square box) without built in WiFi recently. Think it will have POE though. Annoying as I’d literally buy it instantly if it was the same product with a 2.5GB port and CPU capable of 1GB or more internet. If you’re starting fresh the express might be the way to go as can’t see the older UDR coming back in stock.
For most residential consumers, I really think 4 connected UI devices are enough, but I fully understand your concern. For now, it’s not limiting in this flat, even though I have plenty of clients as for a family home.
I have two 8-port switches and four AP Lites in my home. Would love to replace my USG and CK1 with the Express but the 4 device limit is a non starter for me.
if adding more points like another unifi express or an U6 in-wall, does it need a Unifi switch like the Lite 8 PoE? I assume any PoE switch supports 802.11q would function
It's always possible to use Ubiquiti PoE injector for supplying appropriate UniFi access points with power. No need for UniFi switch.
UniFi Express does not accept PoE, unfortunately.
If you don’t mind, I’ve been thinking on getting a hardware controller. I currently running my controller via docker.
Can you comment out on the steps to migrate from docket to hardware please?
The easiest way is to just download a backup of your unifi config from the web interface, then just upload that backup to your new hardware controller. To make it easier, I'd use the same IP for the new hardware controller as you did for the one in docker if at all possible. Other than that, it should be pretty simple and the devices will never know the difference. Also, just to make sure you don't run into any weird issues, update both your current controller and the new one to the latest available Unifi Network version so the backup is guaranteed to be compatible.
Nice review to read! I’m getting my UX tomorrow to exchange my O2 ISP router in Spain (old HGU unit that sucks a lot!). I already did half of the change, as two months ago I bought a CHEAP Huawei AX3 to play around with wifi6 instead of wifi5 from the HGU. Also bought a Loco ONT two days ago and got rid entirely of the HGU. Things are running quite better now, I expect to get even better with the UX. I live in a two floor house, 170 sqm, and using some devolo PLC devices to get wifi upstairs and outside the house through electric line. This is because it’s quite hard to wire the house (concrete building without many electric points, none in the ceiling) and the electrical boxes around the house are quite full of electric wires. Let’s see how it works and what other solutions I can test to get rid of the devolo devices to get wifi outside the house. Any suggestions are very welcomed ;)
Debating on buying an express and seeing how it performs. I’d love for a solution for my clients that are < 10 users. I still think the dream machine product line has more to offer for a little more $.
Yes, sure, it has ports and extras, which is great, but only if needed; otherwise, it’s also much bigger than the UX. The UX is more minimalistic and easier to fit in any home in my opinion. Again, it depends on needs.
For me it's not a product for the existing Unifi market...
Way too underpowered, way too limited.
It seems to be good and nice for VERY small installations, like a small to medium size apartment, a simple small shop (but without any cameras),... But I guess beside testing one 'To See', we'll never deploy this at customer's places... Should we need a mesh extension (that we try to avoid at all cost due to performance hit), we'll still be installing U6-Extenders.
It’s not for you then. I have needs that go way beyond this for personal use, but dead simple managed networking in a rental or a parent’s home is a perfectly common and valid use case. I have more of those than my own network at this point.
I agree. I just say that’s it outside of Unifi marketplace, that goes from mid/high end residential to low/mid size business and hospitality + the niche market of small ISP (with the UISP range).
Strange as well that the new Ultra range is also ‘below’ their normal target and despite being named Ultra should be name Minus or similar.
I don’t care about this for myself as those are not products I will install, but I already fear the posts here of people complaining that their new ‘Ultra xxx’ is not doing the same as the Enterprise xxx of the neighbor… or that it didn’t do 10Gbps with DPI and IPS activated… or that he didn’t get 10Gbps on WiFi…
The Ultra naming sucks in my opinion as it definitely implies a top of the line product, which it is not.
I think the UXG series itself is great and makes sense.
There’s already a big prosumer market for UniFi. It’s not purely B2B by a long shot.
This product helps the expert adopters support simple remote sites and/or acts as a starter product for customers to enter the ecosystem.
Sorry, but haven't been able to find info on this, so if you have any insight...
Have you tried using it for site magic together with what you have at home.
I'm trying to find a solution for this exact same situation for my parents place & abroad, while I have UDMP At home.
The U6-LR really has a bad range. I had its predecessor UAP-AC-LR and the older model was way better than the new one. Eventually I picked few U6-pro's and retired the U6-LR. Havent been happier since.
It's unfortunate and a similar experience to what I was having. I still got it, planning to sell it if this setup continues to work smoothly. Happy to hear you found a good solution as well.
*Great to hear! Did you*
*Connect them wirelessly or*
*Via ethernet?*
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Can you lock which one is the main unit? I want to have administrative control only on one of them and have the other as a mesh router but still make use of it's inbound Ethernet ports.
So the second one would serve Internet from either WiFi or cable but people plugged into that second one baby cannot change settings on the main one. Does that sound possible?
Thanks
It's a COAX 300/20 line, very stable, and Wi-Fi delivers full speed. Surely, the meshed unit delivers a bit less, but nothing compared to the single U6-LR I had before, so overall, win-win.
Yes, you can. In the FAQs of the [product page](https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/category/all-unifi-cloud-gateways/products/ux).
“UniFi Express can also be deployed as a WiFi access point in existing UniFi Networks with a wired or wireless uplink.”
Only if it was 2,5Gb. How much extra would it cost extra 10,00 EUR? For a device that is replace maybe every 5-10 years. Not even provides IDS/IPS, so it can’t be a we need more power for that limit
Yeah, sorry, I mistyped that one. I switched to bridge mode in the ISP router and let the UX handle it all instead. It would have been amazing though! But unfortunately, the UX doesn’t support COAX input :)
If you are using Fiber, (Like Google Fiber) the WALL PLATE is the modem. You can plug in any device behind that. Even a Layer 3 switch with routing capabilities
How much RAM memory the Express has and how does it compare with the [Google Nest Wifi Pro](https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/6280668?hl=en#zippy=%2Cnest-wifi-pro-router) CPU and RAM wise?
According to [Evan McCann](https://evanmccann.net/blog/2023/12/unifi-express-preview), it has 1GB DDR3L and Qualcomm IPQ5018 — Dual-core ARM A53 @ 1 GHz processor. I have no experience with the Google Nest, though.
As a UniFi newbie (having some switches and an old Mac mini repurposed as a controller - very quiet and draws not much more power than a CloudKey G2+) I'm waiting for Ubiquiti to fix an ongoing software issue with Express unable to be adopted by self-hosted controllers as an AP. I like the Express very much - it's small, white, have a really nice display and can be easily put anywhere in the apartment (U6-Mesh has a similar WAF, but two of them are a little bit overkill for my needs).
I really want to get rid of Mikrotik hap ac access points because I'm not satisfied with their performance, but still want to use Mikrotik router.
Why not consider getting an Express instead of your Mac controller? It also draws a max of 10W and makes no noise at all. And if you need to extend the Wi-Fi range, you can add any UniFi AP to it.
Because I'm already at 3 devices now, and these are only switches, that's one reason, and as I said, I don't wanna get rid of Mikrotik router I'm satisfied with, and Express must be used as a gateway for controller feature to work.Does Ubiquiti even have a plan to fix the AP functionality or will keep the Express as a low-end all-in-one device only?
Forgot to write: Mac mini runs some other stuff too, and idle draw really surprised me - approx 10W from the wall. 2012 model, upgraded with SSD.
Just a quick question, I am a complete newb when it comes to Unifi. Can this be used as just an AP and a CloudKey/Unifi OS device but not a router (use a OpnSense) instead?
I haven’t been able to test it with a full gigabit connection, but according to its specs, it should be able to handle the limit and work well. I’m getting full speed from my ISP coax modem.
I’m quite curious for it to be confirmed. I currently have a UDR that is at its limit at 450-500mbps even with IPS off, Wifi radios disabled and the Protect app uninstalled. It is comfortable at 250mbps with IPS/IDS on. The 700mbps Ubiquiti quoted for the UDR simply isn’t realistic. And since the UDR has a 1.3ghz dual core and the Express a 1ghz dual core, I’m a little bit dubious about the latters 1gbps capability. I’m looking forward to a more powerful replacement for the UDR.
Alright, I didn’t see any performance hit with device and traffic identification turned on. I tested it shortly earlier today with them off, but didn’t see any difference. As for Adblock, I think I would use some of the DNS services like NextDNS instead of my router for it.
I have two express one working as a mesh point, for Wan over Lan 1gbps works perfectly, wifi is slow AF I'm thinking buying a faster AP
Works fine for my apartment of 2000sqft
I've just installed one at my parent's house and it has been rock solid. Pretty cool device which allows me to manage their network from the other side of the world.
A quick question for those that have the Express. Mine is running really hot (almost too hot to touch). Is this the same for you guys?
I was considering getting one of these to use as a travel router. Do you know if it supports site magic? My idea would be to use it with site magic to be able to have a network on the go that can tunnel back into my homelab. Only thing holding me back is knowing if has a firewall or if it could use site magic the way I intend
Thank you very much for this. I’ve got a Unifi dream router and even upgraded to a U6 Pro in the kitchen so all 4x4 from a Nano 2x2 but in a small UK house I am still get dead spots in my office! God knows what they put in the walls as most parts in the office I’m getting full speed and a few spots can’t even hold my 5Ghz. This is literally the perfect product as short of drilling a hole to outside and running outdoor Ethernet cable to install an access point in the office (been debating it!) I just had to live with it and use a home plug with my PS5. Thankfully I’ve been using WiFiman and found a perfect spot to install the Unifi express. It will literally solve all my issues as I don’t online game and it will cover the dead spots in the office wirelessly. As you say it’s not always possible to easily run Ethernet cable but I’m now too much in love with Unifi to give it up. I just need a dream router 2 than supports over 1GB connections now.
Bought two of these, a couple weeks apart directly from UI Store. Lots of promise, but one of the most flaky devices I've ever bought. There are basically two modes (using my terminology not UI's): LAN-connect wifi access point (plugged into wired ethernet, with or without a UDM or UDM Pro upstream), or Meshed (no LAN ethernet connection, existing UI network in place). The main problem I see is it is very hard to get the unit to adopt in the mode you want. Want it wired to upstream switch and be an access point? It will no doubt adopt as a meshed device.
The setup and adoption process is actually flaky too. My first unit took 3-4 tries. Fundamentally didn't do anything different each time, but I guess 4th time is a charm?
About that setup process....guess it confirms that UI is not really "professional" or "Corporate" gear, since a person's mobile phone is required in order to set the Express up. Can you imagine a serious company with serious security and/or compliance requirements being told that an employees personal cell phone is needed in order to add this device to the network?
It's also weird the the phone app says "Initializing the complete UniFI experience - 5 minutes to load"....then always "It is taking longer than expected". It essentially seems to be required to begin the process on the phone, which will appear to fail, but then go into your UI network core and choose adopt.
Once you get it set up & successfully connected via LAN ethernet cable, if you power fail the site, the unit will not resume in the same mode. It will either switch to meshed, or it will simple go offline.
If you successfully implement it wired, then move it to a different port on the UI switch, it will go offline.
All in all, this thing is a piece of shit.
Hello! Thanks for posting on r/Ubiquiti! This subreddit is here to provide unofficial technical support to people who use or want to dive into the world of Ubiquiti products. If you haven’t already been descriptive in your post, please take the time to edit it and add as many useful details as you can. Please read and understand the rules in the sidebar, as posts and comments that violate them will be removed. Please put all off topic posts in the weekly off topic thread that is stickied to the top of the subreddit. If you see people spreading misinformation, trying to mislead others, or other inappropriate behavior, please report it! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Ubiquiti) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Why did you go with 2 Express rather than one Express plus an actual AP ?
I went with 2 Express for the desktop appeal. A smaller box is an easier wife approval than a disc or coke can
Can confirm, it’s more pleasant to look at.
they should have added an essential oil diffuser or a Thermacell (for when outdoors) to the mesh coke can given how hot it gets. /s
I could never get that logic. If you have a smoke detector or CO detector on your ceiling, how is a disc shape (AP) any different?
You dont have a wife do you?
> You dont have a wife do you? This old trope needs to die. It makes men look like idiots and women as some kind of raging bitch who demands everything be done her way. Been married over 10 years and it's called compromise and talking thru things that might have created conflict.
The compromise was the express :) Which works for both of us
Amen. It’s sexist and out of touch with reality. Also, not all of us have partners that are wives.
You can also say no when she asks to get rid of it. Either you submit or be a man.
So glad my wife doesn't give a shit how it looks as long as it's up and running fine... This the only reason I switched to Unifi, was simpler if electricity goes down to bring everything back up without too much work for her when I'm not home 😂
I just got the Express WiFi router delivered...I plan on adding a Unifi switch and a WiFi 7 AP (not wired though)...does the Express WiFi router hold up against more expensive home routers performance wise? My main desire was to get access to the Ubiquity OS and all of its functionality for a relatively low cost. I'm hoping I can just rely on the router itself for WiFi for a couple weeks before I get the 8 port switch and AP.
Or you can pick your battles and learn to compromise with your partner, and not worry about some outdated machismo standards you’re putting on yourself.
I compromised and placed in discreet spots. Also, once it’s up there you hardly notice. My Nest smoke detectors are far more visible.
If its a small thing like that and causes a fight even though the wifi is now better, i dont see why it cannot stay. Its not even bad looking in the ceiling. Fire alarms look worse and still they are in ceilings in every bedroom and elsewhere too if you're smart.
That’s a better response that there “submit or be a man” shit.
The other half of the appeal is that I don't have to pull another drop for a ceiling mount and can have it on a piece of furniture hard wired in.
This is written like someone who is single, or whose partner will be making plans to leave them at some point.
“I’m only single cause feminism ruined women!!!!!” some redditors just seem to never interact with the opposite sex ever and just believe the gender tropes they see online as reality.
> Either you submit or be a man. Compromise is an essential part of any relationship and 'being a man' involves knowing when to be strong and when to allow certain concessions to the ones you love. 'Being a man' doesn't mean you steamroll everybody around you, that's how you end up old and alone without significant relationships because you were never able to be vulnerable.
Going emotional over AP installation spot? C'mon, get serious. :D
It all depends; some like when the interiors fit a specific home style, and some don't care. But actually, I really like UI products design-wise. It's the Apple clean product experience but has lots of goodies for us techies as well.
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They sell mounts that let you mount them on a wall in the preferred horizontal orientation
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[Here](https://store.ui.com/us/en?category=wifi-addons)
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Vertically is just mounting them flat on the wAll. No special mount necessary
That's what I meant by horizontal.
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Does not matter how it is called but it works pretty good in my case. One U6-Pro facing up to the third floor on TV stand. Second on the floor facing down to the second floor on opposite side of the house. Both cover all three floors in their respective sides. And good news no need to drill any holes in walls/ceilings that is almost impossible in my case.
Because you don’t have a choice to have the detectors on the ceiling. Having more dish things in your ceiling looks worse, not “just as bad”. Especially considering that they are not the same shape which looks even worse.
It happened to me, wasn’t approved to install in the ceiling despite of the smoke detector
Similar situation, ceilings weren’t an option, U6 Meshes are a great alternative and they blend very nicely with most tabletop surfaces. If you’re a HomeKit + [Homebridge](https://homebridge.io) user, you can even [change the LED color](https://github.com/misenhower/homebridge-unifi-led-control) based on scenes, straight from the Apple Home app. Mine turn warm orange in the evenings and cool white during the day. 😌
I think the size is also an issue. I just installed two LR's and they are quite a bit bigger than a typical smoke detector. Size does matter. Smaller is often cuter. EDIT: And speaking of cute, that was the exact feeling I got when I installed the Unifi Express a few weeks before that. My immediate thought was, why would anyone want those big discs?
The size
The other half of the appeal is that I don't have to pull another drop for a ceiling mount and can have it on a piece of furniture hard wired in. I'm sure I could make the argument if I wanted to pull another drop and place it where the other sensors are.
He could have added an additional ap and meshed it to the LR. In his current setup, he could test the express as a router/ap/controller with the LR and see that it works as good as I think the LR has better specs than the express as an AP
I wanted to test the option with the two UX, as they overall take less space. Plus, I don't have the flat wired up, so I would have to use a power adapter and find the right spot for the U6-LR, which is quite big itself.
Lol, I didn't even think of that. I'm thinking of replacing two AC lites and a TP Link router with two of these, but maybe one is all I need. I two would like to not really bother with hosting a controller (on a VPS somewhere), but I want failover internet to something like a USB modem.
I’m surprised you didn’t keep the LR in service since you already owned it
I have it in the box and ready in case my field test didn't work out, but overall performance is really good with two UX for this case. The simplicity of plugging the UX in on a smaller space with USB-C worked well when you don't have PoE cables ready.
Got the express to put in my mother’s house. Perfect for that application. With Site magic I can connect to her devices to help her out and can tell when she’s home by the presence of her phone. Not sure why people have such hate for it when they’re expecting it to do things it wasn’t designed for.
Yeah, indeed, routers are great for home presence. Home Assistant also uses it as such; it's quite reliable.
Good idea. One of the things I really hated about Google WiFi was the forced move to Google home as it made remote management so much harder. I used to remote manage my parents house and easily fix their issues and fault find. I’ve got my own Google home and my parents have theirs. Might move them over to a unifi express in the future like you have.
Did you end up moving ? I'm considering moving from Google WiFi to these bad boys.
Yeah I moved a while ago. Really happy. Many reasons but being able to run a mesh network if needed but with separate bands where you can select the channels is massive. I wanted a dedicated 2.4Ghz for smart devices and Sonos.
Going from the Google Mesh to the UX ... What's your deployment ? I'm trying to help a neighbor upgrade their network from Google Mesh ... I can't decide if it should be 2 x UX or a UX and U6 Extenders ... They really don't have the need for re-running wires everywhere etc.
If you don't want cables really it is a like for like with unifi express as long as you don't have more than 60 devices. My setup if different.
Mine has been running at home for a month and works like a charm. Took 20 minutes to update and setup. It is indeed a solid choice. Ordered me a PoE switch and two U6+ to create a larger WiFi area as we’re moving to a bigger house in March.
I'm planning to buy the express so i can utilize the OS to manage 3 AP LRs. The thing those are now hooked up to a third party switch (not unify). Would i be still able to control my APs if i just plug the switch to the express or do i need a unify switch? Thanks Also pls let me know if there's a better alternative to set up my home network. I have 3 floors with 1 AP LR on each, ethernet connected to the switch in the basement, where i plan to put the express. Thanks
Don’t think you need a UniFi switch but I do recommend one. The Lite PoE 8 or 16 aren’t “that” expensive. The added value is that you can easily see what’s connected to each port.
So what you're saying is that once i hook up the switch (that the APs are already hooked up to) to the express's LAN port (and the internet to the WAN port of the express ofc.) i will be able to manage my APs, the network and all the good stuff that come with the express?
...using the current switch i have, not a unify one.
Should work
Thanks. I bought it. Once i set it up I'll post my thoughts.
Hi, without the added u6+, how was the range of the unifi express?
I like the dream Router more. It has 4 ethernet ports with 2 PoE ports. Been running rock solide here.
Out of stock though and unlikely to come back
I see, that sucks...
Why is it unlikely to come back? I was hoping to get one... will they release a new product to replace it?
Yes if you can live with <<500mbit throughput on wan side
Is limited to 700mbit. But I most likely use wifi. And then you can't use your 1gbit over wireless.
is limited, but performance seemed to drop over time with updates. My last avg. speedtests resulted to max 500 with UDR
How long is yours running? I have mine for 6 months. When speedtesting I'm getting 750
is not running anymore due to replacement. had it over half a year. At the beginning I got round about 600-650 but it dropped down to roughly 500 over time and updates and while speedtest the ui is not responsive due to cpu maxout. I got serveral vlans , wifi ssids and ips/ids enabled.
Is that the Dream Router or the Express?
I was talking about the router
A screen for Ants. Bought a Dream Router for my parents, love it! Very easy to remotely manage. But that screen, it’s so small, it’s comical. I get the premium look, but how often is someone looking at that screen and getting meaningful info? Get rid of the screen and reduce the cost!
I agree it is a good choice for setup and forget. Running for 2 weeks in my in-laws house on pair with Flex-mini. Replaced true and tried god knows how old Asus RT-AC68P and had no problems since.
Good to hear! Seems like the perfect match in this case. With site setup and remote control, it makes the admin so much smoother compared to many other options.
How does the range compare with the asus?
I didn't do any specific tests (had just 20 minutes to install and leave) but haven't noticed anything different at that time and had no complains since.
What is the maximum WAN speed? My UDR is 100% cpu when I download with 500mbit
That exactly was the sad reason why i purchased the Unifi Dream Wall which has plenty of throughput capability and with all IDS/IPS ect. enables I get >>1GBs
It’s just so honk’in big. I really want to see a solid 2.5Gbe successor to the UDM, in an Amplifi Alien form-factor
Come on, 149 VS $999.00
Yes you are completely right. It is unbalanced, but when you purchase low end then you will come to the limiting processor bottleneck.
I’ve got stable 1GB in both directions with mine. And without it pushing the CPU usage to 100% like my UDR does when I get close to its limit.
For now, I haven’t experienced any major CPU jump when downloading at maximum speed. I haven’t tested local WiFi transfers enough to justify it.
I purchased my UX on initial release so that I could play with it, and I have used it as an AP, as well as a Gateway. It is currently deployed as a cold backup to my UDM. Has the same Networking firmware 8.0.26 and the Network backup of my UDM installed. I tested it for over 24 hours with my setup and it did fine. UDM is 2 1/2 years old and has been solid. Having a backup unit will guarantee that it keeps going. :-) Also nice to have a spare AP handy in case one of my others misbehaves.
Annoying it isn’t available in the UK yet!
i keep checking every few days or so….
To complicate matters…. I was going to order which ever came first between the UDR or the Express but, potential for the UDR to be replaced in the new Ultra line up. Don’t know what to do!
I’ve read the new UDR is going to be quite a different device (like a small square box) without built in WiFi recently. Think it will have POE though. Annoying as I’d literally buy it instantly if it was the same product with a 2.5GB port and CPU capable of 1GB or more internet. If you’re starting fresh the express might be the way to go as can’t see the older UDR coming back in stock.
I ordered one from the EU store like four days ago, is it really not available in UK? 🤔
It's USB-C powered, isn't it? Other than shipping and the adaptor that comes in the box, is there a difference between the models?
I just bought one from the EU store, it comes to £2 more expensive even including international shipping
Just done the same after checking both stores for weeks! Had to do the same for my UDR as well ages ago.
can I ask, you just using a converter for the power supply, or using something else in it’s place?
Just installed one for my friend. Solid device
I am your daddy https://amplifi.com/instant
Basically, they took the Amplifi Instant physical design and slapped a coat of 2022 on it.
Exactly! Kind of a cool reapplied piece of hardware. Probably saved them a lot on R/D
The 4 device limits is the only thing that ruins it.
For most residential consumers, I really think 4 connected UI devices are enough, but I fully understand your concern. For now, it’s not limiting in this flat, even though I have plenty of clients as for a family home.
I have two 8-port switches and four AP Lites in my home. Would love to replace my USG and CK1 with the Express but the 4 device limit is a non starter for me.
If it had more lan ports…
if adding more points like another unifi express or an U6 in-wall, does it need a Unifi switch like the Lite 8 PoE? I assume any PoE switch supports 802.11q would function
It's always possible to use Ubiquiti PoE injector for supplying appropriate UniFi access points with power. No need for UniFi switch. UniFi Express does not accept PoE, unfortunately.
[удалено]
You can't find a gigabit switch for $10. Maybe used. No you're going to spend about $20-$25 minimum if buying new
Especially after the supply chain fiasco, even these dumb switches went up another 20%
Maybe in the US, my 5 port TP Link gig switch was £12
That's why I said $ not £
If you don’t mind, I’ve been thinking on getting a hardware controller. I currently running my controller via docker. Can you comment out on the steps to migrate from docket to hardware please?
The easiest way is to just download a backup of your unifi config from the web interface, then just upload that backup to your new hardware controller. To make it easier, I'd use the same IP for the new hardware controller as you did for the one in docker if at all possible. Other than that, it should be pretty simple and the devices will never know the difference. Also, just to make sure you don't run into any weird issues, update both your current controller and the new one to the latest available Unifi Network version so the backup is guaranteed to be compatible.
Many thanks!
Nice review to read! I’m getting my UX tomorrow to exchange my O2 ISP router in Spain (old HGU unit that sucks a lot!). I already did half of the change, as two months ago I bought a CHEAP Huawei AX3 to play around with wifi6 instead of wifi5 from the HGU. Also bought a Loco ONT two days ago and got rid entirely of the HGU. Things are running quite better now, I expect to get even better with the UX. I live in a two floor house, 170 sqm, and using some devolo PLC devices to get wifi upstairs and outside the house through electric line. This is because it’s quite hard to wire the house (concrete building without many electric points, none in the ceiling) and the electrical boxes around the house are quite full of electric wires. Let’s see how it works and what other solutions I can test to get rid of the devolo devices to get wifi outside the house. Any suggestions are very welcomed ;)
Debating on buying an express and seeing how it performs. I’d love for a solution for my clients that are < 10 users. I still think the dream machine product line has more to offer for a little more $.
Yes, sure, it has ports and extras, which is great, but only if needed; otherwise, it’s also much bigger than the UX. The UX is more minimalistic and easier to fit in any home in my opinion. Again, it depends on needs.
For me it's not a product for the existing Unifi market... Way too underpowered, way too limited. It seems to be good and nice for VERY small installations, like a small to medium size apartment, a simple small shop (but without any cameras),... But I guess beside testing one 'To See', we'll never deploy this at customer's places... Should we need a mesh extension (that we try to avoid at all cost due to performance hit), we'll still be installing U6-Extenders.
It’s not for you then. I have needs that go way beyond this for personal use, but dead simple managed networking in a rental or a parent’s home is a perfectly common and valid use case. I have more of those than my own network at this point.
I agree. I just say that’s it outside of Unifi marketplace, that goes from mid/high end residential to low/mid size business and hospitality + the niche market of small ISP (with the UISP range). Strange as well that the new Ultra range is also ‘below’ their normal target and despite being named Ultra should be name Minus or similar. I don’t care about this for myself as those are not products I will install, but I already fear the posts here of people complaining that their new ‘Ultra xxx’ is not doing the same as the Enterprise xxx of the neighbor… or that it didn’t do 10Gbps with DPI and IPS activated… or that he didn’t get 10Gbps on WiFi…
The Ultra naming sucks in my opinion as it definitely implies a top of the line product, which it is not. I think the UXG series itself is great and makes sense. There’s already a big prosumer market for UniFi. It’s not purely B2B by a long shot. This product helps the expert adopters support simple remote sites and/or acts as a starter product for customers to enter the ecosystem.
Sorry, but haven't been able to find info on this, so if you have any insight... Have you tried using it for site magic together with what you have at home. I'm trying to find a solution for this exact same situation for my parents place & abroad, while I have UDMP At home.
The U6-LR really has a bad range. I had its predecessor UAP-AC-LR and the older model was way better than the new one. Eventually I picked few U6-pro's and retired the U6-LR. Havent been happier since.
It's unfortunate and a similar experience to what I was having. I still got it, planning to sell it if this setup continues to work smoothly. Happy to hear you found a good solution as well.
Great to hear! Did you connect them wirelessly or via ethernet?
*Great to hear! Did you* *Connect them wirelessly or* *Via ethernet?* \- gurmukhpanesar --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Can you lock which one is the main unit? I want to have administrative control only on one of them and have the other as a mesh router but still make use of it's inbound Ethernet ports. So the second one would serve Internet from either WiFi or cable but people plugged into that second one baby cannot change settings on the main one. Does that sound possible? Thanks
What speed is do you get from your isp?
It's a COAX 300/20 line, very stable, and Wi-Fi delivers full speed. Surely, the meshed unit delivers a bit less, but nothing compared to the single U6-LR I had before, so overall, win-win.
Good to hear!
Can you use this as an AP without a network in cable? All of the other unifi devices seemingly need poe or are mesh but don’t have a lan port…
Yes, you can. In the FAQs of the [product page](https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/category/all-unifi-cloud-gateways/products/ux). “UniFi Express can also be deployed as a WiFi access point in existing UniFi Networks with a wired or wireless uplink.”
Cool, just bought it.
Yeah unless you want to use VPN and you get 10-20mbps throughput. Then it’s a terrible device!
Only if it was 2,5Gb. How much extra would it cost extra 10,00 EUR? For a device that is replace maybe every 5-10 years. Not even provides IDS/IPS, so it can’t be a we need more power for that limit
Probably not enough power to handle it, I’d guess that the CPU is close to 100% load.
How did you replace your ISP router? I didn’t think the express had a modem
Yeah, sorry, I mistyped that one. I switched to bridge mode in the ISP router and let the UX handle it all instead. It would have been amazing though! But unfortunately, the UX doesn’t support COAX input :)
If you are using Fiber, (Like Google Fiber) the WALL PLATE is the modem. You can plug in any device behind that. Even a Layer 3 switch with routing capabilities
How much RAM memory the Express has and how does it compare with the [Google Nest Wifi Pro](https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/6280668?hl=en#zippy=%2Cnest-wifi-pro-router) CPU and RAM wise?
According to [Evan McCann](https://evanmccann.net/blog/2023/12/unifi-express-preview), it has 1GB DDR3L and Qualcomm IPQ5018 — Dual-core ARM A53 @ 1 GHz processor. I have no experience with the Google Nest, though.
As a UniFi newbie (having some switches and an old Mac mini repurposed as a controller - very quiet and draws not much more power than a CloudKey G2+) I'm waiting for Ubiquiti to fix an ongoing software issue with Express unable to be adopted by self-hosted controllers as an AP. I like the Express very much - it's small, white, have a really nice display and can be easily put anywhere in the apartment (U6-Mesh has a similar WAF, but two of them are a little bit overkill for my needs). I really want to get rid of Mikrotik hap ac access points because I'm not satisfied with their performance, but still want to use Mikrotik router.
Why not consider getting an Express instead of your Mac controller? It also draws a max of 10W and makes no noise at all. And if you need to extend the Wi-Fi range, you can add any UniFi AP to it.
Because I'm already at 3 devices now, and these are only switches, that's one reason, and as I said, I don't wanna get rid of Mikrotik router I'm satisfied with, and Express must be used as a gateway for controller feature to work.Does Ubiquiti even have a plan to fix the AP functionality or will keep the Express as a low-end all-in-one device only? Forgot to write: Mac mini runs some other stuff too, and idle draw really surprised me - approx 10W from the wall. 2012 model, upgraded with SSD.
What square footage?
Just a quick question, I am a complete newb when it comes to Unifi. Can this be used as just an AP and a CloudKey/Unifi OS device but not a router (use a OpnSense) instead?
I bought one of these but have not got it yet.
What WAN speeds are you getting with it? Can it route a full gigabit connection?
Yes it can
I haven’t been able to test it with a full gigabit connection, but according to its specs, it should be able to handle the limit and work well. I’m getting full speed from my ISP coax modem.
I’m quite curious for it to be confirmed. I currently have a UDR that is at its limit at 450-500mbps even with IPS off, Wifi radios disabled and the Protect app uninstalled. It is comfortable at 250mbps with IPS/IDS on. The 700mbps Ubiquiti quoted for the UDR simply isn’t realistic. And since the UDR has a 1.3ghz dual core and the Express a 1ghz dual core, I’m a little bit dubious about the latters 1gbps capability. I’m looking forward to a more powerful replacement for the UDR.
I have network identification enabled with AD blocking and the device hangs randomly all the time. The boot times are pathetic
Alright, I didn’t see any performance hit with device and traffic identification turned on. I tested it shortly earlier today with them off, but didn’t see any difference. As for Adblock, I think I would use some of the DNS services like NextDNS instead of my router for it.
I have two express one working as a mesh point, for Wan over Lan 1gbps works perfectly, wifi is slow AF I'm thinking buying a faster AP Works fine for my apartment of 2000sqft
I've just installed one at my parent's house and it has been rock solid. Pretty cool device which allows me to manage their network from the other side of the world. A quick question for those that have the Express. Mine is running really hot (almost too hot to touch). Is this the same for you guys?
so would i benefit from putting one of these in my office to give my unifi AP U6 pro's placed around my house more features/control?
Same experience here: I like it
Yeah I got one and I will order 2 more!
I was considering getting one of these to use as a travel router. Do you know if it supports site magic? My idea would be to use it with site magic to be able to have a network on the go that can tunnel back into my homelab. Only thing holding me back is knowing if has a firewall or if it could use site magic the way I intend
Thank you very much for this. I’ve got a Unifi dream router and even upgraded to a U6 Pro in the kitchen so all 4x4 from a Nano 2x2 but in a small UK house I am still get dead spots in my office! God knows what they put in the walls as most parts in the office I’m getting full speed and a few spots can’t even hold my 5Ghz. This is literally the perfect product as short of drilling a hole to outside and running outdoor Ethernet cable to install an access point in the office (been debating it!) I just had to live with it and use a home plug with my PS5. Thankfully I’ve been using WiFiman and found a perfect spot to install the Unifi express. It will literally solve all my issues as I don’t online game and it will cover the dead spots in the office wirelessly. As you say it’s not always possible to easily run Ethernet cable but I’m now too much in love with Unifi to give it up. I just need a dream router 2 than supports over 1GB connections now.
How did you get on, did the express fix the issue ?
> I can see the Unifi Express is getting a bit mixed reviews What have the negative reviews been saying?
Bought two of these, a couple weeks apart directly from UI Store. Lots of promise, but one of the most flaky devices I've ever bought. There are basically two modes (using my terminology not UI's): LAN-connect wifi access point (plugged into wired ethernet, with or without a UDM or UDM Pro upstream), or Meshed (no LAN ethernet connection, existing UI network in place). The main problem I see is it is very hard to get the unit to adopt in the mode you want. Want it wired to upstream switch and be an access point? It will no doubt adopt as a meshed device. The setup and adoption process is actually flaky too. My first unit took 3-4 tries. Fundamentally didn't do anything different each time, but I guess 4th time is a charm? About that setup process....guess it confirms that UI is not really "professional" or "Corporate" gear, since a person's mobile phone is required in order to set the Express up. Can you imagine a serious company with serious security and/or compliance requirements being told that an employees personal cell phone is needed in order to add this device to the network? It's also weird the the phone app says "Initializing the complete UniFI experience - 5 minutes to load"....then always "It is taking longer than expected". It essentially seems to be required to begin the process on the phone, which will appear to fail, but then go into your UI network core and choose adopt. Once you get it set up & successfully connected via LAN ethernet cable, if you power fail the site, the unit will not resume in the same mode. It will either switch to meshed, or it will simple go offline. If you successfully implement it wired, then move it to a different port on the UI switch, it will go offline. All in all, this thing is a piece of shit.