d-link wifi routers are crap, please help me choose access point

[DrStein99]

I went through 2 d-link devices and have decided I will not buy one again. The first one had problems like not syncing the ntp system time, disconnecting, random shut down forcing a reboot. I gave up on it, then tried to load open-WRT, which was kind of fun until I think something went haywire during my firmware update modification, so it's been trashed.

I bought another d-link product, in error (long story) so the new one is a Archer C2300 v1.0. In access-point mode, it constantly floods my DHCP requesting a new address. I research and find is a bug with V1 of this hardware, common - and the people are pissed, to say the least. This ALSO will not sync NTP, with the same problems as the one before it. Other glitches too many to list - to summarize, I am disappointed and do not wish to use this device for myself.

I am using a pfSense firewall router system loaded on an old core-2 computer, which serves well. Looks like it supports some type of access point configurations, that have to be compatible with it's system so I would be able to administer ssid's and the devices from pfSense, instead of the access point device. I do not know much about it, because I do not have any hardware to see what happens. Does anyone know about this - I would like to get that to work. I think is ubiquity? I do not know, also confused by how many different types of access points make/models. I was under the impression I could have a few access points with the same SSID managed by pfSense, but am overwhelmed with information and can't tell what is true and not.

Can anyone advise help me narrow down a good access point to try and use? One that wont surprise me with a glitch that I find many other people reporting the same problem (like this d-link crap) ? I have a 2 story house, bunch of 2.4ghz devices like chromecast, wLED lighting strips, esp32 devices. Also myself and the guests use the 5ghz bands for mainly internet and otherwise phone surfing fun.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

I run pfSense on a dedicated low power Protectli appliance, and three AX (WiFi 6) APs to provide coverage in a three story townhome. All three APs are using the same SSID on both bands, but each is on separate non-overlapping channels. Clients seamlessly switch between bands/APs as they move throughout the house without the need for a AP controller. Yes, it's a PITA to manage the SSIDs at each AP, but I refuse to pay a recurring extortion fee for a AP managed/cloud service. I have had excellent success with Engenius EWS377AP and EWS357AP, but others have not had the same success. I believe Engenius has replaced the older EWS line with the FIT line, which I have not tried. Regardless, I stay away from consumer [redacted] APs, MESH, and overpriced WiFi 6E APs.

 

[BoredSysadmin]

I had success with Ubiquiti Unifi APs, but there are good reasons to avoid them since some issues surfaced, mainly with the company.
My good friend (network engineer) deployed Omada AP (which is an enterprise product line from tp-link)
What attracts me to such solutions is the central controller is possible to use for free (as the software installs on your hardware), has high flexibility, but is still easy to use GUI. Low AP cost is also essential.

 

[DrStein99]

Thank you. I appreciate learning stuff and prefer the big boy hardware. The consumer dlink thing was cheap lunch money, never thought they would be that pathetic.

I'll look into EWS. Wifi 6? I do not own anything above 5ghz (yet), or have a need to. House is laced with 1gb Ethernet jacks.

 

[DrStein99]

I had success with Ubiquiti Unifi APs

That looks good, I forgot about the POE part - I have an active POE switch. Be happy to NOT need power cables to the devices.

 

[sic0048]

I have Ubiquity APs at my house and Omada (TPLink) at my parents house. Both seem to work just fine, but if I was doing it again, I would probably use the Omada stuff everywhere. Not only is it cheaper, but I feel like Ubiquity has become more of a "train wreck" as time has gone on. I don't use other Ubiquity or TPLink products in my network.

If you are buying new equipment, I would definitely consider WiFi 6. It's not super critical (especially if you live in a single family dwelling) as much of the advances are in density - both implementing the system in a high density wifi environment, and allowing more users to be using the wifi as well. Don't get me wrong, it's also faster. But depending on the price you'll have to decide if it is worth the "premium" or not.

If you go with WiFi6e, you gain the advantage of the 6ghz spectrum. That will be important for future proofing, but no "old" stuff works on 6ghz.

 

[DrStein99]

If you are buying new equipment,

I will buy a second hand used piece, to test and make sure it works. As I become confident I wont discover deal-breaking problems, I would upgrade if I needed it. I have absolutely no use for WIFI 6 now and do not expect to use it within the next whole year. My high speed stuff runs over ethernet, the camera's are secure that way, etc... My LED lighting and relay's do not need above 2.4ghz.

 

[MESSERCHMIDT]

Anything wifi6(e) is sufficient. Make sure it does 160mhz.

 

[i386]

After having problems with avm fritzbox(es) (bad coverage/signal, there are massive walls) and telekom speedports (wifi stopped irregularly, no logs) I went with used ruckus r720 from ebay and now the wifi is pretty stable and covering every corner in the house.

 

[Becks0815]

I would try Ruckus. I have an UI FlexHD but will move away from UI. A company which focusses on unusable cloud services and door bells instead of relevant WiFi gear is nothing I trust, especially after having the pleasure to totally spend 5-6hours around 2-4 in the morning, fixing the network. I found out (the hard way) that despite this cloudy thing with an online account for "full acces of your gear", there is no online backup for the AP settings. On top, the local manual backup is tied to the machine running the UI controller software, so it is unusable if you move the software to a different machine in your home network. I had the bad luck that the first NAS is used died and I had to temporary move everything to the router (opnsense plugin) and back after building the new NAS. Had to setup anything from scratch, twice.

Now it should be stable because the data/config is no longer in the cloud or an unusable local file but on a drive of the NAS, with ui running in docker. I still had a hickup after adjusting the local network ranges and VLANs. The AP happily moved the attached machines from VLAN 10 to VLAN 2 and a new subnet, just to revert this change spontaniously three days later.

It also took me a while to learn that the AP looks for a computer named "unify" in your home network while adopting, It flooded my DNS server with 70k requests. They only have found a dumber way to do this on their 5port mini switch. If you don't enable Option 43 on your DHCP server and add the IP address of your machine running the controller (in HEX, plus some leading characters), it wont adopt/find the host. Totally beginner friendly.

So you either go 100% UI eco system where a lot of these things are hidden or you sooner or later waste some time, most likely around 2 AM when everyone else sleeps and the family doesn't get angry when no WIFI is there. Check the hardware of the "dream machine" if you want to do this. It has about 1/6 of the CPU power of one of the new N100 router boxes sold on aliexpress, for about 2.5x the price....

 

[MBastian]

I run OPNSense on a PCEngine APU and recently replaced my powerline ap crap with two TP-Link EAP615-WALL access points. I can't comment on the original firmware or Omada as I flashed OpenWRT on them. So far I am very happy with the coverage and performance. Lacking wallboxes I've ordered Cat 6 cables with a 90° plug and installed the APs with a 2.5 cm standoff right next to door frames. These APs have POE pass-through so if you feed the first EAP615 with POE+ you can chain another one behind it.

 

[sic0048]

..... I can't comment on the original firmware or Omada as I flashed OpenWRT on them.....

That is pretty cool. I didn't even know you could flash OpenWRT on an access point!

 

[BoredSysadmin]

It also took me a while to learn that the AP looks for a computer named "unify" in your home network while adopting, It flooded my DNS server with 70k requests. They only have found a dumber way to do this on their 5port mini switch. If you don't enable Option 43 on your DHCP server and add the IP address of your machine running the controller (in HEX, plus some leading characters), it wont adopt/find the host. Totally beginner friendly.

I did not run into such issues and adopting Unifi UAP-Pro APs with my container-based UniFi controller was very straightforward, but YMMV.
Unifi ap has a decent amount of geeky options/toggles and Imho these are just enough, some solutions provide more or less. For example, I was shocked at how many configs and how complex they are on Cisco Wifi Controler. That said, if you want anything but basic firewall functionality, you'd better off building your own OpnSense.

 

[Becks0815]

That said, if you want anything but basic firewall functionality, you'd better off building your own OpnSense.

Not only if you want more than basic FW elements, but also if you have to physically split router and AP. Otherwise you might either end with the AP being in the wrong place, resulting in poor coverage of the area, or being forced to draw all kind of cables to the place where the AP has to be placed. So either you go full UI (witha dreammachine as router and e.g. FledHD as AP), or you end with a mixed environment like I did and the potential problems.

Btw.:
In my rant I totally forgot the forced obsolescence of the hardware. I bought a perfectly fine older UI AP to extend the network, just to find out UI has dropped support of it and the controller software refused to adopt the hardware. At that point I realized why there where tons of these APs on ebay.

 

[ddaenen1]

i run pfSense on a supermicro X9SCL+-F with an E3-1220 and 16Gb RAM combined with a Cisco SG350 POE+ switch powering 3 Cisco WAP571 AP's and one WAP571E outside. All the stuff i bought 2nd hand and i am superhappy with the setup. I have an additional VLAN configured for guest access with bandwidth limitation. The WAP's play well together and allow single setup. It is not mesh but they talk and share config so if you change the master AP, it is automatically deployed to the other ones. This setup is rocksolid and has never let me down. Maintenance is limited to an occasional pfSense update and firmware updates. For the rest, it just runs - this is what you would want. Previous setups i have had with consumer stuff always gave some trouble somewhere. With me working from home alot more post-Covid, i have come to appreciate investing a bit more upfront always pays off.

 

[sic0048]

.......It is not mesh ......

You don't want mesh if you can avoid it. A true mesh network means that some of the individual APs are not hardwired to a switch and therefore have to wireless piggyback off each other until the data gets to an AP that is hardwired to the network. Obviously this is better than nothing, but ideally you hardwire each AP directly to the network so each AP only handle's it's own data and not also data from other APs looking for a route to the switch.