Dedicated wireless backhaul (Orbi) versus UniFi hardware

[exi]

I currently have a three-piece Orbi 850 series setup. Has about 25-30 devices between IoT and others spread out over >3k sqft on a 500/20 line. No fiber available yet.

I have no love for Netgear, but the radio performance and dedicated wireless backhaul to the router is great.

I still also physically have a UniFi Dream Machine (WiFi 5), a Dream Router (WiFi 6), and the wireless power plug extenders in both WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 flavors. I've been toying with the idea of swapping back over to the UDM or UDR, with extenders x2, as I tend to prefer UniFi hardware, but I don't know that I'm actually solving any problem by doing that.

Functionally, other than rare AirPlay issues to an AV receiver which I'm still not sure are caused by the satellites/router versus the receiver, I don't really have any issues. I just prefer UniFi equipment and software.

I'd also be losing out on that dedicated backhaul, and when I last looked at signal strengths at the more distant devices with the Netgear equipment versus UniFi's, I found the former to have significantly better RSSIs. I haven't used the UniFi gear in something like 1-1.5 years and understand there may have been some improvements.

I haven't run Ethernet for hardwired APs on property. Powerline networking isn't a great choice. Thought about MoCA, but with so much gear hanging around and more capacity than demand, I'd like to avoid buying more.

All that being said, is there some reason perhaps I'm not thinking of that would support switching over to UniFi despite the reduced radio performance?

 

[Pressure]

Just do the right thing and run ethernet to APs (U6 Pro for example) for best stability and ditch the extenders. The Dream Router will be able to power them with PoE, so you only need to run two cables, unless you want some devices wired directly.

Using the Network app in UniFi OS you will also be able to put all that insecure IoT on their own VLAN.

Wireless backhaul inside the house is just a waste of bandwidth. Use them if you need some coverage in the garage or some outhouse.

 

[Neil Harrison]

Just do the right thing and run ethernet to APs (U6 Pro for example) for best stability and ditch the extenders. The Dream Router will be able to power them with PoE, so you only need to run two cables, unless you want some devices wired directly.

Using the Network app in UniFi OS you will also be able to put all that insecure IoT on their own VLAN.

Wireless backhaul inside the house is just a waste of bandwidth. Use them if you need some coverage in the garage or some outhouse.

Highly recommend the u6 pro! I have 2 of them and they work very well

 

[Pressure]

Highly recommend the u6 pro! I have 2 of them and they work very well

To add to this if you buy today just get the U7 Pro, which was just released.

That way you also get the 6GHz spectrum and 2.5Gbps uplink.

 

[Pezimak]

If you use the in built security of the Unifi Router your speed is limited to around 760mbps, so you won't see any benefit to upgrading to a gigabit or faster later down the road. It's not as good in that aspect as the original Dream Machine. If you really want to use Unifi may be best to use the OG Dream Machine and WiFi 6 AP's.

Also wireless backhaul doesn't work well on Unifi, it can also cause all sorts of issues, they are really designed for Ethernet use.
Not as user friendly as an Orbi plug and play system, but also have a ton more features and settings and control.