Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling
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We have to start traveling with our own network gear. It has come up too many times that we have flaky equipment that we could simply fix by having our own stuff with us. Two years ago we traveled with an ERL and one of the larger, older access points. Size and weight matter, a lot. But I don't want to go down to some crappy equipment that is going to be flaky and an all in one unit from someone else if I can help it. Although, at some point, that would be rather logical. But not using Ubiquiti just feels... dirty.
Of course, one of these might be dirt cheap and who cares if it gets the crap beat out of it in luggage.
http://tendacn.com/en/product/N150.html
If going Ubiquiti, what would be the plan? ERX plus UniFi AP AC Lite?
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@scottalanmiller I use the tenda brand switches for my simple basic gigabit switches at home and that anywhere basically I need to dumb switch. It's been solid simple cheap equipment I mean 20 bucks for a five port gigabit switch. I've never used any of their other equipment yet
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@JaredBusch said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@scottalanmiller I use the tenda brand switches for my simple basic gigabit switches at home and that anywhere basically I need to dumb switch. It's been solid simple cheap equipment I mean 20 bucks for a five port gigabit switch. I've never used any of their other equipment yet
I used one of their range extenders and it was useless. But I used one of their routers similar to this one and it was fine. They are very cheap, and very small.
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And yes if you go the UBNT route, ER-X + UAP-AC-LITE.
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UBNT is larger and more expensive but it's a solid known system.
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I assume you already carry some kind of power conversion device
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@JaredBusch said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
UBNT is larger and more expensive but it's a solid known system.
I know :( I really want it, but every ounce counts.
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I'm going to mention the RPI route here.
How about Raspberry Pi 3-full kit $50-100 and then OpenWRT burned to the microSD card? Only catch is that you have to shut it down before you unplug it or you risk messing the SD card. Otherwise, its pretty much plug it into the wall or USB port and your modem and your ready to go.
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@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
I'm going to mention the RPI route here.
How about Raspberry Pi 3-full kit $50-100 and then OpenWRT burned to the microSD card? Only catch is that you have to shut it down before you unplug it or you risk messing the SD card. Otherwise, its pretty much plug it into the wall or USB port and your modem and your ready to go.
What's the benefit there? I was not aware that it had a switching option, where are the ports? How do I get a good antenna for it? That seems like it would be really hard to get working well.
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@scottalanmiller said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
I'm going to mention the RPI route here.
How about Raspberry Pi 3-full kit $50-100 and then OpenWRT burned to the microSD card? Only catch is that you have to shut it down before you unplug it or you risk messing the SD card. Otherwise, its pretty much plug it into the wall or USB port and your modem and your ready to go.
What's the benefit there? I was not aware that it had a switching option, where are the ports? How do I get a good antenna for it? That seems like it would be really hard to get working well.
As far as the RPi 3 is concerned, it has 4 USB ports and an Ethernet port. It also has built-in wifi and bluetooth radios. If you're not totally satisfied with the built-in radio, then you could add a wireless wifi adapter to boost signal strength.
As far as the software, it is OpenWRT, which is a Linux distribution for embedded devices. I think you should feel pretty comfortable with that. According to their website, initial config is somewhat difficult as the DHCP is turned off by default. Once you get that setup, then you can configure the rest by website or SSH.
https://openwrt.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi
https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/guide-newcomer
https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/walkthrough_login
https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/walkthrough_wifi
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@scottalanmiller said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
I'm going to mention the RPI route here.
How about Raspberry Pi 3-full kit $50-100 and then OpenWRT burned to the microSD card? Only catch is that you have to shut it down before you unplug it or you risk messing the SD card. Otherwise, its pretty much plug it into the wall or USB port and your modem and your ready to go.
What's the benefit there? I was not aware that it had a switching option, where are the ports? How do I get a good antenna for it? That seems like it would be really hard to get working well.
Pi3 has the wifi built in, unlike the 2 which requires a USB wifi. You'd probably have to solder something in to add a better antenna.
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@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
As far as the RPi 3 is concerned, it has 4 USB ports and an Ethernet port. It also has built-in wifi and bluetooth radios. If you're not totally satisfied with the built-in radio, then you could add a wireless wifi adapter to boost signal strength.
Getting a four port switch is part of the goal. A two port switch would be acceptable, but only one Ethernet port isn't an option. Two I could live with, five is best. Three or four would be more than adequate.
USB is useless for networking. Bluetooth as well.
Building my own unit where I'd have to all kinds of hardware just to get it up to useful seems silly.
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http://www.apple.com/airport-express/specs/ - $99, Weight: 8.5 ounces (240 grams)
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@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
As far as the software, it is OpenWRT, which is a Linux distribution for embedded devices. I think you should feel pretty comfortable with that.
I'm familiar with it and while I think the whole concept around it is silly, I'd not be uncomfortable using it. It's just... why? At some point, it's just $50 to get something off the shelf that works.
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@marcinozga said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
http://www.apple.com/airport-express/specs/ - $99, Weight: 8.5 ounces (240 grams)
Good point, those aren't bad.
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@marcinozga said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
http://www.apple.com/airport-express/specs/ - $99, Weight: 8.5 ounces (240 grams)
Only one LAN port. Enough to work, not as many as I would like. The size is perfect.
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@scottalanmiller I had older model, without ethernet port, I donated it to my sister, still works to this day. I still have cat-friendly time capsule, over 6 years old, rock solid, strong wifi, 0 issues. I'd say airport line of products is really solid.
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@scottalanmiller said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
As far as the software, it is OpenWRT, which is a Linux distribution for embedded devices. I think you should feel pretty comfortable with that.
I'm familiar with it and while I think the whole concept around it is silly, I'd not be uncomfortable using it. It's just... why? At some point, it's just $50 to get something off the shelf that works.
So you'd rather pay $100 for something that works over $50 for something that works? That's crazy.
@marcinozga said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
http://www.apple.com/airport-express/specs/ - $99, Weight: 8.5 ounces (240 grams)
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@marcinozga said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@scottalanmiller I had older model, without ethernet port, I donated it to my sister, still works to this day. I still have cat-friendly time capsule, over 6 years old, rock solid, strong wifi, 0 issues. I'd say airport line of products is really solid.
I used to use the Airport Extreme but it bricked itself and I switched to Ubiquiti. But it worked well for years.
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@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@scottalanmiller said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
As far as the software, it is OpenWRT, which is a Linux distribution for embedded devices. I think you should feel pretty comfortable with that.
I'm familiar with it and while I think the whole concept around it is silly, I'd not be uncomfortable using it. It's just... why? At some point, it's just $50 to get something off the shelf that works.
So you'd rather pay $100 for something that works over $50 for something that works? That's crazy.
Find me a Raspberry Pi with two Ethernet ports for $50.
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And with a really high quality antenna, that's important too.
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@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
So you'd rather pay $100 for something that works over $50 for something that works?
No one has offered a $50 working alternative unless the Tenda turns out to be $50, which it might.
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@NerdyDad apples to oranges. Add case, SD card, power supply, wifi dongle, perhaps keyboard for initial setup, and you're slowly getting close to the price of off the shelf product. Add your labor on top, and you end up with ugly box with dongle sticking out, with no warranty (excluding parts) and no support. So for a few dollars more you get fully supported, high quality product, with print server and airplay, that you can set up in a couple of minutes with your phone or tablet.
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@marcinozga said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@NerdyDad apples to oranges. Add case, SD card, power supply, wifi dongle, perhaps keyboard for initial setup, and you're slowly getting close to the price of off the shelf product. Add your labor on top, and you end up with ugly box with dongle sticking out, with no warranty (excluding parts) and no support. So for a few dollars more you get fully supported, high quality product, with print server and airplay, that you can set up in a couple of minutes with your phone or tablet.
And which one is more likely to land you in a holding cell while US customs officials determine what it is!
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@scottalanmiller said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@marcinozga said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@NerdyDad apples to oranges. Add case, SD card, power supply, wifi dongle, perhaps keyboard for initial setup, and you're slowly getting close to the price of off the shelf product. Add your labor on top, and you end up with ugly box with dongle sticking out, with no warranty (excluding parts) and no support. So for a few dollars more you get fully supported, high quality product, with print server and airplay, that you can set up in a couple of minutes with your phone or tablet.
And which one is more likely to land you in a holding cell while US customs officials determine what it is!
Haha, yeah, I missed that point.
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@marcinozga said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
@NerdyDad apples to oranges. Add case, SD card, power supply, wifi dongle, perhaps keyboard for initial setup, and you're slowly getting close to the price of off the shelf product. Add your labor on top, and you end up with ugly box with dongle sticking out, with no warranty (excluding parts) and no support. So for a few dollars more you get fully supported, high quality product, with print server and airplay, that you can set up in a couple of minutes with your phone or tablet.
You missed the points of no additional wifi or keyboard needed. Plus, you could use cell phone chargers to power the thing. All of this is something that somebody would already have, minus the RPi itself.
While a definitive scope was not outlined, this is the scope that I had outlined in my head:
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Small
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Cheap
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Easily powered
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Configurable
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Wifi
Nothing was mentioned about a number of network ports needed. However that was revised later on. Why you think OpenWRT is silly, I do not know. Is it enterprise level? No. Can it do the job? Certainly a possibility.
Customs might have a problem with it? Tell them its your Mifi hotspot and they shouldn't have a problem with it. Business people travel with them all of the time.
You wanted options and choices. I provided you with one. if you take it or not is up to you. No harm, no fowl to me.
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@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
Customs might have a problem with it? Tell them its your Mifi hotspot and they shouldn't have a problem with it. Business people travel with them all of the time.
They look like commercial gear, though. They don't look homemade. How it looks is all that matters to border control.
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@NerdyDad said in Right Ubiquiti Gear for Traveling:
Nothing was mentioned about a number of network ports needed. However that was revised later on. Why you think OpenWRT is silly, I do not know. Is it enterprise level? No. Can it do the job? Certainly a possibility.
Sorry, so basic I figured that it was assumed. Everything I mentioned had four or five ports on it and it's just basic functionality that you normally want and get. Being able to plug in fixes so many problems when things go really wrong, it's important.
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@scottalanmiller Okay. ;-)
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I'm worried about the wireless too. We need something really good.
