Question 1

Can you use external antennas with this device?

Accepted Answer

Nope. internal antennas only but they are really quite good. I cover a 40,000sqft building with just 1. this is not consumer Wifi by any means. the controller is not on the device, you must run it from a separate computer but its all worth it for strong signal and good throughput even with many users connected.

Question 2

If it’s Poe doesn’t that limit the connection to 100/100 Ethernet since other cat5 pairs are being used for power?

Accepted Answer

To understand how power over ethernet works you need to understand how ethernet cables function. The data going over the ethernet cable does not use all twisted pairs. The power used by the device will come from the unused pairs and will not be a factor in if the connection will be 100 or 1000 mbs. The determining factor will with the switch port the device connects to. In the case of this access point, the power injector is 1gbs on both in and out ethernet ports. Your switch / router you hook it up to will need to be 1gbs to get the full bandwidth this access point as advertised. You can look at your switch or router specs to determine if that is the case. If you own an old router or switch you may not have 1gbs ports.

Question 3

Once you set up the unit using the controller software, does the controller software need to run continuously or only for setup?

Accepted Answer

Id does not need to run continuously; however the Ubiquity sometime need "little help" -- the usual restart from server or update firmware. I would suggest to have the server all the time not on -- but at least all the time "on standby".  I run many servers for the Ubiquity; for small installations on RaspberryPI -- which will cost you $35, that also is usable on large networks as independent nodes where connection to main server is unstable.

Question 4

What is the USB port for?

Accepted Answer

USB port was just on early production units and will not be on newer production runs.  It will still be on the EDU model since it requires it. The port can be used to power USB devices though. Other than that it has no other function that I am aware of.

Question 5

Do you have to use a Ubiquiti POE switch or will any POE switch with the right voltage work?

Accepted Answer

Any POE switch that supports 802.3af PoE/802.3at PoE+ will work. The AC Pro doesn't utilize the 24V Passive POE that Ubiquiti had in their original APs.

Question 6

What's the distance for each unit and does it plug right into the router via Ethernet to power it or does it connect wirelessly via the wi-fi and require an AC outlet to power it?

Accepted Answer

The distance each unit will reach varies greatly depending on environment. We have several throughout the building. The rooms enclosed with concrete walls it wont make more than 10 feet out of the room. The ones in the warehouse mounted 30 ft up in an open area will reach over 200-300 ft. Another thing is the 5Ghz range is much less than the 2.4 Ghz range. This is the case with all access points. As far as power it can be powered from your switch if it supports power over Ethernet (POE). Otherwise you can use the POE injectors that come with it. You basically plug the network cable coming out from the switch into this box that gets plugged into power then another network to the device and it puts the power into the cable if your switch does not support it. As far as connecting wirelessly, you need atleast one device hardwired. From there you can do a wireless uplink to 2 more APs if they are in range of the hardwired AP. If you can run the cables to each, I would. It will just work better that way. Overall great product.

Question 7

does this unit come with the POE+ injector?

Accepted Answer

The 1 Pack comes with POE; The 5 Pack or more  not.

Question 8

Can these AP's be meshed?  Also, can they be used as a wireless repeater?

Accepted Answer

People often confuse "Mesh" with "wireless handoff". these units do not "Mesh" as in you can't plug one into the network and expect all of them to talk wirelessly with each other to make a large "Mesh". however, when most people say "Mesh" they mean "wireless handoff".  each unit will need its own connection to the network but will all share a SSID making a larger seamless network with seamless roaming between them. Ubiquity's products do this very well. the handoff is smooth enough for wireless VoIP roaming wich is about as hard as it gets.

Question 9

Up to how many concurrent users on this device?

Accepted Answer

It depends.  I've had over 100 users connected simultaneously and they were all happy more or less.  The more users downloading video streams at once, the faster your performance is going to degrade, especially if your Internet connection is bandwidth constrained (and assuming the users are downloading content from the Internet and not your corporate Intranet.)

If most users are just checking email, then 100+ isn't a big deal.

Question 10

I want to put this in a church auditorium and one in our fellowship hall.  One is about 75 foot square and the other is about 50 foot square.  Will this cover those areas?

Accepted Answer

Those two areas seem very small for an auditorium and fellowship hall.  Are you sure you have the square footage correct?  If your walls are drywall and not brick or concrete, you may get away with just one in a central open location that is between the two areas.  But definitely, one in each location will do the job.  You may have to turn down the transmission power and use different channels for each AP so that the coverage does not overlap too much (Imagine if the radio signal is like a 360 sprinkler head).

Questions & Answers