Whats' a good product for a high-density Wireless network setup?

Sat Jun 20 04:31:52 UTC 2015

Well, I could certainly be wrong, but it's news to me if UBNT started
supporting DFS in the US.

Your first screenshot is listing the UAP for 5240 which is channel 48,
U-NII-1.  The second show 5825 which is the upper limit of U-NNI-3.  I
don't see any U-NII-2 in what you posted.

This forum post may be a bit out of date, but I haven't seen any
announcement or information on the forums to indicate the situation has
changed, and I'm pretty good at searching:

https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Wireless/DFS/m-p/700461#M54771

>From this thread it looks like the ability to configure DFS channels in the
US was a UI bug and only showing for ZH anyway.  IIRC they actually got in
a bit of trouble with the FCC over not restricting the use of these
channels enough.

Regardless of whether or not the FCC has cleared UBNT indoor products for
U-NII-2 and U-NII-2-extended (and I haven't seen evidence of that yet),
until you can configure APs to use those channels in the controller without
violating FCC regulations I don't consider them usable.

The UAP-AC doesn't seem to support DFS channels at all even without FCC
restrictions, which kind of kills the point of AC, only 4 x 40 MHz or 2 x
80 MHz channels doesn't cut it when we're talking about density.

Note we're talking about indoor wireless and there ARE some UBNT products
for outdoor WISP use that do support DFS and have been cleared by the FCC,
but we would only be looking at the UAP-PRO or UAP-AC in this case so maybe
that's the point of confusion here.

On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 11:36 PM, Faisal Imtiaz <faisal at snappytelecom.net>
wrote:

> FCC Cert claims different.
>
> :)
>
> Faisal Imtiaz
> Snappy Internet & Telecom
> 7266 SW 48 Street
> Miami, FL 33155
> Tel: 305 663 5518 x 232
>
> Help-desk: (305)663-5518 Option 2 or Email: Support at Snappytelecom.net
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From: *"Josh Luthman" <josh at imaginenetworksllc.com>
> *To: *"Faisal Imtiaz" <faisal at snappytelecom.net>
> *Cc: *"NANOG list" <nanog at nanog.org>, "Ray Soucy" <rps at maine.edu>
> *Sent: *Friday, June 19, 2015 9:16:37 PM
>
> *Subject: *Re: Whats' a good product for a high-density Wireless network
> setup?
>
> Uhm he's not wrong...
>
> Josh Luthman
> Office: 937-552-2340
> Direct: 937-552-2343
> 1100 Wayne St
> Suite 1337
> Troy, OH 45373
> On Jun 19, 2015 9:13 PM, "Faisal Imtiaz" <faisal at snappytelecom.net> wrote:
>
>> >>>The thing you need to watch out for with Ubiquiti is that they don't
>> support DFS, so the entire U-NII-2 channel space is off limits for 5 GHz.
>>
>> Huh ????
>>
>> Please verify your facts before making blanket statements which are not
>> accurate ...
>>
>>
>>
>> Faisal Imtiaz
>> Snappy Internet & Telecom
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: "Ray Soucy" <rps at maine.edu>
>> > To: "Sina Owolabi" <notify.sina at gmail.com>
>> > Cc: "nanog at nanog.org list" <nanog at nanog.org>
>> > Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 7:07:01 PM
>> > Subject: Re: Whats' a good product for a high-density Wireless network
>> setup?
>> >
>> > I know you don't want to hear this answer because of cost but I've had
>> good
>> > luck with Cisco for very high density (about 1,000 clients in a packed
>> > auditorium actively using the network as they follow along with the
>> > presenter).
>> >
>> > The thing you need to watch out for with Ubiquiti is that they don't
>> > support DFS, so the entire U-NII-2 channel space is off limits for 5
>> GHz.
>> > That's pretty significant because you're limited to 9 x 20 MHz channels
>> or
>> > 4 x 40 MHz channels.  Keeping the power level down and creating small
>> cells
>> > is essential for high density, so with less channels your hands are
>> really
>> > tied in that case.  Also, avoid the Zero Handoff marketing nonsense they
>> > advertise; I'm sure it can work great for a low client residential area
>> but
>> > it requires all APs to share a single channel and depends upon
>> coordinating
>> > only one active transmitter at a time, so it simply won't scale.
>> >
>> > I don't have experience with other vendors at large scale or high
>> density.
>> >
>> > I don't think what you're talking about is really high density anymore
>> > though.  That's just normal coverage.  Wireless is a lot more
>> complicated
>> > than selecting a vendor, though.  If you know what you're doing even
>> > Ubiquiti could work decently, but if you don't even a Cisco solution
>> won't
>> > save you.  You really need to be on top of surveying correctly and
>> having
>> > appropriate AP placement and channel distribution.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 1:57 AM, Sina Owolabi <notify.sina at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > > Hi
>> > >
>> > > We are profiling equipment and design for an expected high user
>> density
>> > > network of multiple, close nit, residential/hostel units. Its going
>> to be
>> > > 8-10 buildings with possibly a over 1000 users at any given time.
>> > > We are looking at Ruckus and Ubiquiti as options to get over the high
>> > > number of devices we are definitely going to encounter.
>> > >
>> > > How did you do it, and what would you advise for product and layout?
>> > >
>> > > Thanks in advance!
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Ray Patrick Soucy
>> > Network Engineer
>> > University of Maine System
>> >
>> > T: 207-561-3526
>> > F: 207-561-3531
>> >
>> > MaineREN, Maine's Research and Education Network
>> > www.maineren.net
>> >
>>
>
>

-- 
Ray Patrick Soucy
Network Engineer
University of Maine System

T: 207-561-3526
F: 207-561-3531

MaineREN, Maine's Research and Education Network
www.maineren.net