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+ | ====== Adding Ubiquiti UniFi AP PRO hardware to an existing mesh ====== | ||
+ | * Someone who relocated office recently was so kind to donate their three **Ubiquity UniFi AP PRO** units to me while they upgraded to a Ruckus system in their new office. | ||
+ | * Knowing that Ubiquity hardware are famous for the ease which you can replace the vendor' | ||
+ | * I must admit that the whole exercise turned out to be much smoother and faster than I envisioned. | ||
+ | * Read on to follow my quick journey... | ||
+ | ------ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====== Flashing the firmware onto the Ubiquiti UniFi AP PRO ====== | ||
+ | Here is the steps to take when flashing the MESHdesk firmware onto the Ubiquiti hardware. | ||
+ | ===== Get the flash utility ===== | ||
+ | * We will use our Windows machine and a small GUI utility program called tftp2.exe to flash the new firmware onto the hardware. | ||
+ | * You will find a link to download this program on this URL: http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Get the MESHdesk firmware image ===== | ||
+ | * Next you can grab the pre-build MESHdesk firmware for the **Ubiquiti Unifi AP PRO** from this URL: https:// | ||
+ | * Since this is a new install of OpenWrt we will use the **openwrt-ar71xx-generic-ubnt-uap-pro-squashfs-factory** image. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Setting the IP Address of the Windows machine ===== | ||
+ | * When the Ubiquiti is in TFTP flash mode it will run a small TFTP server that listens on 192.168.1.20 on the hardware. | ||
+ | * In order for our Windows machine to transfer the firmware to the Ubiquiti we will assign the IP of 192.168.1.200 to the LAN port of the machine. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Put the Ubiquity hardware in TFTP flash mode ===== | ||
+ | * In order to put the Ubiquity hardware in TFTP flash mode you simply have to push the reset button down and keep it down while powering the hardware up. | ||
+ | * After 15-25 seconds it will show you it is in TFPT flash mode by flashing the LEDs in a rotating fashion (White, Blue and then off etc) | ||
+ | * Now you can fire up the tftp2.exe utility; select the file and flash it onto the device. | ||
+ | * The whole flash process is magnitudes faster when comparing to the time it takes on the Picostation for instance. | ||
+ | * As soon as the white LED stopped flashing rapidly you can disconnect the power and do to the next steps: | ||
+ | * Point the mesh node to the MESHdesk server | ||
+ | * Add the mesh node to the existing mesh network | ||
+ | |||
+ | -------------- | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====== Point mesh node to the MESHdesk server ====== | ||
+ | * We are not going to duplicate existing documentation but will rather point you to the following dedicated page about the **MESHdesk Node Config utility**. | ||
+ | * http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ----------- | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====== Add the mesh nodes to the existing mesh network ====== | ||
+ | * Here is a bit of a heads-up. The **Ubiquiti UniFi AP PRO** are dual radio units so when we add them; we need to specify which radio we want to use and for what. | ||
+ | * Here is also a second heads-up. On the **Ubiquiti UniFi AP PRO** we have the **5G** radio as **Radio0** and the **2.4G** radio as **Radio1**. <wrap em>This is different from the default</ | ||
+ | * See the following screenshot: | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====== The results of our work ====== | ||
+ | * Now that the nodes are pointing to our MESHdesk controller and the MESHdesk controller knows about our nodes we have <wrap em>many vendors one mesh</ | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | |||
+ | ----------------------- | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====== Comparing hardware and prices ====== | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Here is a point of interest when one compare the **TP-Link WDR3500** to the **Ubiquiti UniFi AP PRO**. | ||
+ | * Hardware wise they seem to be pretty much the same. (Aside from the 3dBm higher power on the radios of the Ubiquiti) | ||
+ | |||
+ | ^ Item ^ TP-Link WDR3500 | ||
+ | | 2.4G radio | Yes (21dBm) | ||
+ | | 5G radio | Yes (14dBm) | ||
+ | | Chip set | Atheros AR9344 Rev2 | Atheros AR9344 Rev2 | | | ||
+ | | Processor | ||
+ | | RAM | 128M | 128M | ||
+ | | POE | NO | Yes | 48Volt POE | | ||
+ | | External antenna | ||
+ | | Ethernet Ports | 2 | 1 | | | ||
+ | | Ethernet Sockets | 5 | 2 | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Price | ||
+ | |||
+ | ^ Item ^ Price (ZAR) ^ Sourced from ^ | ||
+ | | TP-Link WDR3500 | ||
+ | | Ubiquiti UniFi PRO AP | R2844.30 | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Note the listed price from Scoop (R2,495.00) is excluding VAT thus with VAT which is 14% we go up to R2844.30. | ||
+ | * The price from **Scoop** also is a dealer price and <wrap em> | ||
+ | * The **Takealot** price <wrap em> | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Conclusion ===== | ||
+ | The cost of the **Ubiquiti UniFi PRO AP** is <wrap em>at least four times higher</ |