Converting from UniFi to CBW

[KevinPFleming]

I've gotten fed up with the firmware problems in my UniFi AC AP Pros, so I decided to experiment with a CBW140AC-B as a replacement in my home network.

I installed one last night, with four WLANs (using VLANs) and the same SSIDs/WPA2 passphrases I had previously... and it's all working quite well. The setup process was pretty straightforward (once I realized that both the AP and the 'master AP' get IP addresses from the DHCP server). I did not use the mobile app, just the web management portal.

I'll end up moving this one to the garage and using a 240AC in the house (for more wireless bandwidth), but this is a pretty nice product! My Android phone shows at least 100Mb/s bandwidth up and down (we have a 1Gb/s uplink), which is plenty 

[Martin Aleksandrov]

Hello Kevin,

Congratulations on your choice!

We are glad to hear you have successfully transitioned from UniFi to CBW. Deploying the CBWs and mesh extenders you get simple, secure and flexible solution with enterprise performance. You will also benefit from our leading technical support for any configuration or hardware issue. 

Do not forget you also have the Cisco Business Dashboard as a centralised management platform available now for the CBWs and all Cisco Business and Cisco Small Business products. You can fully manage up to 25 devices without a license. You can become more familiar and download the free software at the following link: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/cloud-systems-management/business-dashboard/index.html

Additional CBW and mesh extenders links:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/smb/product-support/small-business/wireless-mesh-100-200-series.html?cachemode=refresh#~tab-articles

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/smb/product-support/small-business/wireless-mesh-extenders-100-series.html?cachemode=refresh

Administration guide:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/access_point/csbap/CBW_Admin/Admin/en_US/b_Cisco_AP_Admin_Guide.pdf

Stay tuned.

Regards,

Martin

[KevinPFleming]

I've now completed the conversion; the 140AC-B is in the garage, and two 240AC-Bs are in the house (just under 2,000 square feet, two floors plus basement, with a 100-year-old brick chimney dead in the middle which blocks signals pretty well!). Still working very well.

[tyshawn76]

Good post Kevin. I was hoping to get a bit more data from you as I am also a UI member looking at moving to CBW. 

1. Any weird little issues popped up as of yet?

2. Any random crashes on the APs?

3. Have you done any Perf testing on the internal network with this platform vs UI?

4. How is the guest portal vs the on in UI?

5. What is the max client count on a single AP?

[KevinPFleming]

No issues, no crashes. The WiFi network has been operating invisibly, as it should.

I haven't done any internal speed testing, but testing using the Speedtest Android app and website show the speeds I'd expect (more than 100Mb/s on our Android phones, and more than 200Mb/s on our laptops).

We don't use the guest portal, and have a small number of clients, so can't provide any useful information there.