Unifi Mesh - Fix Your WiFi Issues!

UniFi Mesh is a fickle beast...just because you have the equipment doesn't mean that it's optimized. In this video, I was presented with a UniFi Mesh network that was functioning very poorly - I detail everything that I did to make the UniFi Mesh WiFi experience as smooth as butter.

00:00 Intro
00:23 Mesh vs. Hard Wiring AP's
01:49 Explaining the problem scenario
08:55 What is the 'WiFi Experience' score?
11:43 Problems with the existing configuration
13:44 Fixing the mesh WiFi issues
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Connect with Chris:
Twitter: @CrosstalkSol

[CrosstalkSolutions]

So funny enough - after a couple of days of my buddy running his UniFi system after I made these improvements, we discussed it and I may NOT have to go down there to do the extra improvements that I recommended. Funny how that works...but if it ain't broke, don't fix it! He's going to live with it for a bit and see what it's like...but wanted to mention that there may never be a follow-up video here.

[Krigh_B]

Hey Chris. Have you ever thought about doing a video on how to layout access points in multi story homes? I live in a two story house with a basement and am racking my brain trying to figure out the best layout so the wifi APs don’t interfere with each other. In a squarish house, makes sense to put them in the middle but then they are stacked on top of one another. UniFi design centre doesn’t work in 3D. Think about it! Keep up the great work.

[PostalBound]

Absolutely the clearest explanation on mesh networking logic and fundamentals that I have found. Excellent all around. Kudos and please keep doing what you do!

[JerreMuesli]

I'm a networking noob with a bunch of Ubiquity stuff in his house, trying to understand how his meshing setup should look like.
This video is pure gold for me. Thank you soo much

[ecur]

Man you explained it so much better than an old teacher I had years ago, well done again my friend.

[matthewbuehrer]

Chris,
I'm installing a couple of these UAP-AC-M-PRO on the outside of a new home. The home is new construction so we're installing all of the wring inside the house in a "rough-in" stage of preparation for insulation and drywall. The "standard thought" is to simply drill a hole in the siding and bring the roughed-in wiring into the AP directly. The exterior of the house is clapboard/lapped siding and to make for a nicer install, the carpenter is putting a block in the siding to allow for flat-mounting the AP to the outside of the home. I'm using the UI Tough cable and it's a bit stiff to bend up and into the bottom of the AP where the input is. It's also black wiring and will be exposed for the homeowner to see. My thought is to install a single-gang old work box flush-mounted into the siding block, oriented horizontally and then screw the mount to the single-gang box screws of the cover and include a keystone jack in the cover, too. This allows the rough-in wiring to be terminated int eh box and then a short jumper cable to be installed from the keystone to the AP (color of choice and a more flexible cable) with the intention of making a neat/clean installation. You and your staff have installed several, I'm sure (and maybe some of your followers) and I wanted to know if anyone has ever done this type of installation that I've described - or if there are any suggestions for a better/cleaner outcome.
Thanks in advance. Matt

[JackHurley]

Thank you much for this video. The mesh only via 5Ghz was a lightbulb moment and while after you explained some of the manual mesh settings, they seem quite intuitive. I can't believe its taken me this long to find this video. I added a Beacon HD in my house were I cant add a wire. I turned "auto" mesh on my two hardwired access points thinking they both had to have mesh turned on. Its been a mess until your video explained the 5Ghz meshing and the manual settings. Thx so much for all your vids.

[ThisOldManOfTheSea]

That was excellent and it made me realise I’d got an uplink configuration error in my own setup. Thanks very much 👍

Looking forward to your "on-the-road" episode.

[nicholaslacovara]

I delayed use of the Unifi auto optimization feature based on your comments. However with (17 switches) 19 APs over 16 acre campus and 165 wifi devices regularly connected - doing what you did was driving me crazy. I finally turned on auto optimize and it has dramartially improved the entire network wifi. All APs are above 90% incluing three meshed access points. It would be interesting if you compared your results to the auto optimize feature.

[reginaldmarselus]

I like your editing style. Getting your videos to present smoothly is key. And you do it well.

[a.j.]

I have an AC mesh on the side of my metal barn. From there I hard-wired an AP-lite on the inside of the building. The AC mesh is more of a bridge.
I love this stuff and you make it fun and easy to learn how to make it better. Have a beer or coffee on me...

[RickJamesBish]

I recently took down a full Unifi Mesh system that consisted of a UAP-AC-M-Pro as ROOT and 3 UAP-AC-M REMOTE. At the head is a UDM-Pro. Each AC Mesh was linked to the AC MESH Pro and set up to connect only that way. I had no issues with client connectivity and performance. My issue was the MESH would not reestablish after rebooting the UDM-Pro. I did that intentionally to see if the MESH would come back up. One of the remotes came back up but was flakey. In the end it required forgetting each remote, resetting each remote and then readopting each remote. I already had things set basically as you recommended. RSSI between remotes and the ROOT AP are all in the -58 top -62 range. Interference on 5Ghz is minimal to non existent. As stated, connectivity and speeds were very good. My only problem was the MESH not coming back up, something we cannot have since we can't have someone onsite to go through the tedious process of setting it back up again. With the exception of the UMD-Pro, I returned all the equipment and put our TP-Link Omada back in place. I want to give it another shot but will start with just the AC Mesh Pro and one AC Mesh. I do require a total of 3 AC Mesh so if the MESH is stable with the one, I will add another, and so on. Any ideas on why the MESH would fail like that?

[PieVsCake]

Thinking of replacing my current nighthawk mesh with UniFi and this video helped tons with my decision to pull the trigger. I love the flexibility and configurability options. Love the explanations and advice.

[andyalias]

Well done! I understand so much more about meshing now, im about to do a tiny mesh at home and know how im going to set it up for best performance. THANK YOU!

[congenio]

Even without hardwiring, the situation could be improved by relocating the patio AP a bit more "north" in the map to put it into the line of sight to the two downlink APs. That should also render the "Mesh" AP even more useless, so that it can be decomissioned.

[TheDaumen]

Chris, I think you need a vacation to the beautiful Black Forest in Germany. I live 20 minutes from Switzerland and 30 minutes from France. I have a horse farm here so you could bring your kids and they could ride all day. You, well, I could keep you busy setting up my network so you don't get bored. My home is 15, 000sq ft., three stories with 80cm thick stone walls. A few hardwire ethernet cables. It is beautiful this time of year!

[RWC]

I really enjoy these Chris. They're fun and informative. Thanks for all your work in presenting these videos.

[chriscooper]

Fantastic Video - Thank you for taking the time to explain all of that. Understood well, really well presented.. Thanks Chris (once again!) I currently live in a 1200 year old house in the UK with 35inch (90cm) stone walls in-between every room. Spent 3 weekends wiring outdoor ethernet (not ideal but only real solution without drilling for oil (holes)) lol - Really love your videos and you convinced me to buy Unif! 1 x UDM SE, 4 x Wifi 6 Pro and 4 x G4 Bullets - Think I've finally got a robust network across the house. I'm pretty lucky to have 1Gbit connection plumbed into a rural old property, may look at consultancy to setup IOT, Guest Networks, let me know if interested and fees - Thanks

[brandonscheer]

Would love to see a similar settings video for PTMP set ups. With nano stations or nano beams. Something that talks about the spectrums and best practices.

[malicetechen]

Best advice ever for Wi-Fi I seen to date and on a side note wide fingers don’t play nice with share button next to other items.