Top 13 Unifi Network Setup Tips - Planning and Optimization

Setting up your new Unifi network can be a difficult process - especially if you are new to Ubiquiti. I have outlined my top 13 (yes a weird number) tips for anyone setting up their network for the first time. Use these tips to help keep your setup simple, but optimized.

Other Videos Mentioned:
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:54 Tip 1
5:00 Tip 2
6:12 Tip 3
8:11 Tip 4
11:17 Tip 5
14:01 Tip 6
15:53 Tip 7
19:32 Tip 8
21:15 Tip 9
23:20 Tip 10
26:56 Tip 11
28:39 Tip 12
35:30 Tip 13

[wscottfunk]

Hey Tim, great tips! One thing that I did prior to setting up my UniFi system was to create an Excel spreadsheet listing all of my connected devices along with their Mac addresses. This made the transition and identification so much easier, especially for IoT.

[markstanchin]

Wow, lotta great info. I’m doing this right now segmenting my network and I’m going to watch the vlan video You have next. Your very knowledgeable. Thanks so much.

[WakingMoonMedia]

Great video. Thank you. Keep up the good work.

[kelemvor]

Thanks for this. Just got my UDM SE. Still waiting on the U6+ to arrive. Will definitely watch this again when I'm actually ready to get things working.

[johnvanwinkle]

Great tips video! I am about to setup a new Ubiquiti system in my home under construction.

[richardkornman]

Thanks for the video. As a newcomer it is well presented and easily understood

[AtomCoder]

Great video, very helpful. Thank you!

[ScRP]

Hi Tim, thank you very much for the great content. I‘m currently building my new house and try to secure my outdoor Ethernet ports, which I use for my reolink cameras and also my abus Facexxess. So I’m definitely looking forward to more in depth Vlan content.
Greetings from Germany.

[PabloTBrave]

I use a single ssid with multi passwords directing traffic to the correct network LAN/IOT etc. It has a few limitations but it works for me

[gjhunter]

Thanks for the info on Sonos. I was trying to have it on IoT but my Music Library files are on a NAS on my default, so needed a rule to allow it to access them. I too reverted to putting Sonos on default. Good to know I'm not the only one.

[peteradshead]

I've had my Ubiquiti network for about a month, so I have more or less got mine setup .
There are a few thing which you know should be there but was hard to find like how to reserve in a DHCP IP from mac address .
WOW a single 48 port switch a bet that complicated thing having just one switch and cabling to all areas, I did the simple version, a UCG ultra to downstairs switch with a trunk port to a upstairs switch with a trunk to the loft and the garage, so only 1 cable acting as trunk links .

[Polkster]

I totally disagree with changing the channel width to a larger number; especially if you are in a dense WiFi environment with a lot of neighbors broadcasting near you. If you are in a space that has limited interference, then using wider bands MAY increase your speed, but most times won't. IoT devices uses very little bandwidth and changing that to a wider channel width is just inviting issues with interference with other devices. You should instead look at changing your Channel numbers to be 1, 6, and 11; if you have to more than three access points, (let's say you have four access points), have two of the farthest away from each other share the same channel number on 2.4 GHz. But don't set all of your access points to the same channel. This will cause interference between your own access points, especially if you increase the channel width. On 5 GHz channels, there are plenty of non-overlapping bands (just don't use the ones used by local radar systems) that you can give each access point its own individual channel number. You can also go into the Radios section and see what channel numbers are being used near you.

[mikemckenna]

Thanks for the video. Would it be possible to post a video that explains RSSI settings for wireless?

[Mike]

Great video. Lots of useful information here. For tip #4/Backups - can the various forms of backups be saved to a computer/NAS on the LAN (even a manual download would be fine), or must they be stored in the cloud? Although there are some advantages to cloud storage, I prefer to not do anything cloud-based.

One thing I think would be valuable to include in the list is regarding remote admin access. In other words, WAN-side admin and console access. Many "generic" router setup tutorials say the first thing to do is to disallow remote configuration as a security measure. This would obviously not be feasible for an installer-managed site, but for a home/office where the admin is on-premises, I think it might make sense to disable remote configuration. What do you think?

[uksmudgesmith]

Tip 12 - I leave IoT network at 2.4g only. Save the 5g for main network

[joshuakariuki]

Wish there was the option of manually adding your own icon for those missing from the built in list.

[jamesford]

I have been using a UDR and was checking my settings against your video. I had most of them set the same as you. I decided to test Band Steering by turning it on. With it on our TV immediately stopped streaming! I reset it and told the TV to reconnect, which it did. The bottom line is to follow your advice and leave Band Steering Unchecked!

[thearyndub]

I see you have a Firewalla Purple in the mix, how exactly are you using this? I'd love to use it to get the reports, but not sure I want to place it in the middle of gateway and UDM Pro as it's another failure point.

[Sadikel]

Hey! I have watched almost all your video's since I am setting up a network as a complete noob and they are honestly amazing!
I just had some questions about my personal situation and was wondering if there was a way to connect with you directly? I tried looking for an instagram but I could not find any.

Please let me know if!

[roughwear_tech]

A tip I would recommend is a separate SSID for IOT and make it only 2.4GHz. Many IOT devices are incompatible with 5GHz networks and can get confused if they’re on a dual band network.