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Author Topic: Plusnet router replacement recommendations please  (Read 6857 times)

Alex Atkin UK

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Re: Plusnet router replacement recommendations please
« Reply #30 on: February 06, 2020, 08:01:27 PM »

Not true that it is subjective, I've designed and built PCBs and circuits, I know what I see.  Nothing about minimal parts is the issue, it was other problems, clearly it was built cheap, certainly the model I was using.  No heat-sinks on mine, their heat sink design was to add a thick soft heat-sink pad to bridge the gap on the back of the circuit board behind each LSI onto the plastic case!  Worse though, in the factory none of these pads were lined up correctly on mine, one missed the silk screened location on the PCB completely, probably quite hard to line up quickly in a typical sweatshop Chinese factory.  The back of the device, that would in most installations be flush up against a foam (so insulating) ceiling tile, had a couple of 'hot spots' because of course the heat can't dissipate in plastic.  The plastic case is as cheap as it could be and just clips together (saves money in the factory).  The blue LED for the light piped ring was being over driven because they only use one LED (cost thing again to save pennies) so after several months of 24/7 operation that started to dim.  Nothing about it was designed to last.  There may be improvements with their other models but it is clear they build for cheap and not quality.

The money basically is going on the software, and even that isn't great, I got fed up with every few weeks when I wanted to get at the access point settings that I had to update it, update yet again the firmware on the access point (they never have stable firmware), then update Java because that was complaining it was out of date.  The UI was horrible, it was over complicated and even then many settings available on cheaper consumer kit for the AP were completely missing.  Fancy requiring Java just to access some AP settings, some companies ban Java for security reasons! Had a whole set of hassles when I moved to a new computer then suddenly realised I couldn't 'manage' the access point. Just far too much work for one or two access points on my own home.

Uni-fi almost has a cult following, presumably because it is the poor companies 'Cisco' of kit and everyone want's to believe it is just as good.

I also tried one their routers, just as bad, could have fried an egg on it and just as cheaply made, even though it was quite expensive, sent it back.

Regards

Phil

You make a lot of very good points here, I admit I got caught up in the hype.  Think I will be picking up a Zyxel once a WiFi6e unit comes out.

The nanoHD doesn't look too bad, but my god the Zyxel here looks like a proper industrial design intended to last a long time in a commercial space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4GW4rzN90
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Broadband: Zen Full Fibre 900 + Three 5G Routers: pfSense (Intel N100) + Huawei CPE Pro 2 H122-373 WiFi: Zyxel NWA210AX
Switches: Netgear MS510TXUP, Netgear MS510TXPP, Netgear GS110EMX My Broadband History & Ping Monitors

johnson

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Re: Plusnet router replacement recommendations please
« Reply #31 on: February 08, 2020, 12:54:54 AM »

Amen PhilipD.

I have no idea why Ubiquiti kit gets the following it does. I had no idea you had to use an installed program (let alone a java one) to manage things... what gives?

Many corners of the internet recommend their stuff without question.  :shrug2:
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Alex Atkin UK

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Re: Plusnet router replacement recommendations please
« Reply #32 on: February 08, 2020, 01:44:51 AM »

Amen PhilipD.

I have no idea why Ubiquiti kit gets the following it does. I had no idea you had to use an installed program (let alone a java one) to manage things... what gives?

Many corners of the internet recommend their stuff without question.  :shrug2:

I think its because for a while at least, they were about the cheapest provider of commercial grade (as in, better than consumer) equipment.

They seem to get there by releasing Beta firmware at launch of products, which often still makes them better than consumer gear (which feels like Beta forever in some cases) but rather problematic if you actually need commercial quality.

I had no idea Zyxel were in this market at similar prices or I would likely have considered them.
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Broadband: Zen Full Fibre 900 + Three 5G Routers: pfSense (Intel N100) + Huawei CPE Pro 2 H122-373 WiFi: Zyxel NWA210AX
Switches: Netgear MS510TXUP, Netgear MS510TXPP, Netgear GS110EMX My Broadband History & Ping Monitors

PhilipD

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Re: Plusnet router replacement recommendations please
« Reply #33 on: February 11, 2020, 09:50:26 AM »

Hi

Amen PhilipD.

I have no idea why Ubiquiti kit gets the following it does. I had no idea you had to use an installed program (let alone a java one) to manage things... what gives?

Many corners of the internet recommend their stuff without question.  :shrug2:

I bought into as well as the first ceiling access point I got was a Uni-Fi after reading up about options on the Internet.  I'm sure there stuff isn't terrible, I just don't consider it good at the price and can't understand why people rate it so high. I suspect though once a network manager has made the decision to go Uni-Fi and a company is flooded with their kit and echo system costing thousands of pounds, it becomes very difficult for that IT manager to turn around and admit that perhaps it wasn't the best kit after all and they should be fired :-)  So perhaps everyone keeps up the pretence.

Quote
I think its because for a while at least, they were about the cheapest provider of commercial grade (as in, better than consumer) equipment.

They seem to get there by releasing Beta firmware at launch of products, which often still makes them better than consumer gear (which feels like Beta forever in some cases) but rather problematic if you actually need commercial quality.

Yes you are probably right there, they sort of came about first and offered an alternative to Cisco type kit that is the opposite end of the price spectrum.

Quote
The nanoHD doesn't look too bad, but my god the Zyxel here looks like a proper industrial design intended to last a long time in a commercial space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4GW4rzN90

The nanoHD does look a bit better build wise but still appears to be the cheapest design possible, you can see what I mean about the snap together case, just cheap, and feels cheap. Granted they don't need to built like tanks being mounted high up on the ceiling, but even so. 

Regards

Phil


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Alex Atkin UK

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Re: Plusnet router replacement recommendations please
« Reply #34 on: February 11, 2020, 12:25:53 PM »

You know what would be neat?  A ceiling mounted AP with RGB LEDs around the edge that show which direction and signal quality the beam forming is transmitting in.  ;)

As it stands, I have no idea of MU-MIMO is even functioning as when I tried both my laptops at the same time, performance seemed be halved between them, just as you'd expect from SU-MIMO.

Then again, they were both on the same side of the AP which I'd imagine for optimal performance you want them on opposites sides so they use different antennas?
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Broadband: Zen Full Fibre 900 + Three 5G Routers: pfSense (Intel N100) + Huawei CPE Pro 2 H122-373 WiFi: Zyxel NWA210AX
Switches: Netgear MS510TXUP, Netgear MS510TXPP, Netgear GS110EMX My Broadband History & Ping Monitors
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