After patiently waiting for Ubiquiti to drop a no storage version of the Cloud Gateway Max, I have ‘splashed the cash’ on a ‘dream short-stack’ setup for my WFH office.
I have gone for:
Cloud Gateway Max
U7 Pro Wall (will eventually get a table stand once in-stock but I have a workaround stand)
PoE+ Adapter
Flex Mini (temp switch until if/when Ubiquiti release a 2.5gig switch)
Was tempted by the U7 Pro Max but saw some chatter here that it is only designed for more clients. Im going to see what the coverage is like and then map out my area to see if I need another AP.
I know a lot of people on here are running Ubiquiti gear, can anyone share any tips/tricks/initial setup instructions whilst I wait for all the new ‘toys’ to arrive?
When you set up the Gateway Max, you will have to go into the advanced settings of the set up and make sure the VLAN Is set to 911, Otherwise, it will not get an Internet connection and it will fail the connection test and will not let you proceed
UniFi do have several switches capable of multigig speeds - I currently have a couple with 2.5gb ports and a couple with 10gb. Trouble is, they’re not cheap but they are good value when compared to the competition.
There is no 2.5gb Flex Mini equivalent though, no. That would be a pretty nice addition to the lineup.
@MolecularAudio be interested to hear how you get on with the U7Wall and POE+ Adapter setup.
I am thinking of adding a U7 AP probably next year, really have no need of a 2.5G Switch as all my wired kit is 1G. So a 2.5G POE+ Injector should be enough.
If you run a NAS, 2.5gbe is essential, I upgraded my PC with a USB3 Ethernet adapter and the NAS too, bought a cheap 2.5gbe switch. I would recommend to anyone
I presume 2.5gbe interests you, otherwise you’d have gone for the Ultra that is 1gbs, the max is 2.5 on the lan side
Some NAS have 2 NICs which if they are 1Gbps you can port channel or lag then from a switch which is what I do. It’s more than enough for 7 cameras, plus everything else that goes through it.
So I’ve been testing the kit for a few days and unfortunately it’s not really been working out.
The U7 Pro Wall and PoE+ Adapter work perfectly fine, negotiates at full 2.5gbps - it’s a good alternative/temp solution (albeit more messy) than needing to buy a PoE switch.
Whilst the PoE+ Adapter stays nice and cool, the U7 Pro Wall and the UCG Max get mad hot even whilst it’s doing nothing, to the point where it is uncomfortable to touch. I’ve found the new setup consumes over double the amount of power over the ex820v, even whilst it’s idling and not doing anything which is incredibly inefficient - it’s likely why it runs so hot.
The software experience is nice but it seems to have ‘tech debt’ and odd choices - for example, there are two toggles for band steering, one is a newer version and one is a legacy option - enabling both causes problems … so why is the legacy option still there with no warnings or information? Also, there is no option to dim the LED on the U7 Pro Wall, only switch it off which is a pretty big oversight.
I am going to be returning the kit but I am keeping the Flex Mini and will just use it as a ‘dumb’ switch instead - it’s a superb little bit of kit and I love that it’s powered over USB-C.
It is disappointing as I was hoping to be wowed by its performance, but has been fun to experiment with and learn non-the-less. I guess I just don’t really need all the features it can offer.
If your UCG Max he’s getting hot there’s a good chance that you have a dud unit
Unless the U7 puts a lot more strain on it than a n AC Pro does, (which wouldn’t make a lot of sense). Then you likely have a dud as mine is only Luke warm to the touch
Yep, lot of chatter about the U7’s getting very hot - think they even have fans in them because of it? That’s one reason why I haven’t bothered with them. To be honest though, the U6 gear gives me ample speed over WiFi as my wireless devices don’t need massive throughput.
Mine was around the same temp whilst doing nothing sitting on my desk - I put a metal disk underneath it to stop it from potentially damaging the desk and help dissipate the heat, but it didn’t help much.
In the end I moved the UCG Max to sit on my TV stand that has a chunky metal base - that helped to bring temps down to 50 - 60 degrees. Still not ideal though for a device being very lightly used.
The U7 Pro Wall must be running around 75/80+
Never heard the fan kick on once.
55-57c with 2 AC AP Pros, but I fail to see how Having Wi-Fi seven would increase the CPU temperature as it’s not working any harder unless the throughput is high, Unless I’m wrong about that
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