TP Link Omada and Unifi compared

TP Link Omada Review • Is The tp-link Omada S...
Hostifi Review • Review: UniFi SDN Host...
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⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
0:00 TP Link Omada VS UniFi SDN
1:08 Product Offerings
2:49 Free SDN Software UnIFi and Omada
4:07 Multisite Hosting
5:16 Wireless Management
5:40 VLAN Management
7:30 TP Link VS UniFi Adoption Processes Differences
10:30 UnFi & TP Link Omada Firewalls
13:18 Final thoughts
#TPlink #TPLinkOMADA #UniFi

[@N1CH0LAS12]

“Their firewall is just as bad as UniFi.” I love the honesty lol.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I get copying the good ideas but why did they have to copy the bad ones as well? lol

[@crash939burn]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS ubnt's wifi & throughput is the only good quality, but firewall suck , best is a separate routing firewall if you need any tips in security firewall , im always available

[@axetroll]

@@crash939burn an tplink router with wifi disabled for firewall is enough?

[@crash939burn]

@@axetroll yes if you not using wifi, but you still need a basic or advance firewall infront of everything depending on you use for it to protect....just like your house with an electric fence around it

[@juleswilko]

The USG still beats the TP Link routers for info by a country mile for functionality, but not speed (alas).

[@-Yogo]

Hopefully ubiquiti will get its sh** together now that there is a viable competitor on the market

[@cdoublejj]

kinda wanna see TP step on toes, i'd also like to see some deepr looks on rukus and netgear insight

[@shApYT]

@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket Ok but who asked?

[@pieluver1234]

@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket This is like saying Cisco is responsible for the fall of Afghanistan

[@nicholasunderwood2855]

Just wanted to give a year update on this… they still haven’t gotten their sh** together and are just going off fan loyalty at this point.

[@jsl6155]

@@nicholasunderwood2855- Nope. TPLink EAP-670 is nowhere near as stable as the Unifi 6 Pro. Unifi controller is way better then the dashboard from EAP-670. TPLink needs to get their shit together if they really want to be a competitor.

[@JordosTechShack]

I have a 5+ year old N300 outdoor TP-Link A that predates the Omada name, (EAP110), mixed in with newer AC1350 stuff in the house, and it still works great. I also have a bunch of small businesses running them for years, and I am about to do a 6 AP system for a scrap yard, with 2x TP-Link PHarOS 5gz CPE site to site link to there second location three lots down. Never had an issue, never had to replace an AP, but I've replaced a few Unifi APs and power injectors over the years, but I also have done allot more Unifi installs. I've only used there firewall once and that was just for a restate agent with two APS and really just needed a router, no especial rules.

[@scottmorris4914]

I have used TP-Link, with their hardware controller. It works great. The controller has save me in make a mistake on the PoE switch. In terms of Firewall, I went with Untangle.

[@mikhailkhatuntcov1483]

Thanks for the overview. Please keep us informed about Ubiquity alternatives!

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Great video Tom. I haven’t done large scale for tp-link just a few homes which it works well

[@AXchamp]

Nice to see you here. Keep the tp-link videos coming!

[@cdoublejj]

tp links have poe and or multigig?

[@jrbilasa]

There is actually a "Show All" option on the list of devices that shows a bit more. I think you missed that one

[@JaguarInfinity]

Thanks for covering this. As a home user looking to fit out a new home in in the next 6 - 12 months with a reliable home network for POE cameras, 2.5g networking , Wifi APs and smart home systems this video and the previous one covering Omada have really helped me.

[@tnorgaard1]

I set up tp-link home network a few months ago 5 cameras, Synology, wifi, and some iot devices about 40 clients in all and I haven’t had any problems.

[@JaguarInfinity]

@@tnorgaard1 Have or Haven't? wording suggests you meant haven't but if you have had issues I'm curious what they might be

[@tnorgaard1]

@@JaguarInfinity Haven’t had any problems.

[@mnoble247]

I have a manufacturing space, 32K sq foot, 12 AP's (4 eap 225 in the office, 8 eap615 on wall). 72 wired ports with PoE. The 605 FW, and OC200. The recently released controller 5.X software clearly shows their intentions to move it up market. They now have auto channel planning for the RF space and since I do a lot of NAC, their support for Private PSK is awesome. QoS, IGMP, box to box and client VPN also. I 100% cannot complain but do agree the security track record is unknown for them.

[@laurieg1001]

We use DNS or DHCP options on the remote network that point the devices to our Omada controller. We set this up remotely and it’s literally plug and play on the remote network.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Nice, did notice it hat that option. Thanks!

[@PawelTomal]

Hey, any chance you could help out on this? I'm stuck there and seem to only get the router adopted remotely but not the AP's :-(

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@PawelTomal lawrencesystems.com/hire-us/

[@PawelTomal]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Thanks, I'll send oy a PM later, I work for an NGO so the funds are scarce. But I will email you!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

TP Link Omada Review kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHvOh2enod-Dqbc Hostifi Review kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3atY5Kdm5J0rMU UnFi Playlist kzbin.info/aero/PLjGQNuuUzvmvxayWV93dbBleXzt6RCvXP ⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️ 0:00 TP Link Omada VS UniFi SDN 1:08 Product Offerings 2:49 Free SDN Software UnIFi and Omada 4:07 Multisite Hosting 5:16 Wireless Management 5:40 VLAN Management 7:30 TP Link VS UniFi Adoption Processes Differences 10:30 UnFi & TP Link Omada Firewalls 13:18 Final thoughts

[@ShaunMcCloud]

I just replaced my UniFi AP AC Lite with a TP-Link Omada EAC225 because the UniFi was dying (running really really hot and some of my IOT stuff wasn't working right). So far it's been good, other than my old MacBook Pro taking down my wifi for my Roku.

[@yuraymarstewart]

What was your setup for your home? What models?

[@billschrimpf6814]

Thanks for the video - Great primer on Omada. Can you do a review on Omada wifi devices that support mesh?

[@mattschoular8844]

Interesting. Thanks Tom

[@paulantoine1696]

I've now had TP-Link EAP245 WiFi APs, with an Omada OC200 controller, for some 3 years. They have been reliable and solved all of my issues with the various consumer grade wifi routers I had struggled with for year. And TP-Link do this for a very affordable price for the geeky home/homelab crowd. I steered clear of the TP-Link firewall and built my own pfSense router instead and have been delighted with performance of the combined system.

[@canadianwildlifeservice8883]

that's the spirit. Any serious home network enthusiast is going to steer clear of these bare bones router/firewalls and go directly for something that provides a little better security in the form of IPS and DNS filtering capabilities. Given how popular Tp-Link is in the world of networking devices, it really is surprising that they don't have any next-gen firewall solution yet compared to Ubiquity.

[@JimBronson]

The only reason to use the Unifi security gateways is for the full traffic breakout in the management GUI. You're going to want to put something in front of it that actually has useful security features and updates. I personally like a small Palo PA-220 or Fortinet 40F between the Unifi gateway and the WAN interfaces. That way all the Unifi features work but you get a real enterprise class firewall between Unifi and the internets.

[@chadleycb]

What’s the best license-free security device (or cloud-based ie Umbrella Prosumer)

[@jeff8207]

I setup a TP-Link system in my home lab alongside my Pfsense/Unifi system. Setup Pfsense as the firewall with a TP link 2008P switch, EAP660HD, and OC200 controller. System initially worked very well. After about 3 weeks OC200 went offline. Had power but no network response at all. Wouldn't reset. Had to be returned. Switch and AP continued to work well.

[@psedog]

Did you run into any challenges with integrating it with pfSense? Is your pfSense also your DHCP/DNS server?

[@Shadoweee]

How is it looking now?

[@originalradman9491]

I would love to know how well these work in a very noisy / congested environment. I ended up seeking out Ubiquiti originally for a home environment with substantial crosstalk from dozens of routers in range of my home. With new cable/DSL modems and TV services all running on wireless and "auto" channel selection, users running additional routers without disabling wifi on their ISP devices as well as unnecessarily utilizing the widest channel settings available... my area may as well be a wifi noise testing lab. My current setup (smallish house with 2x HD nano at opposite ends on different floors - with on site PI controller and PFsense firewall) has worked very well. The range and speed isn't quite as fast as the consumer products before it - however the stability and reliability IS.

[@axetroll]

how many clients do you have?

[@manesha13]

I have their APs running on 3x production sites. 3xAPs on 2 sites and 5xAPs on one site. Multiple SSIDs seperated by VLANs. One site also has a captive portal active. Haven't had any issues reported with WiFi for over a year of this running. Extremely easy to setup and manage.

[@JGBSolutions]

Are you talking about TP-Link or Ubiquity?

[@manesha13]

@@JGBSolutions TP-Link. I'm using their EAP-245 v3 acces points on all 3 locations.

[@JGBSolutions]

@@manesha13 I have that model too and it's been great so far.

[@amirm1553]

Do you know anywhere I can learn more how their product works. Thinking of using then instead of ubiquiti for our customers

[@MashhoodGee]

Hey, are you managing TP-Link devices from a main controller or each site has its own controller? I am looking for it, to deploy on 100+ sites but want to host controller on-prem. All sites will be connected over IPsec VPN to HQ. Unfortunately with Unifi controller I was not got APs connected on HQ even we applied inform-url via ssh on each AP. My question is, do you think TP-Link or Unifi can be deployed on 100+ sites but can be managed on same on-prem hosted controller? If yes how do we can adopt them? Each site has different mgmt network? Thanks in advance

[@aice0927]

I'm using TPlink Omada controller for my company about 3 years. It works well.

[@zeroibis]

Same

[@cdoublejj]

how big is the company/environment ?

[@aice0927]

@@cdoublejj its consist of 3 buildings connected with multiple AP and have more than 50 allowed employees and approximate of 10 visitors.

[@telifox]

I love TP-Links firewall. I was able to block all sorts of stuff based IP groups. It's tricky but once you get the process down it can be a pretty little powerful stateful firewall. And of Syslog Server is a Admins best friend.

[@HeWhoIsWhoHeIs]

Their firewall isn't bad, but it can't compete with pfSense. Whole different class.

[@trelosenario]

Hello and thank you for that detailed video but i am still confused. I am not that advanced but getting there . I have a house that i am letting and internet comes with the price. i need to install an access point to the center of the house for better coverage. Since tenants come and go i want to reconfigure the wifi passwords remotely cause i live very far. Is there a standalone ? AP devise that can give me the cloud access to configure the AP ? I have in my house a modem router from tp link the archer 600 that has the tether app and its great but its not AP and i dont know if it will work as an AP since it is a modem and thus no wan port that will be plugged on another modem . MAny thanks

[@chrish7927]

I've had two EAP 245 v1's running for years and they have been rock solid for me. Looking at the gigantic EAP610 now to take advantage of Wifi6

[@HeWhoIsWhoHeIs]

Same. With the exception of my firewall (Protectli Vault/pfSense) my entire network is TP Link and it's been rock-solid from day 1. Never an issue. Love their products.

[@jsl6155]

Had both the EAP-670 and UAP-6Pro .. go ubiquiti. Much more stable, better controller, and the QOS can actually be disabled on the AP.

[@aaroncheatwood1]

@Lawrence Systems, you should update this one with the newer TP Link V5 Firmwares...

Great to hear your opinion on tp-link products. As I am taking a good look at my network I'm looking at what products are available and what to use when I go fiber in the future. Right now I'm on DSL and want a fiber capable router. Can you tell us what DSL only modems are out there. What I found so far are only combo routers.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

We use the dsl routers from the internet providers and put them in bridge mode

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS thanks for your reply. Sorry that I replied late. I'm not sure if you are familiar with Fritzbox 7590. Overall a good router but i can't assign DHCP on multiple vlans and bridge mode has been removed from AVM (the company that makes them) as far as I can find information on that. I need a router DHCP on multi vlans support and still have itv and phone working at home. Accordingly to my ISP I'm allowed to use my own router as long it meets the requirements. I will try to find more info to force bridge mode on this 7590 without losing features as required for itv and phone.

[@captshadab]

Hi. Please make a video reviewing the wireless mesh of eap660hd with another and comparing their speed tests with the wired backhaul. Thank you

[@jamesford5986]

Thanks for finally being clear about why you don't recommend using Unifi's and now TP Links firewalls. Please remember to say this whenever you make that statement. I say this because if a home user (not a super techie) is watching your videos for the first time, they may not choose Unifi or TP-Link because of your firewall statement. They may think they have to have a separate firewall device which may be adding a level of complexity they don't want to deal with.

[@axetroll]

is the firewall the same as m5 mesh system from tplink?

[@notsure7874]

@@axetroll No, the M5 mesh is a wifi mesh access point system. Its just a bunch of access points that talk to each other over wifi to make them more or less like one access point with a larger coverage area. The firewall goes between everything on your network, and the internet connection. The firewall is the security guard, the router is the traffic cop. Generally the firewall and router are the same box. In its simplest form it has a "LAN" and "WAN" port, and that's about it - amounts to an "entrance" and "exit". Plug WAN into your internet provider, plug LAN into a switch, then into the switch you plug computers, wireless access points, etc. You would plug the "master" M5 access point into the switch, and the others you just spread around and plug into power. They talk back to the "master" unit, and spread its signal around.

[@FrancisNanco]

Hi there, which one is better with most features for a Hotspot and Captive Portal?

[@jasonmicron]

I just still find it amazing that people that are security-conscious enough to use products like this are OK with using an internet-based hub external from where the gear actually resides to manage it. I wish a vendor actually touted not being "in the cloud" and stored things locally and gave tips on how to set up a VPN server so you could connect that way to view your gear / cameras / network remotely.

[@curtispavlovec]

I agree but cloud is kind of the default way to manage and operate everything today. I really dislike it too, but the convenience can be nice. And there’s always a trade off between security and convenience. Most will go for the latter and forgo the former when push comes to shove.

[@aminderpuri9392]

I hope this helps soneon. I bought TP Link wifi access points, diffrent models over a 1 yeasr period and returned every single one as when you ty and open up the web admin page from a hard wired connection, you couldn't; pings would be dropping a lot and frequently. I tired another one and had the same issue but did find a solution in that you have to install the omada SDN software, that fixed the issue. Also, running wireshark when I was trying to fix the constant ping packet drops, I saw the TP links were constantly calling for the cloud controller even though that option is off. These are cheap, and they show it, but do have decent wifi range and are cheap which is why I ultimately stuck with them

[@fero2000]

hello thanks for the video. i have a small guest house .6 acre land, now i have a modem, that i connect to a switch, this switch i take it to 2 other switches, each one of these switches has a loco m2 to create the wifi network and they have different devices, one has cameras, pc, printer, the other has, pc, printer, bose audio, now we are going to have starlink and that means more internet speed, so all the equipment has to be changed, do you recommend me omada? or what do you recommend me to do?

[@johnelrick9765]

So a year on how have you found the system. Is it still installed at your home.

[@jasonhowe1697]

the bigger question I how scalable is this with a multi port wan switch Using a mix of external fois, , air fiber, sat and/or 5g, 4g-lte powered from POE switch ? and whether or not battery monitor cold be attached to it? Noting 5g/4g-lte as a secondary fall over connection with primary fall over being sat and airfiber???

[@johnsin3614]

Nice video! Did you try to use the external hotspot server feature?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

nope

[@justsomeone2134]

Lawrence its maybe nice that you don't need to register for the controller from TP-Link but on de Deco line its needed so far i know, and on the smart plug they updated the firmware so you being forced to work with there cloud solutions. Its a matter of time until you need an account for the omada controller.... I put my money on it that this eventually will happen.

[@marine1718]

Hi there I have a home with 3 floors and a lot of wifi iot devices lights and stuff (50 devices connected to wifi) and I use mikrotik hap ac as router 3 gigabyte cheap switch (from ali express) and mesh network tp-link deco m4 as AP 3 of them( 1 at each floor) and 1 tp-link (m3r) since last update is impossible to wifi my network tp link deco is allways at 100% cpu load. Should I migrate to omada or should I go to ubiquiti (price performance wise).

[@doveshouse]

Can I use the unifi mobile app if my mobile phone is connected locally LAN with access to the WAN BUT if the IP Cams and NVR does NOT have access to the WAN?

[@davidg4512]

If omada has complete feature parity compared to unifi switches and APs, that would be bomb.

[@Noodles.FreeUkraine]

That'd be a parody alright. 😋

[@davidg4512]

@@abdullahX001 thanks.

[@FayazAnwardeen]

Thanks for your videos! With reference to firewall do you have any videos on opnsense?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

No, just pfsense. I don't use opensense

[@FayazAnwardeen]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS thanks

[@luckbeforeleap]

Tom I presume that you are self-hosting the Unifi controller (which makes it easy to adopt locally and send the unit out to the field with the correct inform URL set). I'm using a cloud hosted controller and I SSH into each unit to set the inform URL. Any better way of doing that with a cloud hosted controller ?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

For those situations we adopt them locally in a test site that we have running internally and once all adopted we do a site transfer.

[@rickkephartactual7706]

Is Unifi's Firewall any better now, two years later?

[@Christos9]

It is always bad to copy another company's work, but for the consumer it has the benefit of minimizing the learning curve when switching from one product to another.

[@DTMAce]

I don't have the extensive knowledge that you do obviously with the advanced setup of these units. But when you were talking about the ER605 (I think it was) I have been using one of these as a standalone fail over. Now at first like you stated, I was having weirdness with it working properly, sometimes even randomly failing over when not needed. Apparently load balancing needs to be off. If I understand the process, that probably works best with multiple WANs that are essentially the same speed and potentially even the same ISP, (like multiple DSL connections) rather than completely different ISPs. For example, with Starlink and a slow DSL connection setup they will act goofy with load balancing features enabled. As for the actual settings, I simply disabled all of the options under the Load Balancing page\General tab, setup a link backup rule and it now works pretty well. Not sure of the delay, but its pretty short. Tested, it usually swaps over in 30 seconds or less, and back again about as fast. But I use it setup as just a fail over. The DSL is not used at all, unless Starlink goes offline for a long enough period. Additionally I have the outgoing LANs connected to both an in-house TP Link AX6000 router here, and using the outdoor Omada EAP-225 to provide access for two outdoor CPE710s to be directed at it from remote buildings (under 1000ft away that both have their own routers). The only reason I'm using that equipment is due to they are the only outdoor equipment that I could find from TP-Link that actually have 1GB ports. Most of the rest all are limited to 100MB. Which is dumb as hell when they have wireless speeds up to 900MB? Like having a racecar that can't go over 55 due to how its transmission is geared. lol I haven't installed the new outdoor components yet; Currently running a KU-WiFi bridge (100mb ports but 300MB wireless, ugh) between the two farthest buildings and a CPE-210 for the closer building linked to the KU-WiFi bridge as well. As you can imagine, top speeds are around 60-65MB thanks to the low speed ports. To get the full speed out of the Starlink at all buildings, I have to swap those out for the new ones, which I will have next week. Any thoughts, or am I thinking about it wrong? This is just a personal setup, providing internet for relatives that live near, and no need for cloud integration, though I was impressed by its advantages. And since I do network and camera installs for people, something for me to consider depending on the situation.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I have not done any testing with the ER-605 and their load balancing.

[@DTMAce]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS The primary reason I mentioned that, was because its enabled by default. And if you don't need it, disabling it may be useful. But again, you probably know more than I.

Not sure if that was mentioned earlier but seems like Omada does not support stateful ACLs (and it does exist in Unifi). What that means is you cannot easily block for example IoT vlan initiating communication to your main Lan vlan with preserving the option to contact IoT from Lan. In this scenario omada blocks responses from IoT to your main Lan. The only option is to open up either some specific ports or IP range for two way conversation.

[@jenniferw8963]

I handle this with pfSense firewall. I don't use tp-link switches for firewalling.

@@jenniferw8963 actually omada added this functionality some time ago so it's no longer a problem .

[@stathiseleftheriou1859]

what is you are though of Ruckus Wirreless ??

[@tomc3499]

Since the firewall seems to be the weak point in both of these products, would adding something like a Firewalla be a good option?

[@curtispavlovec]

That’s what I’m going for. Firewalla Purple or Gold and one or two Ubiquiti APs for wireless. Replacing my old USG setup.

[@rcstechnologiesltd3384]

We only install the TP-Link Omada, we fitted the Unifi system twice and never again, both times the APs disconnected and we (along with their slow tech support) couldn't get them to reconnect. We ended up sending them back and replacing both systems with the Omada system. Unifi is very costly, constant issues and the tech support is slow and unhelpful. TP-link Omada on the other hand is great. A breeze to set up, great value for money and the APs combined with OC200 are great and very very rarely get an issue and when you do get an issue, its easy to sort out.

[@Ziad7192]

Thank you for the great comparison! I was wondering if I can use the tplink switch to power up my unifi access point. Would that work fine?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Yes, it should work fine.

[@Ziad7192]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS many thanks for your response!

[@JPEaglesandKatz]

Just look carefully at the TP-LINK manual.. only very specific versions of the apperent same product support the omada interface... The rest just uses the regular gui/web interface.

[@switlle]

Thank you for great work! What do you think about compare Unifi and Zyxel? May be you already used Zyxel APs, if yes please give any response. Thanks!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Zyxel has bad security and a history of backdoors in their products.

[@switlle]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Thanks for response

[@UpcraftConsulting]

New emerging option that isn't expensive might be Grandstream. They recently added switches (very small selection so far) but their WiFi AP was a very good alternative with local, in device, and cloud controller options. TP-Link EOL always seems nebulous at best and the hardware revisions constantly change with older revisions getting silently declared end of life at random. I wish TP-link had a solid policy on firmware support timeframes and hardware support timeframes. I tend to only end up with these devices when it's the only thing in stock as a result.

[@Monsicek]

I am on same boat. Switched from mikrotik APs to Grandstream, so far I have 2x interior and 1 exterior APs and very happy with them. About 10 months in with installation tho. Still using mikrotik as router.

[@FE59FE59]

Hello I'm interested in this product because I already have some TP-Link Deco Mash APs, but do these two products work together? Best regards :)

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Here is the Omada compatibility list www.tp-link.com/us/omada_compatibility_list/

[@RobFisherUK]

I was looking at TP-Link but there is just no equivalent to the USW-Lite-16-PoE, a nice small 16 port switch that will do everything I want. TP-Link do have a 16 port switch that works with Omada, the SG2218, but it doesn't have PoE, which is annoying. It would be cheaper, even with buying a PoE adapter to power an AP, but that's just messy and annoying.

[@nickrafuse984]

I'd love to know how the Omada stuff is working a year later. Firewall firmware updates added anything useful? Cloud controller added newer/better features? I've used Meraki and Engenius so far, and I'm really looking for an SMB focused alternative.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I stopped using it them, firmware updates and security updates are slow, EOL is not really clear for products

[@nickrafuse984]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS thank you for the super fast response. That's really disappointing. I've generally used been very pleased with their devices, but have been hestiant to deploy for businss. It sounds like that hesitance is warranted. Any chance you'll be reviewing the Engenius eco-system at some point?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@nickrafuse984 They are disappointing when it comes to figuring out what's going on, even their support article were not correct. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5vXZ2Zuidqsnbs

[@nickrafuse984]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS thank you. I'll check that out. I've worked with engenius products and found them reasonably good but...? It really feels like we're forced to choose the best of the worst in this space. I'm not against cloud control (been using Meraki for ~10 years too) but I guess i'm just stuck. Most seem to be able to get their act together on APs and Switches decently well enough, but firewalls.... I just want that single-dashboard experience and I'm willing to take a little compromise to do it. Right now, that comes in the form of big $$$ on Meraki, and that's not sustainable for me or most companies I work with.

[@arandomscott]

Would love to see an update on this if you have been using it at home for a few months now

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I used it for about a month, it worked fine, I moved back to UniFi.

[@DarkNightSonata]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Hi Lawrence, any specific reasons made you moved back to UniFi ? was it performance, connectivity or just personal preference

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@DarkNightSonata personal

[@vincentrouwhorst6265]

Is it posible to do a video on Netgear Insight productline, WAX610 and WAX620?

[@cdoublejj]

this is what id like too see! i'd even donate/buy a device to help pitch in

[@theflyerpr40d]

Do they require a monthly subscription fee?

[@ronm6585]

Thanks.

[@brunosalezze]

The multi wan IPs feature is not in beta since the release 1.9.0 (udm pro firmware) two months ago. I have no ideia if it works with UGSs.

[@javierchacon9155]

Works for many years, both WAN Fail over or Dual Balance. USG-3, USG-PRO4.

[@kendrickwright801]

It seems you don't really recommend either platforms as a firewall. What would you recommend as a home/home lab firewall device?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

pfsense.

[@thestreamreader]

What firewall would you get instead if you want for home lab? If I wanted to get the tp-link system for other components.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Pfsense

[@thestreamreader]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS ok i have a pfense firewall on an old HP device. Guess that would work.

[@notsure7874]

I've switched to Opnsense. It's more or less PFSense with a better UI, and none of the stupid that goes on at Netgate. I get that the wireguard project got a little sideways, but they turned it into a huge clusterfludge. That, and I seem to remember some childish shenanigans involving a domain name. Any one of these things I could overlook, but it's showing a distinct pattern. Trust is the entire key with security, and I just don't trust Netgate.

[@nm999999991]

TP-Link firewall max port speed is 1Gb because they only have SPF. Unifi has SPF+ on the Dream Machine Pro. WiFi6 requires 2.5G or better 1.2G internet from some carriers requires 2.5G or better.

[@ericsysmin]

Yep the AP's from Unifi have 1GbE ports unlike the TP-Link EAP660 HD which has 2.5GbE

[@Wahinies]

Show me real world wireless throughput that saturates GbE from real world distances with real world obstacles (like walls).

[@cfisupply]

#sorrynotsorry I find it funny how they crapped out on their routers too. The unified (I use Unifi) controller is nice, if just wish either/both would find a way to integrate with a good firewall like Pfsense. That would make for an excellent solution as far as I'm concerned.

[@Wahinies]

Indeed I am surprised there hasnt been more action in the way of integrating with pfSense/opnSense and not just a controller in a container

[@curtispavlovec]

I agree as the firewall seems to be the weak point in all these ecosystems. But the problem is that pfSense isn’t very user friendly. Most people don’t want to spend months taking a course on how to configure pfSense and optimize it. That’s why you don’t see such a solution - it’s not plug and play and not intuitive for less experienced users at all.

[@jeffpeters5547]

I manage a TP-Link site, 20 eap225, with mesh turned on it will find a new device if no lan cable is connected, both local to controller and remote. I have had them order a new eap225, connect the poe supply to the device within range of another working AP and in a few minutes it shows pending. They also have a standalone java based batch adoption tool that you can config a url or ip of the controller.

[@ofloo9661]

does the omada support dynamic vlans?

[@AlejandroDiaz-gf9mg]

They do now. Controller version 4.3.5 has it

[@jonathanwright6482]

When I look at the compatibility list from the UK it has quite a few more devices that will work with Omada in controller mode, all the way back to the EAP110 (V4). Perhaps you didn't get those in the US?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Interesting, I never thought to check if they had more options in other regions.

[@joem6950]

The Omada discovery tool now works with routers V5. Still Java though :(

[@anwar.shamim]

explain something about - TP-Link TL-SG3428 | 24 Port Gigabit Switch

[@bigredwag]

Are you still using this in your house?

[@digrassi]

In your opinion, Er605 or Edgerouter X, which one to buy? Thanks

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Neither

[@digrassi]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS which one do you recommend for dual-wan load balance or failover?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

pfsense

[@nick-dogg]

Tp link needs to work on physical design.

[@louisvl10]

yea they're ugly af. especially in older houses access points on ceilings look out of place. maybe they should make a flush mount model you can hide in the ceiling with just a round or square flat panel visible, no LED

[@NeptuneSega]

The problem with TP is that they come out with updated versions of the same model and cripple the "old" one with no update support. I've seen it happen in under a year

[@jimc823]

I have an existing network (none-unifi) that broadcasts 2 Wifi SIDs over old Cisco APs. One of these APs is dead, and I want to replace it with a Unifi UAP-AC HD device. Is there a way to replace the dead Cisco AP and have the Unifi AP Broadcast the 2 WiFi SIDs?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

You can broadcast up to 4 SSID's on UniFi

[@jimc823]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS The unifi AP I’m setting up as a stand-alone AP and I’m not using any controller; just the existing network which is all Cisco. It has four sub- nets defined. Is there a way to tell the unifi AP what subnet to be on as well? It is defaulting to a subnet that is wrong

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@jimc823 While there is a stand along way to setup a UniFi AP, as far as I know you need the controller software to setup the more advanced settings.

[@cgreenfield6655]

Also, adopting a usg is a royal pita just in general.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Just one more reason not to use one.

[@CoreyZwart]

While a good recommendation for home users, especially with the price... The lack of mDNS/multicast solution with TP-Link is a huge negative. Casting devices on one vlan and masters on another just doesnt work. At least Unifi has a repeater. I understand business not necessarily needing that but home its getting more important.

[@Sean-wu9ve]

As an update, TP-Link has stated on their community forum that Controller v5.6 will include mDNS, “probably released in October this year.”

[@Zomby_Woof]

I see TP-Link is targeting the hospitality market. Have they provided a zero-operator-touch method for guests to register devices? The use case I never had satisfied (Packet fence could do this, but I just never had the time to set it up and test it when I had the need) was to have customers in a coffee shop hit a splash screen on connecting to open wifi, and be redirected to a short signup process that would allow them to use any email address to create an account, agree to the AUP, be granted temp access to check their email and click a confirmation link. The need for this was driven by having regular customers doing things they were not supposed to do - repeatedly. What I wanted to do is have the system automatically email a warning, then a ban with instructions on how to remediate, and regain access. A vendor who can bake this in as a point n click wizard process with a decent way to integrate outside triggers - like snort alerts, or av alarms, would have huge sales. Cisco can do it, but only at a scale the doesn't work in the smb market.

[@user-mt9pt1mz5w]

Hey, pal. I just want to ask why is it that my configured (voucher feature enabled) EAP-110, when unplug to the AC, it loses the settings like the voucher service system, and I need to re-set up again and again. I hope you could give time to this issue of mine. Thanks in advance!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

We find the TP Link systems to be buggy and not sure how to fix them.

[@user-mt9pt1mz5w]

Thank for the reply, pal. ❤

[@idahofur]

The big thing I hate. You have to use a cloud and mostly the devices are dumb. No don't get me wrong. I can totally see the uptick of management in the cloud for a large remote management. As for unifi. The only problem I had was at some times. I had to wait hours on chat. Can't say anything on TP-Link wireless. But I have not had any issues on switches. One final note. I have okay luck with Engenius but all have been point to point and just this year did on access point. Seems to be working great. Oh and yes I Know you can run a unifi server on site.

[@Saturn2888]

What were the UniFi mis-steps?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Mostly their firewalls.

[@ProjectArjun]

Will the controller be able to detect devices that already have static IP addresses already associated with them? Also, will the VPN router be able to detect other switches (as well as switches piggybacking off other switches) already connected on the network?

[@mnoble247]

I believe their discovery model happens l2 over vlan 1. If you prune vlan 1 discovery breaks.

[@Beteljuice]

How are they compare in 2023?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Same

[@sebastiaanstoffels7565]

I like the idea of this, as I don't want to be all Unifi. But damn, that AP is ugly and huge and definitely not wife approved for installation in a home. Might have to settle with a hybrid approach using the TP-Link switch ( SG2210MP ) with some nicer looking Unifi AP's.

[@aaroncheatwood1]

There are nicer looking APs for sure (EAP265HD) is what I end up putting in and they're crisp and only slightly larger than an AC AP Lite

[@balugadikota]

Hello Lawrence systems team, I have been planning for months now(watching your videos) about networking in my home. Rather than going with traditional mesh network, I wanted to go with Unifi or TP Link. Finally I started the purchase of TP Link gear and did a 1st test and wanted to get your feedback or videos you would recommend to improve or is this the best we can get out of the gear. Gear Purchased: Router: TL-R605 (Router - thinking to do link aggregating between the switch and POE to increase the bandwidth) POE Switch: TL-SG1005P (Power the AP's) Switch: TL-SG116 (Wired connection to all the rooms) APs: EAP 620 HD (Qty 3 - each per floor wired to POE Switch) In my test, I have a 750 Mbps connection and when wired I am getting 740 Mbps constantly. But when connected to the AP's the max I get out is only 400Mbps(did test with laptop and Iphone) ... can you please suggest if this is the best or are there fine tuning that can be performed to improve ? I was hoping with this huge investment I would build a robust .. but little disappointing results from my initial test. Any feedback is appreciated.

[@fischb22]

i've had more problems with TP link garbage failing for random reasons then any other manufacture. Recently upgraded to unifi, and have never looked back!

[@emredikici]

Unifi disappointed me that once their devices reach EOL they mark them as obsolete and you cannot even manage /configure them. Another $$ eyes company. Good enterprise-level product but useless after end of support.

[@teytreet7358]

Why Unifi shoot themselves in the foot by requiring online registration.

[@EJ257IHI]

Not only that, their support has gone from bad to worse. They disabled the ability to open chat through the cloud key portal if you had an issue. Phone support never existed either. Their new Cloud key gen 2 seems like a disaster from personal experience, I feel their gen 1 cloud key is a lot simpler and works.

[@tristanedwards1340]

I’ve got unifi APs on multiple sites I’ve never had issues Am I lucky Just done another 2 sites with 3xnanohds each Do I need to move to tp link on the next sites ?? Or nanohds best value for hardware u get

[@mattaudio]

I just went Omada because… you can actually buy them.

[@curtispavlovec]

Yep you can’t sell a product line when 3/4 of the components are missing in action.

[@krisclem8290]

I wonder how he ended up hiding the omada ap.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Like this twitter.com/TomLawrenceTech/status/1384855010064875522

[@YeOldeTraveller]

Ubiquti is not interested in the home user. And they want all the profit, so no break for resellers. Still hard pass doe me.

[@0bsmith0]

They don't seem to be interested in the business user either with the way they're handling (failing) things.

[@cdoublejj]

ui sucks ass for large scale enterprise so maybe they want SMB market?

[@AldarisGoldfish777]

Had to laugh at the 'pwnage' VLAN 1337 - I'm guessing that's for the company LAN parties?

[@SentoryKURT]

Pure pwnage

[@deepanmurugan467]

I am surprised Ubiquiti doesn't have a simple Unify Gateway akin to the Omada TL-R605 or TL-ER7206.

[@GabrielKozsar]

CKG2-PLUS is perfect

[@Wahinies]

@@GabrielKozsar cloud keys are a different product from routers

[@idemajdkesobbirokvalamit6259]

Omada controller can be a vm, not needed to buy hardware

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Yup, that is what I said.

[@RuxUnderscore]

Wait... Open Telnet? Why Telnet?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@JimtheITguy]

Using Omada on one site for a few years but its always been a "Unifi was too expensive" system, up until the last update it was like Unifi from 8 or 9 years ago, its almost like they got sold the old source code as its not just a copy, its pretty much a white label clone, Unifi is still a product that needs work but we wont be pushing the TPlink kit to our clients as they change products quicker than Ubiquiti, Unifi is cheap to be disruptive, TPlink is cheap.....because its cheap

[@theakindinger2061]

Like this type of company plug rather than the canned statement.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Well, no company paid me to say this so there is no canned message. :)

[@TheDillio187]

I know I'm late to the party pal, but it's laughingly bad how much of a rip off the TP Link software is of Unifi. That being said, I'm all for the competition to get UBNT back on track.

[@stephenoreilly3696]

Good review. You’ve been too far up unifi arse lately overlooking big issues, now you are being objective . Either way. Well done. Keep being objective that’s why I follow you,

[@draconightwalker4964]

you completely missed the Ubiquiti edge gear. far better for home use than the unifi line. The edge line also doesnt need the mandatory sign up either

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I did not miss that Ubiquiti gear, it was not what I was comparing in this video.

[@tobimai4843]

Edge is not SDN

[@draconightwalker4964]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS i get that but ive never seen you discuss it, at all.

[@draconightwalker4964]

@@tobimai4843 indeed, its not. its hardware networking

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@draconightwalker4964 We don't use it, I like pfsense way better than the Edge Routers.

[@samiam9059]

Unifi has been trying to come up with platforms that lock you in.

[@oundurra4]

I was interested in this product, but now I realize is a copy of Ubiquiti, not interested anymore.