Figured we don't have one of these, so here's my initial review of the AirTies 4920 Triple Pack (TLDR - skip life story and scroll down to pictures 
)
Link: https://www.nology.co.za/products/h...wireless-mesh-access-point-triple-pack-detail
I bought from Smartkit: http://www.smartkit.co.za/product/airties-air-4920/
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated to anyone
LIFE STORY
About 8 years ago I moved into my first house, which was just big enough that a single Wi-Fi access point wasn’t cutting it. At various stages I ran CellC LTE, Telkom ADSL and Bitco Wi-Fi as my internet connections. Of those Cell C was the fastest (but capped) at around 11Mbps. I also ran a HP N36L microserver that I liked to stream linux isos from so needed reasonable speed internally as well. With the “centralised” data approach I didn’t need to do much file copying over the network but faster is always better.
After reading about the evils of Wi-Fi “extenders” and then installing some cabling and multiple access points I had Wi-Fi access that worked reasonably well, when it worked. However once a week or so I would have to reset access points, or the router, or something and just end up resetting everything. Another issue is that I had 3 SSID’s to connect to, which was firstly a pain to set up but also because you’d find your throughput on your phone non existent then notice it was connected to the AP on the oooother end of the house which required a manual disconnect/reconnect to fix. This solution was just frustrating me.
At some point I upgraded to just 2 Ubiquiti UAP-LR units and life was amazing. These devices basically ran absolutely flawlessly and never required a restart, while providing excellent signal, a single SSID and seamless handover. They were certainly pricey for a home solution but for frustration free Wi-Fi absolutely worth the price.
Just over a year ago I moved to a much larger house, which just seems to block signal as well. I had some issues with the UAP-LR units which may have been related to lightning damage, or could have been some other networking related issue. I’m not really sure and I’ve spent ages trying to figure it out, even bought some more units which either have the same issue or something else is the problem. For a while we limped along with a UAP-Outdoor and a mostly working UAP (seemed to disconnect occasionally). We were also fortunate enough to go from Telkom LTE (30-40Mbps) to a OpenServe 100Mb fibre connection (about 84Mbps really). I also replaced a laptop with an Intel Wi-Fi chip with one with a Killer Wi-Fi chip and it didn’t seem to be quite as good, particularly in the bedroom where the signal was weak.
So having faster internet REALLY showed up any weak signal spots, and general lack of throughput on Wi-Fi so I’ve been looking for a solution. The house is also a double story and everything is cast in concrete so it’s practically impossible to run network cabling anywhere. I also had some issues setting up the UniFi control software in a Docker container on an unRAID server (now resolved).
I was also having issues with the Rokus as higher resolution linux isos were becoming unwatchable with buffering etc and sometimes even giving up completely. I had already upgraded from a N46L to a Gen8 microserver to assist with having the power to transcode but knew the real solution was a capable network.
The AirTies solution seemed good because the units provide really good value (though R4-5k is a rather hefty chunk for most households to drop on Wi-Fi gear), 2 network ports (which you only get on the “Pro” Ubiquiti gear at twice the price) and not having to run any control software to deal with was a bonus.
ACTUAL REVIEW STARTS HERE
On receiving the AirTies units I was actually a bit surprised at how small they are. I glanced at the first page of the instruction manual, downloaded the app to my phone, made sure my PoE from my “server cupboard” to my home theatre was disconnected (the plan was to have the PoE injector on the UPS and the UniFi AP in the home theatre but I think the cable was just too long) and connected into a gigabit port. I basically just plugged in the first AirTies unit, the app found it, let me name it and that was about it. I plugged in the second one near the downstairs TV (which could never receive a good signal, even though the main UniFi AP was in the “server cupboard” almost directly upstairs from it) and repeated the same process. The app terminology for “name” was a little unclear to me. I initially assumed it would be SSID so wondered why the second AP was asking me for a different SSID. This was easy peasy to correct in the app and it’s actually nice to have meaningful names. It’s very helpful that the network view shows which AP is connected to the internet and which one my phone was connected to so it was trivial to figure out which is which.
Thinkgs looking a bit wonky tbh... (this was with me in the bedroom, quite far from both)
On connecting the third unit, I plugged in a Roku to the one network port and then tried to configure it. The app hung after the screen where you name it, then whenever I tried the app again it would start searching for nodes unsuccessfully (which was strange, as I was connected to and using the AirTies SSID just fine).
I figured maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do so I unplugged the network cable, force closed the app then the app instantly resumed at the name screen and proceeded flawlessly. After plugging in the cable again everything was working fine. Later on I noticed in the manual it specifically tells you not to do this I guess basically if a cable is plugged in (before pairing/configuration) it would assume that to be an uplink.
Success and a pretty good looking picture. Placement was basically 1 downstairs to cover the lounge and open plan kitchen/dining room, entrance hall, patio area etc. 1 in home theatre because we’ve got that and then 2 office desks and a lounge upstairs in that area. 1 in the bedroom because it’s in the opposite wing of the house and that’s really where we watch the most linux isos anyway. Also should boost signal in the bathroom and near the driveway/garage etc.
I am still running the “old” wifi so I could do some comparative speedtests. From my phone from the bedroom (so 1 ap away from the one that’s actually connected) old wifi showed 11-20Mbps, AirTies showed 76Mbps. The Roku in the bedroom was reconfigured to use the network cable, going into the one AirTies unit, which connects to the main one. No idea about actual speeds but startup buffering time was WAY quicker, and shows that were previously unplayable are now playing fine.
I tested from my laptop upstairs (so connected to the AP that’s physically connected to the main switch) and that gave me 84Mbps (which is what I get when running a speedtest directly from the unRAID box).
I was also surprised to see that both 2.4 and 5Ghz networks run with the same SSID. Previous routers I've tried have always had two separate SSIDs. So far so good. Still need to switch over a few devices and turn off the old network, and then hope that these units remain stable without any required resets etc. Also maybe time to starting bugging OpenServe about that missing 16Mbps.
)Link: https://www.nology.co.za/products/h...wireless-mesh-access-point-triple-pack-detail
I bought from Smartkit: http://www.smartkit.co.za/product/airties-air-4920/
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated to anyone
LIFE STORY
About 8 years ago I moved into my first house, which was just big enough that a single Wi-Fi access point wasn’t cutting it. At various stages I ran CellC LTE, Telkom ADSL and Bitco Wi-Fi as my internet connections. Of those Cell C was the fastest (but capped) at around 11Mbps. I also ran a HP N36L microserver that I liked to stream linux isos from so needed reasonable speed internally as well. With the “centralised” data approach I didn’t need to do much file copying over the network but faster is always better.
After reading about the evils of Wi-Fi “extenders” and then installing some cabling and multiple access points I had Wi-Fi access that worked reasonably well, when it worked. However once a week or so I would have to reset access points, or the router, or something and just end up resetting everything. Another issue is that I had 3 SSID’s to connect to, which was firstly a pain to set up but also because you’d find your throughput on your phone non existent then notice it was connected to the AP on the oooother end of the house which required a manual disconnect/reconnect to fix. This solution was just frustrating me.
At some point I upgraded to just 2 Ubiquiti UAP-LR units and life was amazing. These devices basically ran absolutely flawlessly and never required a restart, while providing excellent signal, a single SSID and seamless handover. They were certainly pricey for a home solution but for frustration free Wi-Fi absolutely worth the price.
Just over a year ago I moved to a much larger house, which just seems to block signal as well. I had some issues with the UAP-LR units which may have been related to lightning damage, or could have been some other networking related issue. I’m not really sure and I’ve spent ages trying to figure it out, even bought some more units which either have the same issue or something else is the problem. For a while we limped along with a UAP-Outdoor and a mostly working UAP (seemed to disconnect occasionally). We were also fortunate enough to go from Telkom LTE (30-40Mbps) to a OpenServe 100Mb fibre connection (about 84Mbps really). I also replaced a laptop with an Intel Wi-Fi chip with one with a Killer Wi-Fi chip and it didn’t seem to be quite as good, particularly in the bedroom where the signal was weak.
So having faster internet REALLY showed up any weak signal spots, and general lack of throughput on Wi-Fi so I’ve been looking for a solution. The house is also a double story and everything is cast in concrete so it’s practically impossible to run network cabling anywhere. I also had some issues setting up the UniFi control software in a Docker container on an unRAID server (now resolved).
I was also having issues with the Rokus as higher resolution linux isos were becoming unwatchable with buffering etc and sometimes even giving up completely. I had already upgraded from a N46L to a Gen8 microserver to assist with having the power to transcode but knew the real solution was a capable network.
The AirTies solution seemed good because the units provide really good value (though R4-5k is a rather hefty chunk for most households to drop on Wi-Fi gear), 2 network ports (which you only get on the “Pro” Ubiquiti gear at twice the price) and not having to run any control software to deal with was a bonus.
ACTUAL REVIEW STARTS HERE
On receiving the AirTies units I was actually a bit surprised at how small they are. I glanced at the first page of the instruction manual, downloaded the app to my phone, made sure my PoE from my “server cupboard” to my home theatre was disconnected (the plan was to have the PoE injector on the UPS and the UniFi AP in the home theatre but I think the cable was just too long) and connected into a gigabit port. I basically just plugged in the first AirTies unit, the app found it, let me name it and that was about it. I plugged in the second one near the downstairs TV (which could never receive a good signal, even though the main UniFi AP was in the “server cupboard” almost directly upstairs from it) and repeated the same process. The app terminology for “name” was a little unclear to me. I initially assumed it would be SSID so wondered why the second AP was asking me for a different SSID. This was easy peasy to correct in the app and it’s actually nice to have meaningful names. It’s very helpful that the network view shows which AP is connected to the internet and which one my phone was connected to so it was trivial to figure out which is which.
Thinkgs looking a bit wonky tbh... (this was with me in the bedroom, quite far from both)
On connecting the third unit, I plugged in a Roku to the one network port and then tried to configure it. The app hung after the screen where you name it, then whenever I tried the app again it would start searching for nodes unsuccessfully (which was strange, as I was connected to and using the AirTies SSID just fine).
I figured maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do so I unplugged the network cable, force closed the app then the app instantly resumed at the name screen and proceeded flawlessly. After plugging in the cable again everything was working fine. Later on I noticed in the manual it specifically tells you not to do this
I guess basically if a cable is plugged in (before pairing/configuration) it would assume that to be an uplink.Success and a pretty good looking picture. Placement was basically 1 downstairs to cover the lounge and open plan kitchen/dining room, entrance hall, patio area etc. 1 in home theatre because we’ve got that and then 2 office desks and a lounge upstairs in that area. 1 in the bedroom because it’s in the opposite wing of the house and that’s really where we watch the most linux isos anyway. Also should boost signal in the bathroom and near the driveway/garage etc.
I am still running the “old” wifi so I could do some comparative speedtests. From my phone from the bedroom (so 1 ap away from the one that’s actually connected) old wifi showed 11-20Mbps, AirTies showed 76Mbps. The Roku in the bedroom was reconfigured to use the network cable, going into the one AirTies unit, which connects to the main one. No idea about actual speeds but startup buffering time was WAY quicker, and shows that were previously unplayable are now playing fine.
I tested from my laptop upstairs (so connected to the AP that’s physically connected to the main switch) and that gave me 84Mbps
(which is what I get when running a speedtest directly from the unRAID box).I was also surprised to see that both 2.4 and 5Ghz networks run with the same SSID. Previous routers I've tried have always had two separate SSIDs. So far so good. Still need to switch over a few devices and turn off the old network, and then hope that these units remain stable without any required resets etc. Also maybe time to starting bugging OpenServe about that missing 16Mbps.
