Unifi help please. Older Mac

[JABB]

I am just resetting my unifi APs as I thought I had lost my user ids but I now realise the discover is no more and WiFiman and the Unifi app won't work on my pre M1 mac.
What can I do?
I have set the two discs up on my phone so they are broadcasting the network in the house and I have updated the firmware. So at least they are running.

What I want to do however is create a guest ( child ) network which i can control ( ideally from my phone ) to turn off and on as needed. Without being able to log in now, and the app being too simple to handle the guest network, what can I do?

[jimmyjimjim]

My understanding is that you need to use the unifi controller to create a guest network. The controller will need to be running all the time.

So you either need a standalone controller such as a cloud key, a unifi router with the controller built in, such as the dream machine or dream router, a PC or mac running 24/7 with the app installed, or a Raspberry Pi running the controller.

I ran a Pi with the controller for a long time, before replacing it with a docker container on a NAS.

In your case I think the Pi might be the cheapest and easiest option unless you want to replace/upgrade your router.

[outnumbered]

jimmyjimjim said:

My understanding is that you need to use the unifi controller to create a guest network. The controller will need to be running all the time.

So you either need a standalone controller such as a cloud key, a unifi router with the controller built in, such as the dream machine or dream router, a PC or mac running 24/7 with the app installed, or a Raspberry Pi running the controller.

I ran a Pi with the controller for a long time, before replacing it with a docker container on a NAS.

In your case I think the Pi might be the cheapest and easiest option unless you want to replace/upgrade your router.

Correct. It is a bit annoying but you do need a controller running all the time to achieve what you want. I use a Pi, but there are some software dependency issues with the Unifi Controller that you need to watch out for. Someone on the Unifi forum has written a fantastic script that will more or less get you a working setup on a whole range of different Linux versions/types.

When my kids were younger, they had a kids-specific WiFi network that had some adult content filtering enabled, and was only available at certain hours. They hated me for it I used the Unifi guest voucher system to give them extra time as rewards/incentives. I'm convinced all this helped them avoid some issues when they were younger, compared to just 24 hour full adult access...

[Brother D]

outnumbered said:

Correct. It is a bit annoying but you do need a controller running all the time to achieve what you want. I use a Pi, but there are some software dependency issues with the Unifi Controller that you need to watch out for. Someone on the Unifi forum has written a fantastic script that will more or less get you a working setup on a whole range of different Linux versions/types.

When my kids were younger, they had a kids-specific WiFi network that had some adult content filtering enabled, and was only available at certain hours. They hated me for it I used the Unifi guest voucher system to give them extra time as rewards/incentives. I'm convinced all this helped them avoid some issues when they were younger, compared to just 24 hour full adult access...

That sounds like a very good idea...

[megaphone]

You don't need a Unifi Controller running to have a simple isolated guest network, you can do most stuff even limit speeds etc and then switch off the controller, the APs will just run themselves. .

You do however need a controller running full time if you want to run a guest 'portal' and use login tokens etc.

OP are you trying to run the controller on your Mac? You can run an older version if your Mac is not compatible with new versions. However I did not think there were any limitations. https://ui.com/download/releases/network-server.

It is always better to run Unifi on a dedicated controller, I run mine on a LInux PC, but have also run them on Pis, needs a bit of setting up as mentioned above.

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012282453

Don't get confused between the Unifi App and the Unifi Controller (server), you need a controller running to set them up properly, you can then use the App to access the controller from your phone. You are currently running the APs in 'standalone' mode, they will not mesh or hand off in this mode.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 17:16

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 17:18

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 17:26

[JABB]

megaphone said:

You don't need a Unifi Controller running to have a simple isolated guest network, you can do most stuff even limit speeds etc and then switch off the controller, the APs will just run themselves. .

You do however need a controller running full time if you want to run a guest 'portal' and use login tokens etc.

OP are you trying to run the controller on your Mac? You can run an older version if your Mac is not compatible with new versions. However I did not think there were any limitations. https://ui.com/download/releases/network-server.

It is always better to run Unifi on a dedicated controller, I run mine on a LInux PC, but have also run them on Pis, needs a bit of setting up as mentioned above.

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012282453

Don't get confused between the Unifi App and the Unifi Controller (server), you need a controller running to set them up properly, you can then use the App to access the controller from your phone. You are currently running the APs in 'standalone' mode, they will not mesh or hand off in this mode.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 17:16

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 17:18

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 17:26

Crumbs, there are a lot of downloads. I have no idea what I need to download.
Basically, ideally I wanted to set up a second network with either / and a time control or kill switch

[megaphone]

JABB said:

Crumbs, there are a lot of downloads. I have no idea what I need to download.
Basically, ideally I wanted to set up a second network with either / and a time control or kill switch

So you need a Unifi Controller running to set up the network properly and run it like you want to. As others have mentioned you can get dedicated controllers from Unifi, a Cloud Key is probably the cheapest and easiest.

Or you can run the controller on a PC/Mac/Linux. However it needs to be running 24/7 if you want to access it from the Unifi App on your phone.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 17:55

[megaphone]

Which APs do you have? What model number?

[JABB]

megaphone said:

Which APs do you have? What model number?

I have a AC lite and an AC long range

[megaphone]

Fine they are current models.

So to reiterate, to do what you want to do you need a Unifi Controller running. You can then access the controller from the Unifi App on your phone.

You cannot run the controller on your phone or from within the Unifi App, it is run on a separate device. ie Cloud Key or Dream Router etc. Or PC/Mac/Linux

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 18:04

[JABB]

The controller they list won't work on my pre M1 machine. I can't see a legacy option ether. So next I guess get a cloud key?

[jimmyjimjim]

JABB said:

The controller they list won't work on my pre M1 machine. I can't see a legacy option ether. So next I guess get a cloud key?

https://www.ui.com/download/releases/network-server

Second one down - this doesn't work?

[megaphone]

When you say it won't work, what do you mean? Can you download and open and run the .dmg file? You will probably have to right click and then select open for it to run.

It tells you what to do here. https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012282453

It also tells you what the minimum spec requirements of the Mac need to be. You need 10GB free space.

Remember, if you set up your Mac as the controller, you will need to have it running to change any settings.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 18:47

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 18:51

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 18:52

[Bikerjon]

I'd just get a dream router. Running the controller on a PC/Mac is a bit naff and a dedicated router/controller provides Wi-Fi 6 too.

[wombleh]

Didn’t unify offer a cloud based controller, factory reset and hook them straight into that might be another option.

[JABB]

megaphone said:

When you say it won't work, what do you mean? Can you download and open and run the .dmg file? You will probably have to right click and then select open for it to run.

It tells you what to do here. https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012282453

It also tells you what the minimum spec requirements of the Mac need to be. You need 10GB free space.

Remember, if you set up your Mac as the controller, you will need to have it running to change any settings.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 18:47

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 18:51

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 23 August 18:52

I got it downloaded. Logged in and it sees the network provided by my APs but I can't see how to adopt them to control them

[megaphone]

You'll have to reset the APs and then adopt them into the controller. Do you have the Unifi set-up wizard showing in the browser of your Mac?

[megaphone]

wombleh said:

Didn’t unify offer a cloud based controller, factory reset and hook them straight into that might be another option.

It's a bit costly and really designed for larger 'enterprise' installs. There are third party cloud providers out there

[Baldchap]

megaphone said:

wombleh said:

Didn’t unify offer a cloud based controller, factory reset and hook them straight into that might be another option.

It's a bit costly and really designed for larger 'enterprise' installs. There are third party cloud providers out there

Cloud Key. It works but assuming there's any budget you'd just get a DMP which runs the controller natively and also routes and filters etc.