bcom ICT designs, supplies and installs Ubiquiti UniFi networks for businesses across the Gold Coast — surveying the building, specifying access points, switching and gateway, running the cabling, configuring VLAN segmentation and handing over documentation. bcom ICT also supports existing UniFi installations, including earlier generations. Call 07 3041 8993.
How we design and build a UniFi network
The order matters. Specifying hardware before knowing the building is how businesses end up paying twice.
1. Survey the building
We measure signal, note the construction, find the interference and work out where access points actually need to go. A floor plan is not a survey.
2. Design the system
Access point count and placement, switch capacity and PoE budget, gateway sizing, cable routes, and the VLANs — guest, staff, payments, cameras — planned before anything is ordered.
3. Supply the hardware
Sourced at trade pricing and specified for the building rather than the catalogue. You can buy it yourself if you'd rather; we'll still tell you exactly what to get.
4. Install and hand over
Cabling by ACMA registered contractors, everything commissioned and tested, then network layout, VLAN structure and credentials documented and given to you.
The hardware we install
Current range. What goes in your building depends on the survey, not on what we have in stock.
Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 access points
The current range. U6 for most offices, U7 where device density or throughput justifies it.
Wi-Fi 5 access points — still widely installed
Plenty of Gold Coast offices are running these. Most still perform fine; we'll tell you when they're genuinely the bottleneck rather than selling a refresh.
Gateways and controllers
The device that runs your network and hosts the controller. Which one you need depends on throughput and whether you want the controller on-site.
PoE switches
The part most commonly under-specified. Access points, cameras and phones all draw PoE budget from here.
UniFi Protect cameras
Where the same system also covers CCTV, which is a large part of why businesses choose UniFi over Aruba.
UniFi Access and Talk
Door access and phones on the same controller. Worth knowing they exist before you buy a separate system for each.
Legacy access points — still supported
The original UniFi generations. Plenty are still in service across the Gold Coast and most are still doing their job.
EdgeMax routers and switches
Ubiquiti's other line, common where a network was built before UniFi gateways existed. We still configure and support it.
airMAX point-to-point links
For getting a network between two buildings without trenching — a shed, a second unit, a site across the yard.
Legacy switches and gateways
Earlier UniFi switching and the original Security Gateway range.
Why UniFi for a new system
One system, one controller
Access points, switching, gateway, cameras and door access managed together. Adding a site or an access point later is a change rather than a new project.
Segmentation done properly
Guests, staff, payment terminals and devices on VLANs that can't reach each other. This is the security work that matters most, and UniFi makes it manageable to run.
Predictable ongoing cost
No per-access-point subscription for core functionality. Over five years that's a material difference against some alternatives.
You can see what's happening
Client counts, bandwidth, interference and errors, visible rather than guessed at. Turns future troubleshooting into looking instead of speculating.
We support what you've already got, too
Inherited, installed by someone who's moved on, or simply not behaving. All of it is fixable, and it rarely needs replacing.
"Our UAP-AC-Pro keeps dropping out"
Usually PoE budget on the switch, a marginal cable run, or the access point unable to reach its controller. All three test quickly and none need new hardware.
"Devices won't roam between access points"
Placement or transmit power — access points turned up too high overlap, and devices cling to a distant one. Fixable without buying anything.
"We added cameras and the WiFi got worse"
Protect cameras draw PoE from the same switch budget as the access points. Exceeding it causes intermittent faults across everything.
"Nobody has the controller login"
Very common once the original installer has moved on. Usually recoverable, and we hand back documented credentials that belong to you.
Do you actually need new hardware?
We would rather tell you no. A UAP-AC-Pro serving fifteen devices in a normal office is not the bottleneck, and replacing it changes nothing you can measure.
New hardware is worth it when you have genuine device density — thirty or more clients per access point — you are moving large files over wireless, the gear has reached end of software support, or you are fitting out new premises.
It is not the answer when the complaint is coverage. Newer access points do not travel further through walls. That is placement and cabling, and it is what the survey resolves — sometimes for less than the hardware would have cost.
The UniFi problems we are actually called to
Six situations specific to UniFi deployments, and the first one affects a great many of them.
“The controller is on a laptop under someone’s desk”
Usually a UniFi network managed from a machine that was convenient at the time. The access points keep working when it is off, and nothing can be changed, monitored or updated.
What we do Move management somewhere permanent — a dedicated appliance or a hosted controller. Losing the controller does not take the network down, and it does take away every ability to manage it.
“An access point won’t adopt”
Usually a device still holding a previous controller’s details, on a different network segment, or on firmware too far from the controller’s.
What we do Reset the device properly and adopt it from the right segment. Second-hand and previously managed hardware is the usual cause, and it is straightforward once the reason is understood.
“It all went wrong after a firmware update”
Usually an update applied to everything at once, or a controller and devices now on versions that do not work well together.
What we do Update deliberately rather than automatically, and keep the controller and devices in step. Applying a firmware update to every access point in a building simultaneously is a decision, not a default worth accepting.
“We bought the wrong access points”
Usually hardware chosen on price or on a review rather than on the building. Coverage models, antenna patterns and density handling differ substantially across the range.
What we do Choose against the premises and the number of devices. The long-throw model suited to a warehouse aisle is the wrong choice for a partitioned office, and both are the right choice somewhere.
“Our second site can’t see the first”
Usually a site-to-site link that was never configured, or one broken by an address change at either end.
What we do Establish what the link is actually doing before rebuilding it. Multi-site setups fail in ways that look like the far site’s problem from both directions.
“Nobody knows what the guest network can reach”
Usually guest access enabled without the isolation and firewall rules that should accompany it. The guest network exists and is not actually separate from anything.
What we do Verify what a guest device can genuinely reach by testing from one. Assuming isolation is configured because the feature is enabled is one of the more common and more consequential mistakes on these networks.
What UniFi work actually looks like
Representative engagements, drawn from real work with identifying detail removed — we don’t name clients without written permission.
The controller that left with the laptop
The situation
A business could no longer manage its UniFi network. The wireless still worked, and nothing could be changed, no new device could be added, and nobody could see what was happening on it.
What we found
The controller had been installed on a laptop belonging to a staff member who had left the business eight months earlier. The laptop had gone with them. The access points had continued operating on their last configuration the entire time, which is why nobody had noticed until they needed to add a device. No configuration backup existed anywhere.
What we did
Stood up a dedicated controller, re-adopted every access point, rebuilt the configuration properly with the guest network genuinely isolated this time, and set automatic configuration backups held off the device.
The outcome
The network is manageable again and no longer depends on any individual’s laptop. The wireless had been running unmanaged and unmonitored for eight months, which is common and only becomes visible the day something needs to change.
The wrong access point for the building
The situation
A business had installed capable access points across a partitioned office and had coverage complaints in several areas. The hardware was well regarded and the installation looked reasonable.
What we found
The model chosen was designed for long-range coverage in open spaces — an excellent choice in a warehouse. In an office divided into small rooms, its transmit power meant devices held onto distant access points instead of moving to the near one, and the coverage areas overlapped heavily enough to interfere with each other. The equipment was good and the wrong tool for this building.
What we did
Reduced transmit power to suit the partitioning, repositioned two units, and added one in an area the original layout had missed entirely.
The outcome
Coverage complaints stopped without new hardware. Turning the access points down improved the network, which is counter-intuitive and is the usual answer in a building full of walls.
Questions Gold Coast businesses ask us
Do you design and supply new UniFi systems, or only support existing ones?
Both, and design and supply is the larger part. bcom ICT surveys the building, specifies access points, switching and gateway, supplies the hardware at trade pricing, runs the cabling and commissions the system, then hands over documentation. We also support existing UniFi installations including earlier generations. Call 07 3041 8993.
What does a UniFi installation cost?
It depends on the building — how many access points the coverage genuinely needs, switch capacity and PoE budget, and how much cabling has to be run. We survey first and quote on the actual building rather than a guess, so the number doesn't move once an installer is on site.
Can we buy the hardware ourselves?
Yes, and some clients do. We source at trade pricing and are transparent about what we charge over it, but if you'd rather purchase directly we'll still specify exactly what to buy and install and configure it for you.
Why does our UAP-AC-Pro keep dropping off?
The usual causes are exceeding the PoE budget on the switch, a marginal or over-length cable run, and the access point being unable to reach its controller after a network change. Adding cameras or phones to the same switch is a very common trigger. All three test quickly, and none need new hardware.
Do we need to upgrade from UAP-AC to U6 or U7?
Often not. Upgrading is worth it for genuine device density, for large file transfers over wireless, or where hardware has reached end of software support. If the complaint is coverage or dead spots, newer access points won't help — that's placement and cabling.
Can you take over a UniFi network someone else installed?
Yes, and it's common — frequently when nobody has the controller login any more. That's usually recoverable, and we hand back documented credentials, network layout and VLAN structure belonging to you.
Does UniFi cover cameras and door access too?
Yes — UniFi Protect for cameras and UniFi Access for doors, on the same controller. It's a real advantage of choosing UniFi for a new system, but it means planning PoE budget and switch capacity for all of it at design stage rather than discovering the limit later.
Fitting out, or fixing what's there?
Either way we'll survey the building first and quote on what it actually needs — including when the answer is that your existing gear is fine.