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Ubiquiti alternatives? (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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After nearly a week of researching WiFi 6E options, I've decided I'm probably going to opt for my first Ubiquiti setup. I want 6E regardless, I have 2x laptops ready for it, I've wanted to get off WiFi 5 for a couple of years now (Ruckus APs.)

Ruckus is not an option due to price, over $1k per AP (vs the $50 per AP I paid for R500's back in 2021.) Ubiquiti look like the cheapest by quite a bit

I have an IT background, sysadmin 10+ years, currently running Sophos XG on an old Dell but XG has limited support for newer hardware, making 2.5Gbps awkward.

I'd like to go full 10G but this sounds difficult with limited 2.5G compatibility (for access points + PC.)

Ultimately I've went full circle and it looks like Ubiquiti will be my simplest option:

-Dream Machine SE (2.5G WAN, 10G DAC to E-24)

-Enterprise 24 PoE

-U6 Enterprise access points

I understand this stuff is expensive but realistically, I can only see potential savings by using a SFF PC instead of the Dream Machine, for the sake of a few hundred I'd rather keep it simpler.

My current fibre is 1Gbps IPoE (I had PPPoE ordered and cancelled for IPoE), with my country trialling 1.2/1.8Gbps next year. The Dream Machine SE is supposed to manage upto 3.5G with security enabled, I'm expecting at least 3 years from this setup. All in, it's not much more than 3x 6E Orbis.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice before I order? I've read so many mixed reviews about Ubiquiti, I don't even know what's real anymore. While I can manage a complex setup, I just want what's going to be most reliable/stable.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Ridiculously reliable is how I describe my UniFi setup - I've been running it since 2019 and I could not be happier with it. Updating to a UDM Pro next week from a USG-Pro-4/Cloud Key Gen2+.

I dragged my feet on updates, there were issues a few years ago. However, each update went fine for all devices when I was pushed along, so I've gained confidence in them and have been impressed with the improvements in things. I am a former sysadmin and didn't want to have to have my old job as a new hobby and so far, so good.