Wi-Fi router: reliable, long-lived, low-3-figure price?

[d00df00d]

Sincere thanks, everyone, for the feedback.

Ended up getting a UniFi Cloud Gateway Ultra and a U6+ WAP. Haven't done much with them yet; just enough setup to get going.

You can really tell this stuff was made by Apple alumni. The hardware and software all feels well made and well thought-out.

The U6+ is sitting on the floor behind a couch right now. I put it there for testing purposes, assuming I'd have to mount it on the ceiling eventually. But I might not have to bother. Even in that poor location, it still has enough juice to reach everywhere – including places we used to need a range extender to cover. Will test for a few days to be sure, but impressive either way.

Looking forward to delving into the software more!

 

[OVERKILL]

Sincere thanks, everyone, for the feedback.

Ended up getting a UniFi Cloud Gateway Ultra and a U6+ WAP. Haven't done much with them yet; just enough setup to get going.

You can really tell this stuff was made by Apple alumni. The hardware and software all feels well made and well thought-out.

The U6+ is sitting on the floor behind a couch right now. I put it there for testing purposes, assuming I'd have to mount it on the ceiling eventually. But I might not have to bother. Even in that poor location, it still has enough juice to reach everywhere – including places we used to need a range extender to cover. Will test for a few days to be sure, but impressive either way.

Looking forward to delving into the software more!

Great to hear! Excellent choice!

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

My new UniFi Dream Router is still sitting in its box. I need to get that thing plugged in running at some point. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[97prizm]

I want the Wi-Fi router equivalent of a Toyota Hilux. Something I can set up once and never have to touch it again for like 10 years – no mysterious Wi-Fi drops, no needing to reboot it, etc. – even if it's subject to more than normal heat, dust, etc.

Happy to consider commercial/industrial options if necessary, even at the expense of ease-of-use.

Don't care about range or speed because AFAICT even the worst options these days have more than enough for the setup and usage in question. Smallish building, high-demand devices all use Ethernet, never more than one device streaming 4k content at a time (usually zero), range extender covers the Wi-Fi dead spots.

I'm not about to spend thousands on this, but I'm willing to spend a bit more than the typical consumer-grade stuff costs.

Any suggestions for this priority set?

I will say my TP Link has been flawless over the last several years, plus very easy setup.

 

[alarmguy]

My new UniFi Dream Router is still sitting in its box. I need to get that thing plugged in running at some point. Thanks for the reminder.

Unsure how long you have had it, just make sure you have the latest firmware installed.

Critical Alert: Unpacking the UniFi Dream Machine's Security Flaw - KingsGuard

Explore our in-depth analysis of the UniFi Dream Machine's critical security flaw CVE-2023-41721. Learn about affected models & mitigation.

kings-guard.com

and then why I believe the biggest threat is to be careful on what you download because the security of the router is nothing compared to that. Im not saying a secure router is bad but all the security for a homeowner in the world wont matter if you open a rogue program.

FBI Disinfects Ubiquiti Routers Exploited by Russian Government Hackers

The Kremlin's notorious 'Fancy Bear' hacking group gained access to the routers by working with another Russian cybercriminal gang, the FBI says.

www.pcmag.com

 

[zyxelenator]

Try Mikrotik for those looking for something similar but not necessarily Ubiquity-branded (I've never had them, so I can't judge them; I may try their APs soon). It's not very expensive; it's built like a tank. There is a learning curve as it is proprietary software, and it is not very user-friendly for people looking to press one button, but it all works. They are more aming at prosumers, small businesses, and ISPs. I recently discovered this brand for myself and got their wired router. For the past 6-7 years, I have been using home-grade TP-Link routers exclusively. I think they are a good balance in the price/features area; they are pretty stable, and I don't have complaints about them. All routers except the oldest I got over years from them still serve as APs around my house.

Recently, I got a 5g Verizon connection to see if it could replace my coaxial cable connection. However, it is not 100% stable and slows down during bad weather events, so I decided to keep it as a backup connection.
Long story short, I bought a "business" grade Dual WAN TP-link wired router. Spent a couple of months dealing with it and was very disappointed. Very glitchy in terms of dual-wan functionality. This is what led me to the discovery of Mikrotik and its products. I have had it for about 2 months now. I set it up so both WANs are up and active, and the connections are load balancing between them, as well as the failover functionality if one ISP goes donw. I recently set up QoS, prioritizing work PCs for my wife and me and prioritizing Teams calls over anything. Once you set it up correctly, it just works. It has a lot of functionality you can only imagine. They have wireless models, too. This is the one I got.

RB5009UG+S+IN | MikroTik

The ultimate heavy-duty home lab router with USB 3.0, 1G and 2.5G Ethernet and a 10G SFP+ cage. You can mount four of these new routers in a single 1U rackmount space! Unprecedented processing power in such a small form factor.

mikrotik.com

 

[OVERKILL]

Try Mikrotik for those looking for something similar but not necessarily Ubiquity-branded (I've never had them, so I can't judge them; I may try their APs soon). It's not very expensive; it's built like a tank. There is a learning curve as it is proprietary software, and it is not very user-friendly for people looking to press one button, but it all works. They are more aming at prosumers, small businesses, and ISPs. I recently discovered this brand for myself and got their wired router. For the past 6-7 years, I have been using home-grade TP-Link routers exclusively. I think they are a good balance in the price/features area; they are pretty stable, and I don't have complaints about them. All routers except the oldest I got over years from them still serve as APs around my house.

Recently, I got a 5g Verizon connection to see if it could replace my coaxial cable connection. However, it is not 100% stable and slows down during bad weather events, so I decided to keep it as a backup connection.
Long story short, I bought a "business" grade Dual WAN TP-link wired router. Spent a couple of months dealing with it and was very disappointed. Very glitchy in terms of dual-wan functionality. This is what led me to the discovery of Mikrotik and its products. I have had it for about 2 months now. I set it up so both WANs are up and active, and the connections are load balancing between them, as well as the failover functionality if one ISP goes donw. I recently set up QoS, prioritizing work PCs for my wife and me and prioritizing Teams calls over anything. Once you set it up correctly, it just works. It has a lot of functionality you can only imagine. They have wireless models, too. This is the one I got.

RB5009UG+S+IN | MikroTik

The ultimate heavy-duty home lab router with USB 3.0, 1G and 2.5G Ethernet and a 10G SFP+ cage. You can mount four of these new routers in a single 1U rackmount space! Unprecedented processing power in such a small form factor.

mikrotik.com

My concern with MikroTik, other than the fact that they tend to have a LOT of vulns in the wild, is that they, like TP-Link, are a Chinese National. If you take that risk knowingly, that's fine, but there are other options that of course aren't. Same reason ISP's stopped running Huawei equipment in Canada (not sure about there in the US).

Unsure how long you have had it, just make sure you have the latest firmware installed.

Critical Alert: Unpacking the UniFi Dream Machine's Security Flaw - KingsGuard

Explore our in-depth analysis of the UniFi Dream Machine's critical security flaw CVE-2023-41721. Learn about affected models & mitigation.

kings-guard.com

Yes, if a malicious actor already had access to your network, that CVE that was already patched, since updates are installed automatically, might have been a concern last year for the brief period of time it existed.

and then why I believe the biggest threat is to be careful on what you download because the security of the router is nothing compared to that. Im not saying a secure router is bad but all the security for a homeowner in the world wont matter if you open a rogue program.

FBI Disinfects Ubiquiti Routers Exploited by Russian Government Hackers

The Kremlin's notorious 'Fancy Bear' hacking group gained access to the routers by working with another Russian cybercriminal gang, the FBI says.

www.pcmag.com

While that particular exploit affected EdgeOS, not Unifi, people using default usernames and passwords (what was used to install the malware) isn't really a "vulnerability", it's end user stupidity.

Ideally, if you are using a device with AMP and IDS (which many of the Unifi devices have), it will either block the malicious app before you can download it or detect its activity on your network and alert you. The security provided by the edge device plays a direct, critical and considerable role here, it is part of a holistic approach to network and system security. The linked article in no way undermines the legitimacy of that statement, and, in fact, when taken in the context of having IDS and AMP active, underscores their value.

 

[Y_K]

Isn't Mikrotik from Latvia? I know that they use a Chinese supplier, and I am hesitant to recommend it based on 2 factors:

a. One needs to be familiar with the rudimentary knowledge of UNIX.
b. Quite a bit of vulnerabilities that kids exploit.

Other than that, the one I tested worked flawlessly in terms of service availability. It was Routergard Hex S. Still lays around as a spare in a box. But even ntp set-up wasn't straightforward. It is a fun little box for those who love to tinker. The documentation is a bit of a mess, but usable. Consumes very little power.

If you use it, Stable branch of the firmware is super stable.

 

[OVERKILL]

Isn't Mikrotik from Latvia?

Yes, you are correct, for some reason I thought they were the same as Huawei and Toilet Paper Link.

Ubiquiti is American, based out of New York, though of course their hardware is manufactured overseas. Their track record has not been flawless, but then neither is Palo Alto's, and you aren't paying PA money for Unifi gear, lol. Important thing is that they stay on top of their software, keeping it up to date and any vulns that are found are quickly patched. I don't expect Cisco reliability from them; it would be foolish to at the price point, but they seem to be decent gear with well maintained software.

I know that they use a Chinese supplier, and I am hesitant to recommend it based on 2 factors:

a. One needs to be familiar with the rudimentary knowledge of UNIX.
b. Quite a bit of vulnerabilities that kids exploit.

Yep, right on both points. Searching them on Shodan is hilarious.

Other than that, the one I tested worked flawlessly in terms of service availability. It was Routergard Hex S. Still lays around as a spare in a box. But even ntp set-up wasn't straightforward. It is a fun little box for those who love to tinker. The documentation is a bit of a mess, but usable. Consumes very little power.

If you use it, Stable branch of the firmware is super stable.

Their non-edge devices are probably just fine, but I personally wouldn't use them on the edge due to their reputation. Their switches are likely good value in the prosumer and SMB space.

 

[d00df00d]

Appreciate the extended discussion – not least because I recently discovered a TP-Link device in this network, for which I might have a Cisco replacement kicking around and able to be swapped in...

 

[OVERKILL]

Appreciate the extended discussion – not least because I recently discovered a TP-Link device in this network, for which I might have a Cisco replacement kicking around and able to be swapped in...

I've got one kicking around here that I'm going to whack with the 12-gauge, think @Rand has some similar plans for TP-Link carnage.

 

[Rand]

Yeah I havent decided. a .308 poly tip lengthwise or just zip tie it to a gong and empty a few mags of .22 stingers into it.

was an A2300 it was retired from a relatives house 1-2 years of use fully functional... I gave it away free to someone who WASNT USING A ROUTER AT ALL..
and it died after a week and was going intermittent red planet on the internet icon (whatever that is) and would lose its wan IP and fail to pull a new one.

I thought it was the modem since it was docsis 2.0 and going super slow anyway (1-5mbit)
but the new 3.1 modem worked fine 350down 12up.. when directly connected.
I also considered putting pasty bullseye stickers on it and giving it some .223 since I am stocked up on that.

 

[d00df00d]

Appreciate the extended discussion – not least because I recently discovered a TP-Link device in this network, for which I might have a Cisco replacement kicking around and able to be swapped in...

Turns out nope.

Bought this to replace it: https://www.trendnet.com/products/gigabit-switch/8-port-gigabit-desktop-switch-TEG-S83

NDAA & TAA compliant, to atone for my sins

 

[andrew_j]

I will say my TP Link has been flawless over the last several years, plus very easy setup.

Mine x 2 was hot garbage and best day of owership was throwing into landfill.

TP LINK =

 

[riff1006]

Here's what I'm using. Set it up and forget it. There would be a learning curve unless you're pretty savvy.

https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-RB3011UIAS-RM-RouterBOARD-10xGigabit-Ethernet/dp/B01EL7TF9E/ref=sr_1_7?sr=8-7

EDIT-Whoops, you said wifi. This has it but I'm using Deco in AP mode. Even the DECOs would work well in router mode. I'm using XE75.

https://www.amazon.com/Deco-Mesh-Wifi-6E-Router/dp/B09VW5JHPH/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1

 

[riff1006]

Yes, you are correct, for some reason I thought they were the same as Huawei and Toilet Paper Link.

Ubiquiti is American, based out of New York, though of course their hardware is manufactured overseas. Their track record has not been flawless, but then neither is Palo Alto's, and you aren't paying PA money for Unifi gear, lol. Important thing is that they stay on top of their software, keeping it up to date and any vulns that are found are quickly patched. I don't expect Cisco reliability from them; it would be foolish to at the price point, but they seem to be decent gear with well maintained software.

Yep, right on both points. Searching them on Shodan is hilarious.

Their non-edge devices are probably just fine, but I personally wouldn't use them on the edge due to their reputation. Their switches are likely good value in the prosumer and SMB space.

Isn't Mikrotik from Latvia? I know that they use a Chinese supplier, and I am hesitant to recommend it based on 2 factors:

a. One needs to be familiar with the rudimentary knowledge of UNIX.
b. Quite a bit of vulnerabilities that kids exploit.

Other than that, the one I tested worked flawlessly in terms of service availability. It was Routergard Hex S. Still lays around as a spare in a box. But even ntp set-up wasn't straightforward. It is a fun little box for those who love to tinker. The documentation is a bit of a mess, but usable. Consumes very little power.

If you use it, Stable branch of the firmware is super stable.

Thanks for posting. I've got the latest update that mitigates, and it does appear they can be locked down. I'll need to follow up on one thing.....

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I finally got the UniFi Dream Router plugged in and running. This thing is pretty slick. It automagically updated itself and I was able to tinker with it soon afterward. The interface is clean and clear, but I'm a 'computer guy' and not a network guru so a lot of the settings are Greek to me, but I was able to tweak it to my liking, disabling a few things I have no need for, and changing some preferences. Some settings were buried a little deeper than what I thought was intuitive but I got there eventually. I have no other UniFi devices on my network so my setup is pretty simple. All the wifi devices in my household had no issue connecting to it.

It's also reassuringly heavy which obviously means it's 'good'.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

So I've been poking around the admin page a little more. The UDR interface is very sick but I'm getting frustrated with how some settings that I would consider to be common and important enough aren't easier to find.

I was going around in circles trying to find the screen where I changed my DNS provider settings yesterday and ended up finding it by accident by clicking on something that that had no visual indication that it was a hotlink. And even then to actually change it was two clicks deeper under that. Same thing with the activity logging. All that information is beautifully presented front and center on the first page but good luck finding the correct screen with the button that clears it. Why is it in a completely different place? Not that this is the kind of thing you do often, but it shouldn't take a relatively savvy person like me as long as it did to find these settings. It just isn't intuitive. It certainly looks fantastic though.

My old D-Link DiR-860L had an ugly old-school admin page. Left side had a column of links for each major settings group (WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi, Firewall, etc) and when clicked on, you were present a few pages separated by tabs across the top. Easy. It was just a grid, links on the left, tabs across the top. No setting was more than two clicks deep. And it worked.

I'm all for 'pretty', but if ease and usability suffers, 'pretty' just gets in the way.

 

[Analog-1]

10 years ??? Not gonna happen once they deem it EOL (End of life) 3 to maybe 5 years some like TP Link even less. No more security firmware updates it's dead in the water. 10 years is not going to happen unless you like running a router full of security issues.

 

[alarmguy]

10 years ??? Not gonna happen once they deem it EOL (End of life) 3 to maybe 5 years some like TP Link even less. No more security firmware updates it's dead in the water. 10 years is not going to happen unless you like running a router full of security issues.

Netgear Claims 3 years for some

NETGEAR End of Service | NETGEAR

www.netgear.com

TP Link list

TP-Link End of Life Products

This end-of-life page will be the new home of TP-Link’s end-of-life product list. Please see the End-of-Life Policy for more details. Please contact us to further assist with replacement parts for products and services.

www.tp-link.com

I have a C4000 still not on the list, purchased for $80 back a couple months because it's an older model, even though Office Depot put the price back up to $170 again. I dont expect it to stay there forever but I dont care either it fills my need and is amazing. It's been out since around 2019, when I powered it up it updated the latest firmware (at my prompt) which is dated Oct 2023

All the companies supply EOL aka EOS information.