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Comment by gervase | Hacker News Reader

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gervase

I can't speak for the parent, but from my perspective:

+ Very secure, with ongoing, regular software and firmware updates (this is big for me, after ASUS, DLink, et al)

+ Extremely feature-rich (both hardware and software)

+ Relatively affordable for what you get (much cheaper than Eero)

+ Modular (upgrade WAP separate from router, etc)

- Complex to setup (requires a VPS, dedicated dongle sold separately, or monthly fee)

- Not many people are set up for PoE; injectors are annoying.

It was worth it for me, as I happen to enjoy playing with VPSes. Plus, it makes it exponentially easier for me to troubleshoot my parents' WiFi when they have a problem, as it's designed to be managed remotely.

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- Complex to setup (requires a VPS, dedicated dongle sold separately, or monthly fee)

I just set up Ubiquti here at home and while it wasn't super easy, I didn't find it all that bad. What required a VPS/Dongle/Fee for you? I didn't need any of that. (I have a security gateway, edge routers, and 3 pro aps.)

I bet he’s referring to having a controller but I think you can run it on your laptop, configure everything and then turn off the controller. I don’t think the controller is needed after initial configuration unless you want the stats collection.

I have the cloud key (the dongle) so I could be wrong.

It is easy but it’s still slightly harder than the average consumer would want.

You just have to make sure you turn off the feature in the APs that keeps checking if the controller is there, otherwise they stop working. Or at least that was the case when I got mine.

By default its off. I have 3 AP with ~40 device connected and my controller is in my laptop which usually not even on. Works fine.

You can even set them up with your phones now days, but I think it only works with just one AP.

While I figure most of us using Ubiquiti Networks gear in our home have local VM servers that can host the controller, there are some houses where this is not the case. But in those cases, you can still run the controller in a VM on your main workstation, configure the gear, and then shut down the VM. I don't think it needs to keep running to operate the gear once it's booted. I think if you power-cycle the gear, you'd need the VM up.

I really appreciate Ubiquiti going to such lengths to allow one to install the controller locally, which in turn means you can configure and manage your gear without any cloud meddling.

The gear can be power cycled without requiring a controller. The only reason to need the controller running constantly is if you want stat collection.

I think the wifi captive portal feature requires a constantly running controller, other than that I only start a local controller for changes.

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