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Comment by ahepp | Hacker News Reader

Do you know how ubiquiti's "edge" line compares to mikrotik?

Ubiquiti has a polished interface that's relatively simple to use for something with enterprise-ish level features. They also have some pretty good docs. For example, their article on the harms of Broadcast/Multicast packet storms [0] is useful even if you're not using their products. Same goes for the RF Antenna patterns docs [1].

That said, my next router/gateway won't be from Ubiquiti. Though I'll keep using UI access points for now.

[0] https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001529267-UniFi-Man...

[1] https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012664088-UniFi-Int...

I'm a Mikrotik user, not a Ubiquiti user, but looks like the closest match would be Mikrotik's CRS (Cloud Router Switch) line. My home network is a CRS317-1G-16S+RM at the core and three CRS305-1G-4S+IN (one in each room), all running SwitchOS/SwOS instead of the stock RouterOS (they dual-boot, your choice), and I am very happy with them.

What APs do you use with a MicroTik setup?

I like Aruba Instant APs, the kind that don't require cloud management or a separate controller, though it seems they've folded the IAP line into the regular AP line or something with their new Wi-Fi 6 gear.

I'm still using Wi-Fi 5 because it's fast enough and cheaper. My central AP is a IAP-315, an IAP-305 in the garage, and another IAP-305 at the wall by the back yard. They're all PoE and linked with wired backbone to form a single big coverage area using a single elected IAP leader as controller for the rest.

You shouldn't have trouble buying grey-market ones as long as you are careful to stick to the same regulatory domain for all of them. Aruba gear is available as USA/FCC, Japan, Israel, and RW (Rest of World) versions. I have operated RW units in FCC territory (proooobably legally but probably not worth the risk) by setting them to "US Virgin Islands" so they match FCC-allowed frequencies and power limits, but linking more than one AP still requires the hardware to be same regulatory domain.

The Mikrotik CRS will work as a "gateway" right? That is, run a DHCP server, connect to my cable modem, provide local DNS, etc? Thanks!

If you can run RouterOS (you can) you can do all that stuff - switchOS is much more like a bare-bones packet switcher; RouterOS is a full-fledged network OS.

Check https://mikrotik.com/software for some demos and stuff.

Yep, that’s how they come by default, booting into RouterOS. I prefer my switches to just be switches, though, so I run SwOS and do all that service stuff jailed on a FreeBSD router PC.

Having owned several products from both, Mikrotik equivalents are generally way more feature packed but I find them hard to use. EdgeMax stuff is more polished, but has fewer features. Performance is comparable for the most part.

After having worked intensely with Ubiquiti Edge devices (their routers specifically), I'd recommend them time and again. Their Debian derivative EdgeOS is great to work with, both as an enabler for advanced administration, but also an approachable web ui (plausible to offload many issues to support desk without requiring insane amounts of dedication to the Craft).

For mad scientists though, the very open software stack is a good friend to have when 11th hour Requirements® dictate you must produce a rabbit without a hat, or rewrite your own domain-specific implementation to replace the Avahi service.

No experience with Mikrotic.

_On topic_: With cloud news like this, it's nice to know about the availability of Ubiquitis' Network Management System[1] which you can host and run wherever.

[1]: https://unms.com/

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