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Comment by imran-iq | Hacker News Reader

Anyone know any alternatives in the prosumer space? Mikrotik?

We are all using Unifi stuff because there are no alternatives.

Of course it all depends on which bits of the Unifi ecosystem you are using. If you just want a singular device like a firewall or a WiFi AP, you can find alternatives.

But for the full stack from firewall to switches to APs, there just isn't anything that integrates as well as Unifi gear.

I have have lanner tech router that I installed a as internet gateway. I have been very happy with it. Works well, lower power, small has multiple ports. Can use SSD for storage.

https://www.lannerinc.com/products/network-appliances/x86-de...

One must install the OS; whether that is OpenWRT, OpenBSD or whatever OS. This means that one needs to be quite familiar with the OS install. So, one probably needs to be a technical person. The one I got had x64 intel based CPU, so it should run just about any linux or BSD distribution. The one that I got has a serial port for the console (no VGA, HDMI, display port etc).

Aruba Instant On. It's Aruba's enterprise hardware with all knobs stripped and on a huge discount.

I suppose some people might find their use of a cloud based "controller" disagreeable, but I honestly think it's a plus — it's barely ever needed and it's one thing less to maintain.

> I suppose some people might find their use of a cloud based "controller" disagreeable, but I honestly think it's a plus — it's barely ever needed and it's one thing less to maintain.

Until your network gets pwned because the cloud controller gets breached.

There's nothing to "pwn", you can maybe turn some switch ports off or change your SSID. It doesn't do routing or firewalling, that's on you.

https://www.turris.com/en/products/omnia/

TP Link Omada works surprisingly well too.

If you don't want to shell out for the pricey stuff, Aruba InstantOn and Meraki Go APs might be an option.

Buy used enterprise aps.

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