Replacing my Asus RT66AC, Unifi Dream Machine, Amplifi Alien?

[lagrave]

I am about to replace my six year old Asus RT66AC and am looking for something that will last at least as long, probably even longer (before my Asus I had a Linksys WRT54GS for four years - both the Linksys and now the Asus were/are replaced because the electronics shows signs of old age making the connection unstable).

I don't need any mesh or similar functionality, my current Asus offers perfect coverage everywhere not do I need the absolute highest performance (I live alone and don't play online games). Instead I am prioritizing a stable connection and stable hardware that will last for years.

I was quite excited when I heard about the Dream Machine but when I realised it didn't support Wifi 6 it was a great disappointment. Although I don't have any Wifi 6 devices at the moment I sure will in a few years and then I expect to use this router for another 5 years.

What's your opinion about Dream Machine vs Amplifi Alien? Or should I look somewhere else?

 

[coxhaus]

I think if you want good IPv6 and long life Cisco small business gear will work with IPv6 and last a long time. I am not sure why you need IPv6 as IPv4 is where it is at. I think you should worry about good IPv4 and long life.

My guess is that Cisco's IPv6 is better than any consumer gear out there.

 

[lagrave]

I think if you want good IPv6 and long life Cisco small business gear will work with IPv6 and last a long time. I am not sure why you need IPv6 as IPv4 is where it is at. I think you should worry about good IPv4 and long life.

My guess is that Cisco's IPv6 is better than any consumer gear out there.

I think you misread my post, WiFi 6 has nothing to do with IPv6. WiFi 6 is 802.11ax, while WiFi 5 is 802.11ac.

 

[coxhaus]

I think I mixed your post with another one I was working on. I wonder what I posted on it?

 

[Smokie]

My Dream Machine arrived a few days ago and is replacing my asus RT-AC5300. Range is nothing like my asus but my main reason for purchase was security and control only kids content.

I've already had issues of one device not connecting to the dream machine and I'm hoping it's a range thing more than anything else. I'm new to unifi and will take some time to get my head around it all.

 

[Mark070]

I own the Dream Machine (base model), and I stay on the official releases of the firmware, rather than using the beta firmwares. I am ok with Dream Machine so far, as its been (pretty) stable, with only a few reboots - however, it has not had an official update for many (many) months.

Overall, I am on the fence still. I plan to keep it, because I have a lot of money invested in Unifi (UDM, a switch, and an AP). If I had to do it over, I would swap the UDM out with a pfsense box. I would probably keep the switch and AP (Nano HD) as I don't need wifi6. My house is rather small, so one AP is probably enough, but at the moment I run the UDM and the second AP both on Low/Med power for 2g/5g.

When I need wifi6, I will consider swapping out the UDM with a pfsense box, and then switch out the AP for a wifi6e based AP, not necessarily Unifi. My goal, set by my better half, is to have "set it and forget it". So far, Ubiquiti has not lived up to that goal.