Ubiquiti Launches New 'AmpliFi Alien' Router With Touch Display and Wi-Fi 6 Support

[H3LL5P4WN]

The article explicitly states that the 2.4ghz band is WiFi 6. Is that going to cause conflict, or flat out not allow IoT devices connect?

How many would I need to cover 6000sq feet? And can I use this with a Verizon Fios router .. just put it in bridge mode .. because I need the MOCA connection for Fios tv boxes .

I always just turned Verizons craptastic Wifi off and plugged a router into one of the modem's LAN ports.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Needs a price reduction, WPA3 (after the bugs have been squished), a different color scheme than that gAm3r green and black, and another price reduction.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

I think this approach is kind of cheese-ball. I like that Ubiquiti is prosumer and tries to provide a professional - sometimes industrial - aesthetic.

 

[chabig]

At $375 a pop that would be one very high priced mesh

True, but it's a Wifi 6 mesh. Wifi 6 mesh systems from both Linksys and Netgear cost about the same (actually a tiny bit more).

 

[PickUrPoison]

this product is for an (present day) edge case.

So almost no one needs this product, and of those who do, almost no one needs 2.5/5/10GigE. Sounds right to me.

 

[dannys1]

If only the 16" MacBook Pro had come with Wifi 6. I guess i'll have to buy another one once the next gen Intel chips come out with Wifi 6 built in.

 

[centauratlas]

No mention of WPA3? If it can't support WPA3, then you'll throw it away when proper WPA3-enabled routers come to market. Ofc, the clients need to support it, as well. My way of saying: This tech is currently at the BS stage, waiting for the uninformed to waste their money on it, only to dump it in a year or two. I'd advise waiting Just my take.

Yeah, I was going to make a similar comment: who would release a higher end router with WPA2 but WiFi 6?

Most people in the market to spend that much want both.

 

[IPPlanMan]

If only the 16" MacBook Pro had come with Wifi 6. I guess i'll have to buy another one once the next gen Intel chips come out with Wifi 6 built in.

At least the iPhone 11 Pro comes with it.

 

[coolfactor]

I've always gotten my router from my ISP. its included, no extra charge and they say their routers are the best for their service... that being said I wish I had something that could handle my crazy HomeKit setup better

ISP-provided routers are usually poorer than those you can buy. Don't fall for the marketing.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

ISP-provided routers are usually poorer than those you can buy. Don't fall for the marketing.

I honestly thought they were being sarcastic. Or at least I hope they were.

 

[aajeevlin]

Okay maybe I’m missing something. Every time I see product like this I can’t help but to think most people here are probably good enough to follow instruction for a router + access point type of setup. It’s cheaper and you can swap out the access point as new Protocol is released. The router really hasn’t changed much over the last few years, but you can continue to swap out AP as needed. Am I missing something?

 

[cmaier]

I had two amplifi routers, the bandwidth allocation is horrible. Games lag terribly despite having a stable internet connection. Oh and one of them died spontaneously right after the warranty was over.

Switched to Eero and never looked back.

I had a setup with 5 AMPLIFI cubes (2 with wired backhaul), and it worked great up until a few months ago when a software update borked everything up. Devices kept losing their WAN connection, the cubes kept reporting loss of WAN (even though other cubes and devices still could talk to the internet), speeds dropped to zero, etc.

After a couple more software updates didn’t solve it, I switched to synology and am seeing 2x the wireless throughput I ever got from AMPLIFI, and it’s been rock solid so far.

Amplifi support is very responsive and they try real hard, but I was not interested in spending all my time rolling back firmware versions one at a time and helping them debug.

 

[darkslide29]

I had two amplifi routers, the bandwidth allocation is horrible. Games lag terribly despite having a stable internet connection. Oh and one of them died spontaneously right after the warranty was over.

Switched to Eero and never looked back.

I won't be buying this one, but I have been deciding between Eero and Orbi. Wondering if you had the same decision and how you decided on Eero? Thanks.

 

[Pepe4life]

I won't be buying this one, but I have been deciding between Eero and Orbi. Wondering if you had the same decision and how you decided on Eero? Thanks.

Orbi has firmware issues that took months to resolve. Eero has been very stable for me , get the Pro version with triband.

 

[jezbd1997]

I've always gotten my router from my ISP. its included, no extra charge and they say their routers are the best for their service... that being said I wish I had something that could handle my crazy HomeKit setup better

They are actually usually the cheapest hardware available and I’ve had nothing but issues with most isp provided routers...

 

[chabig]

I won't be buying this one, but I have been deciding between Eero and Orbi. Wondering if you had the same decision and how you decided on Eero? Thanks.

Eero is the easy choice if you're already into the Amazon ecosystem and don't care about user privacy (Amazon owns Eero).

 

[sclawis300]

ISP-provided routers are usually poorer than those you can buy. Don't fall for the marketing.

The two that I got from charter were garbage.

 

[Banglazed]

I won't be buying this one, but I have been deciding between Eero and Orbi. Wondering if you had the same decision and how you decided on Eero? Thanks.

I’ve tried both Orbi and Velop. They are good but after awhile you’ll either experience a drop connection or no data despite being connected until you power cycle it.

Now, I’m using Arris AX11000 that has stable connection and great coverage at premium price. What I found most about these mesh routers use an app to set them up and have limited configuration for advance users.

 

[gsmornot]

How do you use one of these with Uverse service? Is it even possible?

It will not replace your UVerse router but it would work as an access point. I use Airport Extremes and a Netgate firewall with my service. The first connection is from the provided router to the firewall, from there 4 Airport Extremes are working as access points. If you had only this new device it would be your first connection and from there everything else. The router function would not be needed.

 

[MacBH928]

How does it offer a wider coverage? I was told the maximum coverage was limited by power of transmission as country law dictates.

I am not sure who this product is for, its confusing, it does exactly what the Amplifi HD does. Obviously the Amplifi HD is a better solution.

I had two amplifi routers, the bandwidth allocation is horrible. Games lag terribly despite having a stable internet connection. Oh and one of them died spontaneously right after the warranty was over.

Switched to Eero and never looked back.

which routers were they? You are the only person I heard who had trouble with their hardware. They are supposedly a higher quality build. They have quite a loyal fan base.

 

[Pepe4life]

How does it offer a wider coverage? I was told the maximum coverage was limited by power of transmission as country law dictates.

I am not sure who this product is for, its confusing, it does exactly what the Amplifi HD does. Obviously the Amplifi HD is a better solution.



which routers were they? You are the only person I heard who had trouble with their hardware. They are supposedly a higher quality build. They have quite a loyal fan base.

AMPLIFI HD. Nope the hardware is cheaply made. Even the power cable broke spontaneously several times

 

[Le Big Mac]

It has. This previously dropped a week or so ago ( equally "funky" product name ' Dream Machine' )



https://store.ui.com/collections/routing-switching/products/unifi-dream-machine

It doesn't have WiFi 6 but similar product market coverage. The bigger pitch there is they merged a router product capabilities and cloud key product inside more so than bleeding edge WiFi 6 coverage.

"So their enterprise lineup still hasn’t been updated to WiFi 6? Seems a little backwards to me."

(FWIW the case size suggests some commonalities between the two units.)

 

[Le Big Mac]

"...Although the new router isn't specifically a mesh system, the company did note that you can mesh multiple Alien units together to extend coverage if you have a large home. ..."

At $375 a pop that would be one very high priced mesh . Been waiting for a WPA 3 ( and WiFi6 ) solution to drop from Amplifi but didn't plan on budget that big just to close up WPA2's problems.

Given there is a separate WiFi 5 "channel" meshing up an HD would be more cost effective but not uniform.

Not only expensive, but backhaul appears to be wireless only.

Easily mesh multiple units over the air to build virtually unlimited Wi-Fi capacity in your home.

 

[deconstruct60]

"So their enterprise lineup still hasn’t been updated to WiFi 6? Seems a little backwards to me."

(FWIW the case size suggests some commonalities between the two units.)

Pragmatically is it really WiFi 6 if still stuck on WPA2. In most enterprise deployments is speed usually prioritized over speed? Private corporate intellectual property leaking at a faster data rate isn't on the top of most folks list.

Amplifi has a Gamer Edition that also has a green LED color scheme to it. Faster data and casual security requirements is a better match with what they have at the moment.
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Not only expensive, but backhaul appears to be wireless only.

"Only AmpliFi standalone routers (AmpliFi HD and Instant) can be added as a RAMP with wired backhaul to an AmpliFi HD mesh network, and only the AmpliFi Alien stand alone router can be added to the AmpliFi Alien mesh network. Please refer to our Compatibility Guide for details on possible ways to extend your network. ..."
https://help.amplifi.com/hc/en-us/articles/115006826048-How-to-Enable-Ethernet-Wired-Backhaul

It is like the HD's were. Only the standalone models are eligible for wired backhaul. But the Alien has forked off into a separate compatibly grouping.

 

[mattopotamus]

How do you use one of these with Uverse service? Is it even possible?

There are settings you can change on the uverse 2wire, but the easiest way that works is just to straight up connect it to an ethernet port on the ATT modem/router and create your own network. I have done that in the past and got much better speeds using a mesh set up.