Routers - Reliable, WiFi & Modem not required.

stoofa · 1 Jun 2017 at 23:27

So I'm going to swap-out my Vodafone supplied piece of kit with some of my own.
I'm 99% sure I want to use my Openreach Huawei HG612 for the modem part of things. I also use Ubiquity WAP's, so I'm looking for a reliable, easy to use, issues fixed quickly, router that doesn't need to have a modem nor any WiFi capabilities (obviously I'm aware I can disable both of those features if a recommended device had them).

Can anyone recommend the "cheap as chips" Ubiquity routers? I have read they aren't the most user friendly device.
Anything else out there that is recommended and won't break the bank?

bremen1874 · 2 Jun 2017 at 00:02

You obviously have a reason to not want use the Vodafone router. What does the replacement router need to do that the Vodafone router didn't?

Does a router need to be user friendly?

ChrisD. · 2 Jun 2017 at 09:17

I was under the impression that you must use the Vodafone hardware.

BigT · 2 Jun 2017 at 10:59

ER-L and USG from Ubiquiti have decent enough UIs on the most recent firmware. USG will fill in the graphs on your controller software for the UAPs as well I think.

If you've the skill then building your own via an open source project like pfSense would mean something powerful and rock solid with much more capability. Cheap too if you have spare PC kit lying around that you could re-purpose for the job. While it's all done via UI, you need to be reasonably knowledgeable in networking to get it working how you want but there are lots of YouTube videos for it.

bledd · 7 Jun 2017 at 09:32

I would look at the Mikrotik offerings.

If you're not using the WiFi side, then you won't get the full benefit of Unifi.

Misread the OP, just buy a USG if you have Unifi already

ChrisD. · 7 Jun 2017 at 09:36

BigT said:
ER-L and USG from Ubiquiti have decent enough UIs on the most recent firmware. USG will fill in the graphs on your controller software for the UAPs as well I think.

If you've the skill then building your own via an open source project like pfSense would mean something powerful and rock solid with much more capability. Cheap too if you have spare PC kit lying around that you could re-purpose for the job. While it's all done via UI, you need to be reasonably knowledgeable in networking to get it working how you want but there are lots of YouTube videos for it.

Having used both, I'd say pfSense is easier than the ER-L.

bledd · 7 Jun 2017 at 09:43

ER-L is simple to use though, nice solid piece of kit. Down side is only 1 LAN port, so you'll need to buy a switch too.

Steve_bullockuk · 7 Jun 2017 at 15:53

As said, i think you must use the Vodafone supplied router with their service?

+1 on pfSense.

bledd · 7 Jun 2017 at 16:29

Didn't read the OP properly, I'd just get a USG. Love mine.

stoofa · 8 Jun 2017 at 13:00

Steve_bullockuk said:
As said, i think you must use the Vodafone supplied router with their service?

+1 on pfSense.

The requirement to use the Vodafone supplied device was removed a couple of weeks ago. You do have to tell them you're using something from the current "Openreach approved list" - however once you have, you get your PPoE username/password.

bremen1874 · 8 Jun 2017 at 13:07

I appreciate that it doesn't matter and everyone knows what you mean, but you consistently type PPoE with you mean PPPoE.

Phrozenpenguin · 21 Jun 2017 at 08:38

You could look at the Ubiquity Edgerouter X devices, cheaper than the Edgerouter Lite or USG and a bit more flexibility because the have a switch built in.

stoofa · 21 Jun 2017 at 22:43

Phrozenpenguin said:
You could look at the Ubiquity Edgerouter X devices, cheaper than the Edgerouter Lite or USG and a bit more flexibility because the have a switch built in.

I did see those whilst searching around and available at around £50 - also felt it would be a nice pair with my Ubiquity WAP's.
Just didn't know how easy the GUI is to use on these - relatively straight forward to use (a la the Netgear's of today) or a pain in the ass (a la the Cisco of old with CiscOS).

Phrozenpenguin · 22 Jun 2017 at 00:51

stoofa said:
I did see those whilst searching around and available at around £50 - also felt it would be a nice pair with my Ubiquity WAP's.
Just didn't know how easy the GUI is to use on these - relatively straight forward to use (a la the Netgear's of today) or a pain in the ass (a la the Cisco of old with CiscOS).

Depends how complicated you want to get, but the GUI worked fine for my setup (have used both PPPoE and straight DHCP) with a few static reservations. Rock solid for "Uptime: 1 month, 1 week, 6 days" since I installed so far.

If you are using Ubiquity wifi access points that use the Ubiquiti passive POE, then you could get the Edgerouter X SFP, which is powered by a "normal" power brick, but then can do passive POE out on all ports (switchable in software). So you could power your two AP's directly from the switch, and get rid of POE injectors. You can also power the standard Edgerouter X via the same passive POE, if you need to daisy chain them.