Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2013
My first Ubiquiti product and arguably the best router I have ever owned. When Ubiquiti brought on a few Vyatta Engineers after Brocade's purchase of Vyatta I was intrigued. Software defined networking is the new rage and Vyatta was my go to network operating system. EdgeOS was born as a result, which at it's core is Vyatta re-branded and reinvented. When paired with the fantastic hardware that Ubiquiti is known for you have the EdgeRouter. With quality hardware and robust software this is a match made in heaven.
There are a host of features that you won't find in other options at this price range on the market. You'll find basic and advanced features ranging from IPv4/v6 addressing/routing, DHCP client and server, VLANs Static routes, OSPF, RIP, BGP, Firewall (ACL-based and zone-based), NAT, QoS, VPN: IPsec, L2TP, OpenVPN, PPTP client and server; PPPoE client and server, bridging, bonding, GRE, VRRP, Dynamic DNS, DNS forwarding, DHCP relay....blah blah blah. Although most of the features are not accessible at this time via the GUI, the most common ones that are manageable via the GUI are: DHCP, NAT, Firewall, OSFP, PPOPE, Routing, DNS, certain aspects of VPN and a few other things. I'll include a large list of the main features that are a part of EdgeOS at the end of this review, most of which are accessible through the command line.
The Ubiquiti community is alive and thriving. Their forums are buzzing with activity and people are ready to answer questions and help you. By default the system is not configured, but don't worry for those that aren't skilled with the command line there is a setup wizard that configures your device for a commonly used setup taht has a WAN port, LAN ports and basic firewall and NAT. Once you log in to your router it's literally three or four mouse clicks to get the basic config up and running. If you struggle with things don't panic, just ask for help in the forums.
As for the advanced features; they are definitely for the Command line savvy, although those without skill in this area can use community provided config files to add functionality. One of the newest feature they are adding in v1.4 of EdgeOS is a way for community members to create and share their own custom GUI features. Basically you'll be able to add GUI level access to features that would normally only be accessible via the command line. Once the community gets it's hands on this expect more accessibility for users that don't know their way around the command line.
As other reviewers have stated be sure you know what voltage your POE devices support. This does ship with a 24v adapter because that is what Ubiquiti hardware is spec'd for, although the industry standard is 48v. Don't damage your equipment by using the wrong power.
I'll update this review once I've tested more features and run it through it's paces.
Pros:
1. Outstanding hardware (build quality) and software (capabilities) which make for phenomenal performance all around.
2. Lots of features that you won't find even close to this price range when looking at other options.
3. Decent online documentation in forum and wiki/knowledge-base.
4. Basic setup wizard for those that want something quick to get them up and going, while they learn more.
5. Has a an active community behind it that is ready to help others find their way around the product.
6. Power over Ethernet at this price is a steal, especially with everything else you're getting.
7. Active software development, adding new features and enhancing existing ones.
8. Basic live port level monitoring in the GUI that shows outgoing and incoming traffic.
9. Huge list of features that most people won't use but are available if needed.
Cons:
1. Not yet very accessible for non CLI oriented people, (at the time of this review).
2. Doesn't come with stock configuration, most advanced users don't care, but for those learning this is an obstacle.
3. Currently has limited GUI access to advanced feature, but most users that will use these features know how to use CLI.
4. Doesn't come with a 48v power supply, so if you use non Ubiquiti hardware get a 48v power supply.
5. Just an FYI: UPnP support is a little buggy right now, as of v1.3 of EdgeOS. They will eventually fix this.
****The longer list of Feature is as follows****
Interface/Encapsulation Ethernet:
802.1q VLAN, PPPoE, GRE,IP in IP, Bridging, Bonding (802.3ad)
Addressing:
Static IPv4/IPv6 Addressing, DHCP/DHCPv6
Routing Static Routes:
OSPF/OSPFv3, RIP/RIPng, BGP (with IPv6 Support), IGMP Proxy
Security:
ACL-Based Firewall, Zone-Based Firewall, NAT
VPN:
IPSec Site-to-Site and Remote Access, OpenVPN Site to Site and Remote Access, PPTP Remote Access, L2TP Remote Access, PPTP Client
Services:
DHCP/DHCPv6 Server, DHCP/DHCPv6 Relay, Dynamic DNS, DNS Forwarding, VRRP, RADIUS Client, Web Caching, PPPoE Server
QoS:
FIFO, Stochastic Fairness Queueing, Random Early Detection, Token Bucket Filter, Deficit Round Robin, Hierarchical Token Bucket, Ingress Policing
Management:
Web UI, CLI (Console, SSH, Telnet), SNMP, NetFlow, LLDP, NTP, UBNT Discovery Protocol, Logging
