The EdgeRouter X (ER X) has great functionality and flexibility, especially at a near $50 price point. There is a bit of a learning curve to configuring it, especially if you aren’t a network pro (I’m not, though I’m a system/software architect with basic network knowledge). Fortunately where Ubiquiti’s documentation falls short, reviews on the Internet (including at Amazon) can be quite helpful. I had trouble using the WAN+2LAN2 wizard (I couldn’t get anything but ICMP to route between the LAN and the WAN), but the WAN+2LAN wizard worked.
The one big issue I have with the ER X is with performance in my situation. I recently moved to Cox GigaBlast, with brings fiber to your home and offers 1 Gbps up and down. The service includes a Netgear R6300 router/switch with nice Wifi capability. Though I need a couple of switch ports near where the optical modem was placed, I don’t need another Wifi access point there, so I bought the ER X to place there so that I could relocate the Netgear unit where the WiFi would be beneficial.
Before installing the Edge Router, I ran some speed tests using the Netgear router as my gateway interface. The results were pretty impressive: 890 Mbps down & 920 Mbps up (a giant leap from my old DSL connection). I thought the ER X might do a little better given the accolades from the pro reviewers. But alas, this was not the case. With the ER X configured with switched LAN ports, the test results measured downloads 40% lower and uploads 75% lower that the R6300! While this is still impressive for a residential connection, it’s significantly slower than with Netgear R6300. I suspected that the lower speed was due to implementation of the switch in ER X software, but testing with a non-switched LAN port gave only slightly better download speeds and upload speeds that were twice as fast, but still about half the rate of the R6300. So for now, I’m reverting to the Netgear, but with the WiFi disabled.
I was curious how the ER X would compare with the ER Lite, and was able to borrow one for some brief testing. The ER Lite can be configured with two LAN ports, which can be either independent (i.e., in different subnets), or bridged (effectively providing a 2 port switch on the same subnet). In the non-bridged mode the ER Lite was even faster than the Netgear R6300, but in bridged mode it yielded the worst results of all the test configurations. The attached table shows a summary of the test results.
The tests were done using the Ookla speedtest.net site with many repeats all using the same server, from a computer connected to one of the router’s ports. All results with each of configurations were very close (within 2%), except for the ER X non-switched download test results which were within 10%.
So, in summary the EdgeRouter X is a great router for most applications today, but it apparently can’t process data at gigabit data rates.
If I wasn't already aware of pfSense and into that, this would probably be my go to for small deployments. The feature set is massive as it is literally just a network centric linux box with a pretty face. It does lack in some of the functionality of pfSense out of the box - That being said you could probably set some/much of that up via the terminal or by installing additional packages - just not sure how well it would work or be supported.
It wins out in price by a pretty good margin - 50 bucks - you can put together a good pfSense box around 150-200 bucks if you have no extra hardware laying around. That being said - pfSense is more versatile in general. With the ER-X you can do most things in some manner, with pfSense you can do most anything in a ton of ways.
In my first setup of one of these I used the following as reference
VLAN aware switching - creating and assigning 4 isolated networks with dot1q vlans per switch port for both native and tagged instances - This works well and i had no problems so far with the implementation
QoS - Smart queue - simple codel queue I believe - works as it should. Did not go out side of the simple "smart queue" setup for this, many options for this that I left untouched.
DHCP - good enough for most use cases. Did not see an option for passing specific DHCP options, but as this is a linux distro I would assume it is in the stack somewhere, might not be supported to use that being said.
DNS - Looks like a very simple forwarder to me - no real options besides what interfaces to listen to and dyndns. Not sure if anything additional for this is on the back end or if you could install bind and do your own.
Traffic analysis. At a glance - a trivial layer7 graphing system will tell you what is using traffic. Not that I used it for it, but from what I understand this might be used for layer7 inspection and firewall rules which could be useful in certain usage scenarios.
VPN - This was a nice bonus to have for a box this cheap, especially with how many options they give you. However - PPTP as a default option? Shame on you ubiquiti. PPTP was cracked years ago. L2TP - I was able to kill the egress back to the VPN clients from devices on the network, however I have not found a way to firewall traffic from being able to reach every management interface on the device. If someone connects to this they can then get to every service hosted on the Edgerouter on every interface (aside from my own intuition - I tried every suggestion I could find in every forum - L2TP creates a sub interface to use that then passes the traffic, I have not found a way to attach rules that to interface - This is not to say there is not a way, I just was not able to find it). Thankfully there is an OVPN server hidden on the device, so I was able to use that for my needs.
Firewall rules - If you are familiar with iptables - this is right up your alley - painful to configure from the GUI as it commits on every change. You can probably do this much faster from the configuration tree. You can certainly do this faster from the CLI.
CLI - Ok, I have to hand them this one - very nice. It's a 50 dollar device with a diagnostically functional CLI. MTR being left into the compile made me all warm and fuzzy. Then the configuration portion - Ok, I might be looking at this from a pretty narrow perspective, but I liked the way they did this. Set commands to setup options, unset to removed them. Command completion with descriptions. A system of commit and save which makes "oh crap, pull the power to roll back" viable, or from what I saw rollback functionality.
And the part (off the top of my head) that bugged me
PoE - 24v passive. It is pretty much useless for most things, ubiquiti seems to love 24v passive so if you have an all ubiquiti system that provides 24v - this will probably be fine, just keep in mind for that passthrough port to work you need to power the unit with 24v PoE or be running a 12 watt adapter (this unit only comes with a 6).
There were others, but this is the gist - If you need a low cost firewall that can push up to 950mbit (with hwnat) and can support multiple networks, QoS, and VPN for a small office (5-15 people) this is a good grab. There is a lot of documentation on configuration and such, and the documentation tends to be to the point.
If you're a little intimidated by the technical discussions here, don't be. I purchased this to replace a cheap plastic TP Link router. I had it set up and running in under 15 minutes. If you are just looking for a SOHO setup like I was, there is a wizard that takes care of all the setting for you: it's idiot proof. I also replaced a cheap switch with a high quality one and everything is working perfectly.
The only remotely technical thing you will need to do is manually set your IP address so you can access the firmware to run the wizard.
Let me start off by saying I'm new to home networking, wifi access points, and PoE everything. We're remodeling our house and I ran a bunch of cat6 cable with the intention of establishing PoE security cameras, wifi access points, and having drops (cat6 wires) to each room in the house. I read about Ubiquiti products having a large commercial presence while working their way into the home market. Being someone who appreciates the reliability of commercial grade products I decided to give it a shot.
I purchased a Unifi AP and needed a router, I read it was beneficial to have PoE pass-through capability. Seeing that the EdgerouterX met this requirement, wasn’t very expensive, and also had the ability to configure each port individually it seemed appealing, even though I didn’t fully understand what it meant at the time. (I would say my networking experience up to this point was buying a wireless router online several years ago, plugging it in, and running the setup successfully)
The quick start guide for both the EdgeRouterX and Unifi AP were sufficient to get up and running without any problems. I’d like to say, I’m relatively ignorant to how most of these things work so I had I figured in my mind that I would need to watch a bunch of videos and seek online assistance. The reality was a pleasant surprise, as the guides included with the product were all that I needed. I did have one hiccup in configuring the router, in that I failed to download the most up-to-date firmware from the Ubiquiti website (which was clearly defined in the quick start guide) but after actually following the instructions I had no issues finishing the configuration and watching my very own home network with wifi access points come to life!
The configuration browser is impressive, you can tell just by the functionality and layout of the information that Ubiquiti has experience in simplifying complex problems (probably from their commercial product experience). The configuration wizards got me going in the right direction and with additional exploration I was able to find new ways to use the router that I didn’t expect to exist. For example, since each port is configurable individually I was able to selectively bridge ports so that I had access to my network cameras only from my desktop PC, but not through wifi or any of the other ports (the cameras are also technically not connected to the internet).
My setup in simple terms:
Eth0 is where I have my internet modem plugged in, we have internet through a dish which connects to a local tower (we’re pretty rural)
Eth1 is connected to another network switch for my PoE cameras
Eth2 is a cat6 drop to a desktop
Eth3 is a cat6 drop to smart TV
Eth4 has PoE turned on, and powers the UnifiAP providing Wifi to our house.
I had the system set up and running for just under a year when the router stopped functioning. I wasn’t sure what caused it, maybe a thunder storm, maybe we had a power surge (we’re remodeling so who knows) but I figured I’d reach out to Ubiquiti to see what they thought. I followed the quick start guide’s instructions on resetting the router but had no luck in entering the configurator. Since the product was still under the 1 year warranty period I saved a .pdf of my amazon order details and submitted that as my receipt to request an RGA from Ubiquiti on their website. In less than 24 hours I had an approved RGA and was able to ship the router back to Ubiquiti’s technicians. It took about 2 days to get delivered and what felt like less than a day Ubiquiti sent me a notification that I was getting a replacement. From the time I requested the RGA to the time I was back up and running (with a brand new router) it was less than a week.
I appreciate the ease of setup designed into this router and its configuration software, I appreciate the capability and options I didn’t even know I was going to receive. The price was good, as the product itself feels high-quality, it’s not flimsy, and it’s pretty tiny in all reality for what it does. I feel like I had already received more value than I paid for after my initial setup and use, because the router simply worked and worked well without issue (really all I wanted). After feeling like I already received a pretty good deal, when I did have a problem, I certainly received some A+ customer support when I was able to return the product and get a replacement (very quickly) at no additional cost to me.
Not much else I can say about this router other than from my experience Ubiquiti makes some pretty awesome products and stands behind them.
I do not work for Ubiquiti, and I have not been compensated in any way for this review I do most of my shopping through Amazon (we’re rural) placing hundreds of orders each year, almost every single day actually. This is probably only the third product review I’ve ever taken the time to write, I’m simply really impressed.
This is a great little router. I am stunned by how much you get in such a cost efficient package.
I am a Network Professional by trade, and this little guy is packed with great features for a small office, or home. The only issues I had with this device, is more due to my over thinking how I wanted my network set up, and not relying on the wizards. Normally, I avoid wizards as a matter of professional pride, but in this case, save yourself some hassle and just use the wizards. They are very well written. As it is, I have now replaced a consumer grade device, with a business class router, while on a budget.
Feature Product
- Versatile PoE Capability
- Carrier-Class Reliability
- Gigabit Connectivity
Description
Centralized Management The EdgeRouter X SFP is supported and managed by UNMS (Ubiquiti Network Management System), a comprehensive controller with an intuitive UI. A single control plane manages registered EdgeMAX devices across multiple sites. Versatile PoE Capability Powered by 24V passive PoE or a power adapter, the EdgeRouter X features a passive PoE passthrough option* to power an airMAX device. World-Leading Price/Performance At $59 USD MSRP, the EdgeRouter X offers a breakthrough combination of value and performance in routing technology. Gigabit Connectivity The EdgeRouter X provides five independent, Gigabit RJ45 ports that are configurable for switching.
I've worked on dozens of lightweight /SoHo routers, usually port forwarding. I stepped out of my league when I bought the EdgeMax. I still like my old Asus RT-N16x with Asus' DDWRT firmware, but it's geared more toward home media than security. The Edge OS i a branch of the old linux Vyatta OS Linux. There are a lot of YouTube videos and Wiki articles on what to do. You’ll need to reset the router several times. I finally broke down and asked for help from an admin friend.
Update: after a few years of intense work, I bricked it after a firmware update. I still think it’s recoverable, ordering a replacement. Nothing on the market touches the overal price and quality, years later!
This is a solid router with good features for a great price. The only thing that caused me to knock a star off my rating was the frustrating installation process and the horrible documentation.
I almost gave up on this router, until I reconnected with my old equipment and found some helpful how-tos and reviews on the internet. The thing that really got me was that you are instructed to connect your computer to port 0 for setup and to connect your other devices to ports 1-4 with no mention of the WAN connection. After going through the setup process, I could no longer access the internet or log into the router! I almost gave up at this point, but instead I connected directly to the modem and started searching for solutions. Luckily, I found a video showing that while the router is rebooting, you need to switch your computer to another port and use port 0 for the internet connection. To be fair, there is a little drop-down on the LAN setup page where you can change that, but it's not mentioned in Quick Start Guide that's included with the router. It is mentioned in passing on page 68 of the EdgeOS User Guide that you can download at the manufacturer's website. You should probably download that. Happy reading!
My best advice is that if you're not well familiar with routers, do yourself a favor and watch some videos before you install this router, read the forums, and carefully review the process before installation.
I have CenturyLink and this router works great with Gigabit connections. The trick is that you have to enable hardware offloading as this is not enabled by default. Reviewers that weren't getting gigabit speeds did not have hardware offloading enabled.
Download close to came in at nearly 900 mbps and upload about 930 mbps. Download comes close to 900 mbps during hours the internet is less congested. So it definitely is a good replacement for your provided Zyxel, Techniclor, etc router and is much more advanced despite its tiny size.
Please note that this is a professional product. It runs on Linux. It has a nice web admin interface, but some more advanced configurations may have to be accomplished on the command line. But it's highly configurable (you can make a separate VLAN for each ethernet port for example). It's not as simple to set up as a Linksys and you will need a ethernet cable to set up the router whether or not you have a wireless access point connected to it. I also recommend reading the release notes before installing any firmware, because the latest firmware doesn't work well with hardware offloading to get these speeds. But the folks at Ubiquiti are always working hard on new firmware. And there is a great support forum at ubnt.com.
Summary of what I did:
--followed the quick start guide to get to the EdgeOS portal
--downloaded and updated firmware
--used the Wizard to apply the "WLAN+2LAN" template
(See IT Guy's Amazon review for reference)
This is a great wired router with more options that I probably won't be utilizing.
Got this as a replacement for my almost 5 yr old Linksys/Cisco wireless router that was on its last leg.
I already have the Ubiquity AP for my wireless so this was perfect for what I needed.
I had a server running pfSense. The server developed problems, so after doing a lot of research, this router seemed like a good choice for my needs. First off, it is silent. My old server sounded like a jet engine and likely cost me $10 a month in electric! This one is going to cost me much less (and my basement is very quiet - I can't adequately describe the difference.)
The router is very small - it fits in the palm of my hand. However, it offers good speed and a decent amount of features (although not as many as pfSense - but will admit pfSense is not for amateurs and was easy to misconfigure). I have a rack, so I kind of wish this this could be mounted. I have it sitting on a shelf. It works, but I won't win any style points.
My home network has close to 40 devices on it (phones, tv's, computers, etc). Performance has been good in my limited time with it. Configuring the device is not too bad. You can watch a few YouTube videos and learn the basics in a few minutes.
Keep in mind this is not a wifi router - I'm using the Ubiquit wifi device for this (and very happy with it as well).
I'm very happy so far. You can't beat it for the price.
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