I’m currently using the Alta Control and Route10 hardware in my network setup. Additionally, I have TP-Link Omada access points to take advantage of WiFi 7 capabilities. However, I’ve encountered some limitations with the Alta Control interface:
Current View: I can only see overall traffic statistics through the Route10.
Missing Details: I’m unable to view traffic per device, the specific websites being visited, or the top applications in use.
Previously, with Firewalla Gold, I had access to detailed monitoring features like per-device traffic, site visits, and application usage.
My Questions:
Existing Functionalities: Are there built-in features within Alta Control that provide per-device traffic, site visits, and application usage (DPI) that I might be overlooking?
Future Roadmap: If these features aren’t currently available for non-Alta access points like the TP-Link Omada, is there a roadmap to include them in future updates?
Timeline: If such features are planned, could you share any information regarding the expected timeline for their release?
I’d appreciate any guidance or insights from the community or the Alta Labs team. Thank you!
So this is just my personal opinion as somebody that is trying out Alta Labs products but I wouldn’t expect Alta to provide support for access points from other brands either now or in the future.
I’ve not tried but as far as I’m aware from my research, Omada doesn’t provide support for Alta or Ubiquiti AP’s and Ubiquiti wouldn’t support Alta or Omada AP’s etc. Whilst you can use these products together it does seem to make more sense to use the same brand if you’re after the “Single Pane of Glass” control.
I looked at the Firewalla products before buying Alta and here in Europe they were just far too expensive. They do look nice though from a control point of view but, seeing as they don’t sell access points, it makes sense that they have to support access points from other brands.
Thank you for your perspective, and I understand where you’re coming from regarding brand compatibility. However, my query was more about the availability or planned implementation of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) capabilities within the Alta ecosystem, rather than access point (AP) compatibility.
I agree that it’s common for brands to prioritize their own devices to achieve a seamless “Single Pane of Glass” experience. However, DPI seems like a basic and critical feature for any robust networking solution, especially in a product designed for advanced users or businesses. It’s not tied directly to AP compatibility but rather to the core capabilities of the gateway (Route10 in this case) or Alta’s control system.
To clarify my expectations:
DPI enables detailed traffic monitoring, such as per-device usage, sites visited, and application analysis. These are essential for managing and optimizing a network.
Other ecosystems (like Firewalla or even Ubiquiti’s UniFi) include DPI functionality as part of their core offerings, regardless of the brand of AP used.
If Alta does plan to implement DPI, I’d appreciate understanding the roadmap or timeline for its introduction. For those of us managing diverse network environments, such features are crucial and would significantly enhance the value proposition of Alta products.
Thanks again for sharing your experience, and I hope Alta Labs can clarify their position on DPI capabilities in their ecosystem.
@prmadhava DPI is already very well supported on our APs. In fact, we are one of the only brands that perform DPI on the APs themselves, reducing dependency on a particular router brand and offloading the router. Re: WiFi7, we’ve seen quite a few headaches from customers using WiFi7 in the field, particularly in the 6 GHz band, mostly due to MLO and other technologies that aren’t fully vetted in client hardware. You will generally see an overall better user experience with our WiFi 6 APs at the current time of writing. Of course, we plan to release our own fully WiFi7 APs, but features that aren’t ready will not be turned on until the user experience is proven out.
We have not released DPI support for Route10 yet, but it will come soon; should be during the first quarter of 2025.
Thank you for the detailed response! I understand that DPI is currently supported on Alta Labs APs directly, which is impressive for reducing router dependency.
With the 2025 update for DPI on Route10, I would like to clarify:
Will the Route10 DPI functionality work independently at the router level, regardless of the access point brand (e.g., my existing TP-Link Omada APs)?
Or will DPI still require Alta Labs APs to function fully?
I’m currently using the hardware controller and Route10, so I want to ensure that the upcoming DPI features will provide full network insights, including per-device traffic analysis, even with non-Alta APs.
If you have DPI on your GW, then your GW will be able to show what client is accessing what resource. Independent of the APs being used.
But alta is running DPI on the APs unlike competitors. (Which also makes the system theoretically a lot more scalable, as extra APs = extra DPI Processing power)
Off-topic: There’s TIP OpenWiFi and OpenLAN (OpenWRT-based) whose plans are to make a “single pane of glass” network with every manufacturer who (hopefully) will support the standard. Similar to matter in IOT.