Happy to share my experience and appreciate the engagement. For now, I am not comfortable using the AL stack in a customer environment, as I’ve mentioned in other threads. For evaluation, we have multiple APs (AP6s, AP6 Pros and 1 AP6 Outdoor), multiple switches (S8s and S16), Route10 and a local controller. Tested the cloud management, local HW controller and local hosted controller.
I have continued to keep track of progress as I’m hopeful to see another strong player in the market. You guys are new and may be having some growing pains, I’m optimistic to see something that makes me want to re-evaluate again.
The APs function very well, had good results with them in various setups. A note, I absolutely hate the mounting system, never could really master it. HW wise, worked well, but did have 2 failures out of 6 APs, so that was a bit concerning. Switches work, nothing really special to note about them, except the S8s did have an overheating problem as they were in a cabinet that wasn’t well ventilated - so I consider that a self induced issue on my end. The Route10 didn’t get much of a workout, it was so feature in-complete at the time that I really didn’t spend a whole lot of time on it. The HW local controller was a huge mess, struggled getting it setup on a test VLAN, the DDNS stuff was odd at best. A self hosted controller was much easier to setup, but it wasn’t clear on how to do the updates, once I realized I needed to manually do the apt update it seemed to function fine. I was a bit surprised at just how chatty all the devices were to outside IPs. The test environment was ultimately blocked from Internet access and the number of blocked attempts was huge.
The hardware appears solid, has a lot of capability using modern chips, good selection of ports on the Route10. As I mentioned, without solid firmware / management system, it makes the good hardware much less attractive.
Honestly, I never really liked the interface to the controller - most configurations take place in small pop-up windows. When you on-site and working off a 13" Macbook Air, seems like a poor design choice to leave so much un-used real estate on the screen. The change to allow those pop-ups to be enlarged was great and appreciated, why hasn’t it made it to the devices window?
If I pull up a AP from the Network tab - I can manage various settings as I would expect. But, there is a global AP setting for the Backup Network, which is under System → Advanced, where you have switch settings, user settings, control (if local) settings - all this random stuff bunched together under Advanced. Most of which, there is zero documentation on other than the tool tip. The Backup Network setting (which is ON by default) is a great example, you can find it referenced several times on the forums where it has caused an issue, but I do not believe there is anything in the Knowledge Article area about this one. As for this setting being enabled by default - it really is not clear that putting an IP address in the field is what enables it - why not make this a on / off switch? Some places use a toggle, others don’t - there is no consistency.
Under Settings - there is a Firewall and Networks area - if I only have APs deployed, these have zero use, but yet they are there with no indication how they relate (or don’t) to the hardware installed.
On the Devices tab - I can select a device connected to my network (for example, my Macbook). There is a setting under Advanced for UPNP - the pop-up states “Only required if UPnP Strict Mode is enabled” - I have no clue where that setting is located - after opening every single setting, I found it under Networks → WANs → WAN1 hidden under Advanced, where I had to actually enable UPnP before the UPnP Strict mode was exposed. Turns out, since I don’t have a Route10, this setting has no use for just an AP deployment.
These are just some quick examples of how the web interface to manage the environment needs some serious work or at least some documentation to make it clear what is what.
My take on the interface is that it wasn’t really planned out how it would grow as the hardware roadmap developed. Realtime stats are cool - but actually not very useful, what is useful is the ability to see the history, spot trends, do analysis.
A lot of this could be addressed with simple documentation. Most of this applies to the Route10 as it is the most dynamic area right now. IDS/IPS are the perfect example, there isn’t any actual documentation - or at least that is what I thought - nothing in the release notes (other that IDS/IPS released), nothing in the Knowledge area on the Alta.inc site. Turns out, there is a blog post that does provide some insight into the use and configuration of IDS/IPS, I just happen to stumble on it - why is this not in the knowledge article area?
Release notes should describe what is new, changed or removed and they should include enough details for everyone to understand the impact of the change. Take the most recent firmware for Route 10 - it states:
- Improve firewall rule handling when protocol is not specified.
What does that mean? It was improved, but how? Did it fix a bug, did it modify how firewall rules are managed, what did it do? Was it not blocking before and now it is? It is very difficult to know just what changed and how it impacts me as an admin.
Another example:
- Resolve issues with manually setting port speed.
An alternative way to write this (making some assumptions on what was actually resolved…)
- Fixed an issue where you were unable to set the port speed on the Route10 manually. The port speed is now selectable and the setting will take effect immediately.
As for release schedules, maintenance windows, etc. You asked about other companies that do it well - Firewalla comes to mind. They have an MSP portal, iOS/Android apps and local firmware. I assume they maintain additional infrastructure to support a Early Adopter MSP portal. Before the MSP is updated, very detailed release notes are provided and you can select to opt in to the EA version. Use TestFlight (iOS) and whatever is the Android equivalent for their app testing (which I think you guys do already) and similar on their firmware, they have an opt-in EA capability to load EA firmware. What is most important, NOTHING changes on their MSP portal without announcements, release notes, before the actual release. Version numbers are clearly visible for everything so you know what version you are on, whether you are on an EA release, etc. I’ve personally had a Firewalla deployed in some form or fashion for years and have never been surprised about a feature or release.
Ubiquiti is another one that does a good job on release notes, maintains an EA channel (along with release candidates). I do have a full suite of Unifi equipment in my test lab that runs all the EA releases, allows me to know what is coming, what works (and what doesn’t ) before I ever have to put it into a production environment. Also allows me to provide feedback before something is final.
The distribution model that Alta Labs uses is also a bit concerning. I just did a quick check and found bundled deals on Amazon that are cheaper than what I would get through the 2 distributors I generally use. I could not find any bundle deals through the distributors. When you sell direct on Amazon and potentially undercut distributor pricing, that is not a model I want anything to do with.
There is a lot here - bottom line, everything Alta Labs has put out there works, no debating this. For home installs, it is a valid choice. For some small business I think it could be a good fit. For someone who sells, installs and manages (or supports the business person who is tasked with managing), it is just a little too risky for me because it isn’t well documented and things change without notice. I will take another look at the Route10 in the near future, as I mentioned, when we purchased and tested, it simply was not ready for prime time so we didn’t bother.
I am optimistic that things will continue to improve and innovate over time. I think having new options in the market place is a good thing. It is tough environment right now, seeing what Ubiquiti has brought to the market in the last month it is a bit overwhelming and I’m sure painful for those that want to compete with them. This is why I think it is so important to be the best across the board, strong hardware, solid software / firmware and great documentation. It is like a 3 legged stool, if just one leg is not up to speed, the entire stool is useless.
Appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback.
