Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Router

The Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Router is easy to set up in it's default/auto configuration. The web interface and the phone apps are reasonably easy to use and learn. Being a Ubiqiti device, the UDR (for short) was also created to satisfy professional network installers for businesses and homes. It operates a fully featured version of UniFi OS, which has a plethora of powerful features and capabilities for those wanting to make use of them. Running on my UDR there are several WiFi SSIDs, several virtual networks, blocked traffic to and from specific countries and as I would describe it; enterprise grade internet threat detection and prevention. I can also hand out voucher codes to visitors for WiFi hotspot access. I can access the UDR and all settings remotely. The UDR can set up a VPN so that I can remotely join the local network or there is a simpler "teleport" method. After a few weeks of use I have no complaints about the stability and performance of the Ubiquiti UDR, access points and switches. That was not something I could say for my previous WiFi mesh routers (Netgear Orbi) which lacked reliabilty, particularly when WiFi backhaul was enabled. That was worse if I happened to experience a broadband outage. It would not be clear that there was an outage or yet another Orbi glitch. Then after the broadband was restored, there could be persistent problems requiring Orbi reboots. In contrast, the UDR will quickly detect an outage, indicate it on it's small but clear display screen, log it and graph it. When the broadband/WAN is back online it shows normal operaton on it's screen and recovers quickly without any apparent problems. I brought two UniFi access points with my UDR. It turned out that the UDR had better coverage than I expected, so I did not need the access points. The UDR has great coverage throughout the 150m2 one floor wooden house. Instead the access points are now in a separate garage and guesthouse, linked into the LAN by some Ubiquiti wireless bridges. Everything works seamlessly as a unified WiFi network. It was easy to add the access points. By default the UDR will see them when they are first connected. I just had to click the adopt button. I further optimised performance after I watched some video guides, by setting up different fixed WiFi channels for the UDR and each access point. One great thing about using Ubiquiti is the large amount of video guides and information online, including many from professional installers. The UDR acts as a Unifi OS "console" which is used to support advanced functionality of a UniFi network. A UniFi Cloudkey would be an alternative example of a UniFi OS console. However in addition the UDR also acts as a security gateway, router (1 WAN and 4 LAN including 2 able to provide 802.3af PoE) and WiFi 6 access point. The UDR always runs the Unifi "Network" app. It can run one additional Unifi app, either "Protect" (surveillance), "Talk" (phones) or "Access" (access control). I disabled those as I did not need them. The UDR is powerful enough to support at least 8 access points while also running the additional app. This web tool indicates what it can handle: https://ui.com/consoles/resource-calculator (Tip: Before buying access points consider UniFi6 Mesh or UniFi6 Pro rather than UniFi6 Lite or UniFi6 Long-Range. I have read complaints in forums about the Lite or Long-Range, which attribute problems to the the MediaTek chipset, unlike the Broadcom chipset in the Mesh and the Pro. At least, research it before purchasing an access point.) I have used my UDR in connection to a (no cost) Ubiquiti account. It added some convenient remote management and backup features that I wanted. I have not tried to operate the UDR and access points without the account. If operating without a Ubiquiti account is preferred, I recommend some research on what that would mean for functionality. Writing this in Oct 2022, the UDR and other UniFi WiFi 6 devices are newly released in Europe. The price at nearly 3500 kr could be considered high compared to the range of home use WiFi 6 routers. This is a high end product though. Competing WiFi 7 routers may start to become available in 2023, but it will take a while for many cient devices to support it. I would not expect Ubiquiti to release a WiFi 6E or WiFi 7 version of the UDR at prices to supersede this any time soon. Uniqiti classes thier WiFi 6E access points as "enterprise" products and they cost around twice as much as the WiFi 6 "pro" access points. The UDR could support such access points if desired, but at 1 Gbit/s connectivity instead of 2.5 Gbit/s that the "enterprise" access points support. Here is a review with a lot more information: https://dongknows.com/ubiquiti-wi-fi-6-unifi-dream-router-udr-review/ I hope this long review was useful. One day I might also have the skill to write such topics in Swedish, but for now I have to use my native language. Please consider giving this review a thumbs up (or thumbs down) to let me know whether I should do more review like this.