Ubiquiti - AmpliFi Alien Wifi Router

What is your budget for such a device? I am currently running the Amplifi Alien (which is Ubiquiti's high-ish end consumer router), but was planning on replacing it with a Protectli Vault. I actually bought a V1210 (2x 2.5G ports, Intel CPU/NIC, ~$240), and installed OPNSense on it, I just haven't switched it out with the Alien yet. Or, you can use an old desktop PC that you may already own. Probably not the best from a power draw standpoint, but you could load OPNSense on that, toss an Intel-based multi-port NIC on there, and see what it means to really run your own router. You could do the same hardware-wise, and just install Proxmox and then OpenWRT on it as a virtual machine. There's more fiddling involved with getting the nic(s) passed through, but it allows you to test with hardware you likely already own or can purchase second-hand for cheap.

I have two aliens and they are the best and most reliable routers I’ve ever had.

Amplifi Alien. Yes, it's a bit old. But rock solid. Runs my entire HomeKit system (about 70 devices) with no issues at all. Unifi is also a great option too.

Are you talking modem or router? Your provider should have a list on their website of supported third party modems. Just about any router is better than the providers. I have Comcast, I'm using an Arris Surfboard SB6190 modem and Amplifi Alien router. I've had 0 issues for 7 years, but am ready to upgrade to a racked Unifi setup.

I run all my stuff through Ubiquity AMPLIFI Alien mesh (3 nodes) everything works great. I figured it was a good solution since they sell them on the store app.

I really like the alien AMPLIFI 200 bucks covers my whole house 2000 sq ft 2 story’s I use 500 speed game do it all security system no issues

I like the alien don’t have any issues and it’s on sale u can get the mesh duplicate for 300 great ping I have no range issues

Alien Amplifi WiFi 6.

That's what I thought when I got it. The ability to manage a tonne of devices & the app making it simple to control, made it well worth it. Haven't had to upgrade or consider upgrading it since 2020. 

Looking at the prices now, they're about half price from when I got it, & I still don't regret it. Hopefully if you get it, you're as satisfied.

Alien Amplifi WiFi 6.

That's what I thought when I got it. The ability to manage a tonne of devices & the app making it simple to control, made it well worth it. Haven't had to upgrade or consider upgrading it since 2020. 

Looking at the prices now, they're about half price from when I got it, & I still don't regret it. Hopefully if you get it, you're as satisfied.

Apple Support pages are not signs they have or have not abandoned it. Apple still has support pages and guides/manuals for AirPorts Express/Extreme. [If HomeKit Secure Router is a must get AmpliFi Alien - it’s made by UniFi who are the Kings in consumer networking.](https://amplifi.com/alien) I get the attraction for HSR, I was the exact same. I wanted full dedication to HomeKit and I am a privacy nut.

AmpliFi Alien is a good choice, it’s what I have. The best thing you can do regardless of your router choice is to wire an Ethernet backhaul between your mesh nodes and also put every device on Ethernet that can possibly be wired, especially high bandwidth devices like an Apple TV.

First thing I'd do is get a relatively cheap 75' or 100' ethernet cable from your local big box store. Run that through the townhome as needed to provide immediate connectivity and a fallback for later steps. Then, I'd try a decent router+satellite system. My go-to recommendation is the Amplifi Alien system, although that is getting a bit long in the tooth these days. The important thing is the ability to use an "ethernet backhaul" between the router and satellite. Using your long ethernet cable, experiment with best placements for the router (probably limited) and satellite to give low-latency wifi throughout the house. If you are happy there, this is the link you want to hard wire into place via the walls. Note that if your townhouse is extraordinarily large you may need 2 or more satellites. Running the ethernet cable in the walls isn't hard, but will require a few skills you might not have yet: * Be able to map where you are on one floor to the next; ex, in the basement, know which room you are under and where the walls are. * Drilling through wall headers/footers. Not hard, just need to keep the drill absolutely vertical and go through the center of the 2x4. * Fishing wires through walls. * Minor drywall repair and repaint. * Bulk ethernet termination (you fish unterminated, in-wall-rated ethernet cable, then have to terminate it). If you don't have those skills and don't want to learn them, hire someone to do the ethernet run. It won't be *super* expensive (obviously more expensive than you doing it though). Cable companies and security companies hire unskilled labor off the street and have them doing this in their customers' homes a few days later; it really isn't a hard set of skills to learn, and youtube etc is there to show you everything you need to know. That said, an *experienced* technician will end up with a much more polished end product than the meth head the cable company sends out, but still this is well within the DIY realm for the average homeowner. Personally, I've done this in four houses over the past \~30 years. As I said, it doesn't take much once you've got a handle on the basics, and the results are always leaps and bounds better than what other people hire out (in two of those four houses similar work had previously been done, but poorly), mostly because you'll be the one living with it so you tend to care more about doing things "right".

First thing I'd do is get a relatively cheap 75' or 100' ethernet cable from your local big box store. Run that through the townhome as needed to provide immediate connectivity and a fallback for later steps. Then, I'd try a decent router+satellite system. My go-to recommendation is the Amplifi Alien system, although that is getting a bit long in the tooth these days. The important thing is the ability to use an "ethernet backhaul" between the router and satellite. Using your long ethernet cable, experiment with best placements for the router (probably limited) and satellite to give low-latency wifi throughout the house. If you are happy there, this is the link you want to hard wire into place via the walls. Note that if your townhouse is extraordinarily large you may need 2 or more satellites. Running the ethernet cable in the walls isn't hard, but will require a few skills you might not have yet: * Be able to map where you are on one floor to the next; ex, in the basement, know which room you are under and where the walls are. * Drilling through wall headers/footers. Not hard, just need to keep the drill absolutely vertical and go through the center of the 2x4. * Fishing wires through walls. * Minor drywall repair and repaint. * Bulk ethernet termination (you fish unterminated, in-wall-rated ethernet cable, then have to terminate it). If you don't have those skills and don't want to learn them, hire someone to do the ethernet run. It won't be *super* expensive (obviously more expensive than you doing it though). Cable companies and security companies hire unskilled labor off the street and have them doing this in their customers' homes a few days later; it really isn't a hard set of skills to learn, and youtube etc is there to show you everything you need to know. That said, an *experienced* technician will end up with a much more polished end product than the meth head the cable company sends out, but still this is well within the DIY realm for the average homeowner. Personally, I've done this in four houses over the past \~30 years. As I said, it doesn't take much once you've got a handle on the basics, and the results are always leaps and bounds better than what other people hire out (in two of those four houses similar work had previously been done, but poorly), mostly because you'll be the one living with it so you tend to care more about doing things "right".

The Alien seems to have been abandoned by its manufacturer. I'd go with a Flint2 router by GLinet. I have spectrum and use an Arris S34 modem connected to the flint 2. I also use a Netgear EX8000 as an extender cause the 5g flint 2 range was a bit short to stream multiple 4K streams. Goodluck!

yes, I've heard good things overall about the alien, just the con being that it no longer receives support/updates. I did get an Alien myself, but it arrived DOA, so returned it and got the Flint 2.

Amplifi is on sale. It is a mesh network for home by Ubiquiti. Includes a router and two wireless AP’s. I have installed dozens of these and they work great. It is on sale for around $170.00. Usually it is $350.00. I just did one a few weeks ago. Now their whole house has no issues with wifi.

I still run an old Amplifi

I'd trust Beelink (along with the other mini PC makers; I love my Protectli and GMKtec gear) more than I would trust many of the no-name cheap PC makers on Amazon / Temu / etc. I have a Protectli mini PC with 4 ethernet ports running OPNsense as my home firewall. I split my traffic off into separate networks for my main gear (phones, desktops, laptops, etc) and my IoT or "smart" gear (security system, cameras, home automation, etc). I have a Ubiquiti Amplifi for my main LAN wifi router, and a TP-Link Archer A6 for my IoT wifi router. Both of these are plugged into the LAN ports on the Protectli. I turned off all of the advanced features (like DHCP or remote VPN) on the routers, and use the OPNsense for those functions instead. So the short answer to your question is yes, buy a mini PC to serve as a firewall and then buy a wireless router (ideally running OpenWRT) if you want maximum security and flexibility. Just keep in mind this comes with an increase in complexity and required troubleshooting skills. The line between "wireless router" and "wireless access point" can get a little fuzzy at times, because a typical home wifi router is actually a router coupled with an access point in the same box. For most people most of the time, that difference is meaningless; they just want to add wifi.

I picked up an AmpliFi for $50 on Craigslist. It’s been remarkably solid.

Ubiquity Amplifi. It's unfortunately end of life now and it appears Ubiquity is no longer interested in the home wireless market segment. Still works great though and you can often find the system used for cheap.