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209 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
209 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: post
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title: Unboxing EdgeRouter Lite
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description: Unboxing of the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite Gigabit Wired Router.
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tags: [routers, networking]
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comments: true
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---
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Today, I received the [Ubiquity EdgeRouter Lite](http://www.ubnt.com/edgemax/edgerouter-lite/)
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as a replacement to my current [pfSense](https://pfsense.org/) router. I have
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been using pfSense on a custom computer for the past few years and got the
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EdgeRouter Lite as an attempt to reduce power consumption (pfSense system uses
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56W via Kill-a-Watt). I will follow up this review with a more detailed comparison between the
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two setups after I have used the EdgeRouter Lite for a month or so. Anyhow
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without further back-story, the unboxing:
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## Packaging
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The EdgeRouter Lite comes in a standard retail box with product images and basic
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specifications around the box. The front of the box shows an image of the router
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as an isometric view. The device I received is the newer version which has the
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metal casing instead of the original version's plastic cover.
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The first side of the box shows ta couple screenshots of the web interface which
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seems fairly user friendly and lists the default IP and user information.
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The back of the box shows the top and front views of the router showing the three
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Ethernet ports, the console port and the reset switch.
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The second side of the box shows some of the product specifications and lists the
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box contents.
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Upon opening the top of the box a formed cardboard tray pulls out to reveal the
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quick start guide on top of the router. Below the router is the power supply and
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mounting screws.
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Overall, the packaging seems decent and is what I would expect for a product of
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this type.
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## Contents
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Moving on, removing the contents from the packaging gives a better idea about the
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device. The contents are shown below and consist of the quick start guide, the
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router, the power supply (3.5 ft cord), 2ft power supply cable, and mounting
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hardware.
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The power supply is a custom branded 12 Volt 1 Amp supply (12W out max) capable
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of accepting 100-240 Volt AC. This alone shows that the router should be much
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more power efficient than my pfSense setup.
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Should the router be wall mounted, screws and plugs have been included, however
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I prefer to use drywall screws instead of the screws and plugs provided with
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these sort of devices.
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## Physical
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The router is enclosed in a two piece metal enclosure which is held together by
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three small screws in the back and a lip in the front. The casing feels sturdy
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enough and has perforations on the top and three sides to assist in heat dissipation.
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The top of the router has the Ubiquiti logo and the device name in the center.
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The front of the router contains the three Ethernet ports each 1000Mbps (1Gbps)
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labeled `eth0-2`. Next to them is the legend for the indicator lights. The console
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port is to the left and is labeled `CONSOLE`. The console port is for use with
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the Cisco style cable and a COM port. On the far right is the reset switch for
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if/when things go wrong.
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Moving to the back of the router has the DC power input jack and the grounding
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clamp.
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The bottom of the router has four small rubber feet for setting the device on
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a flat surface. Given the low weight of the device though it may want to slide
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once cables are connected though. Across the center are the two mounting holes
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which are setup to allow vertical or horizontal mounting of the device.
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## Initial Setup
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The quick start guide covers the basic details of the device and what the lights
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mean. The guide also suggest using CAT 5 or better cable (I recommend CAT 5e or 6).
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Instructions for wall mounting are provided with the screw spacing and clearance.
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Overall the guide is well written and illustrated.
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Powering up the unit results in the green light on the `CONSOLE` port turning on,
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this light is used as a power indicator as stated in the quick start guide. For
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initial setup a computer needs to be connected to the `eth0` port and configured
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with a static IP in the `192.168.1.x` range. Then by opening a browser and pointing
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it to `192.168.1.1` the web interface of the router is reached.
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I received the yellow SSL security warning page in chrome, however I choose to
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ignore the warning. This then results in a login screen with a license agreement.
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At this screen the default username and password of `ubnt` is used to continue.
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Upon logging in the dashboard is reached.
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Since a new system image is available I download it off of the Ubiquiti site at
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http://ubnt.com/download/ The current version is `v1.50`, installed was `v1.20`.
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To update the firmware, the `system` tab at the bottom of the web UI is clicked
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which brings up a panel, scrolling down to the bottom of the panel reveals the
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`Upgrade System Image` section. I admit this threw me off for a few seconds as
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I was expecting the upgrade to be in a tab at the top right or in the toolbox,
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but instead is at the bottom left. This position however is fine as system
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settings will not be adjusted as frequently.
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After uploading the new firmware the router prompts to reboot. After waiting for
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the router to reboot and logging back in the, the dashboard is reached. A few
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minor things have changed, the indicator at the top of the page now works and
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shows the port, CPU, and RAM usage. Additionally now there are `Firewall/NAT`,
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`VPN`, and `Wizard` tabs.
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Since I am using the router as a simple home networking router with one WAN and
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one LAN port I will use the setup wizard to get started. I select the `WAN+2LAN`
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wizard. The wizard is fairly straightforward, since I am using a DHCP connection
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I leave everything with the defaults and select Apply. Since the router is only
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connected to my computer the internet connectivity test fails. I decide to finish
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setting up the router before swapping it out with my existing one.
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As recommended by Ubiquiti, I add a new user to the router and remove the old `ubnt`
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user. This is accomplished via the `Users` tab.
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At this point I configure a few of the options specific to my setup such as the
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system hostname and domain. Additionally I use the UPnP wizard to setup UPnP on my first
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local network `eth0` to WAN `eth1`. Now I replace my existing pfSense router with
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the EdgeRouter Lite.
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## Using the EdgeRouter
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I am not going to go into as much detail in this section as there are many options,
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which can be set. After replacing my old router and confirming internet connectivity,
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I worked to tweak the last few settings and test out the performance of the
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router. After running some speed tests the router was still able to max my bandwidth
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(50Mbps/10Mpbs Comcast) which is really no surprise.
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The software interface is much nicer looking than most routers and is pretty
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responsive, although saving settings takes some time. Configuring the DHCP settings
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and static leases is very straightforward. Firewall configuration is about the
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same level of difficulty and granularity as pfSense which is good for advanced
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users but may confuse those who are beginners or average users. The good news
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is without adjusting the firewall the WAN connection works fine, and port forwarding
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is very straightforward.
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Although most features are comparable to pfSense, the EdgeRouter appears to be
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missing a few configuration options which pfSense has, now this may be that they
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are buried in the UI or available via CLI only. These features are mainly more
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advanced and not required by probably 80-90% of users. I'll go into more detail
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in the follow up review.
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## Closing thoughts
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The device seems built well, looks good (well as good as I want a router to look),
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and seems to preform as well as my old pfSense setup. Preliminary measurements
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put power consumption at 7.7W (Kill-a-Watt). This power consumption is about 1/7 of the pfSense
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setup. As a size comparison the old pfSense system and the EdgeRouter Lite side
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by side is shown below. (pfSense system is Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 32GB SSD,
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1 Integrated 1Gb NIC, and 1 PCIE Intel 1Gb NIC.)
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The web UI is fairly easy to use and so far all options which I want to
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configure can be easily changed without using the CLI. After running the device
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for this setup and using it "in production" it runs a bit on the warm side, but
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is approximately what I would expect for this type of equipment (seems about the
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same temp as my Motorola Surfboard cable modem). As of right now I think this
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EdgeRouter Lite is a capable home networking and possible SMB router with a good
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set of features.
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| Area | Score |
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| Physical | 9/10 |
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| Setup | 9/10 |
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| Ease of Use | 8/10 |
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| Features | 8/10 |
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| **Average** | **8.5/10** |
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Overall the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite is a very solid product and still has active
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development of the firmware after over a year of being released, which is hard
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to say about many other routers. This is a recommended product for anyone who
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doesn't mind learning a small amount about networking.
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