“…By comparison, modern Ubiquiti access points, while they do have a standalone mode, they are dumber than the absolute stupidest Linksys router from the year 2000 if they're running standalone mode without the controller.”
2.5 Admins · Hands-On Engineering Podcasts · August 2026
The show is on hardware Wi-Fi controllers, which Salter notes cost about as much as one or two access points. He installs both brands at client sites, and his objection to the market leader is not price but what the gear degrades into once the controller is gone. He follows it with the first-generation CloudKey, whose non-journaling filesystem corrupted after about three unplanned power cuts in his testing.
Transcript
…you know, these hardware controllers are not at all expensive. The hardware Omada AP controller that I have at a school client of mine is currently running, I think, 140 or so access points. And that was the expensive Omada controller. And I want to say it cost like $200. The cheap ones like... 50.
Yeah, the cheap one is roughly the price of an access point, essentially.
…local and on-premise control, if you want the cloud stuff, Omada can do that as well. It's just an option, not something that you're forced into. And even the controllers themselves are optional, I'd like to point out, because all of the features of the Omada access points are fully accessible when they're run individually as standalone devices, each with its own fully functional web interface. By comparison, modern Ubiquiti access points, while they do have a standalone mode, they are dumber than the absolute stupidest Linksys router from the year 2000 if they're running standalone mode without the controller.
Right. Well, we better get out of here then. Remember, show at 2.5admins.com if you want to send any questions or your feedback. You can find me at joeress.com slash mastodon.
You can find me at mercenary sysadmin.com.
And alanjude.com for me.
More from 2.5 Admins
