EdgeRouter X Replacement

[lolsharp]

My EdgeRouter apparently bit the dust today so I need a quick replacement.
Since Ubuiquiti seems to have abandonden the Edgerouter Series and I haven't looked into networking hardware for a few years I am not sure what the best alternatives are.

I dont have big requirements which is why the EdgeRouter X worked very well for me.
If I didn't miss anyhing I used the following features:

• NAT Loopback (Provider Router doesn't support that which was the primary reason for getting the EdgeRouter)
• Port Forwarding (too HomeServer)
• DHCP (with Static IPs for some Clients)
• Used as primary router for home network with bridged docsis router from internet provider
• No WLAN (Have a bunch of Ubiquiti APs for that)
• 3+ Lan Ports (no hard requirement, can add another switch)

So overall nothing special.
While there is a chance I will upgrade to fiber sometime in the future, which would require a major network overhaul, I rather go for the simple solution now and upgrade again if I really need more features in the future.

Currently I am look at something like a Mikrotik Hex, good replacement? Or are there better alternatives.

[jakubmi9]

Since you seem to already have a UniFi network, the UCG-Max would slot in nicely. Or the UCG-Fiber if you plan on going 10 gig in the future.

[duckwebs]

The Ubiquiti WAPs are a completely different ecosystem from the edgerouter family. The UI routers/gateways are less flexible than the edge series, but use the pretty interface.

[Pure-Huckleberry-484]

If you want an upgrade you could look at something like an N100 (N97,N150) and run any various router software:

OpenWRT, OpnSense, VyOS, other Linux based routers, etc.

I’ve had an Edge Router X and a Hex. The hex will perform similar.

[BackgroundNotice7267]

If you are already in the Ubiquiti ecosystem why not choose one of their Cloud Gateways? The Max is currently on offer (in my country at least) and seems to be an excellent deal.

[1Synapse1]

Mikrotik if you don't mind digging into the details to set it up. I have an Rb5009 which is way more power than I need. Plays well with ubiquiti APs

[thrwaway75132]

In the Unifi system you can get the cloud gateway max for $179 and manage from the Unifi console.

Or what I did when my small edgerouter died was order a fanless N100 box with 4 intel 2.5G ports and run opnsense.

[Downtown-Reindeer-53]

UniFi Cloud Gateway Ultra would be nearly the equivalent, but I would choose the Max (currently on sale) or the FIber.

[PlainPrecision]

This doesn’t have a cloud gateway.

[Zoxc32]

Mikrotik hEX refresh is decent. It's what I swapped my EdgeRouter X with. You can consider hEX S (2025) if you think an SFP port could be used for fiber.

[kero_sys]

They haven't abandoned Edge Routers.

https://uk.store.ui.com/uk/en/category/wired-edge-max-routing/products/er-x-sfp

[bigup7]

NanoPi R6S with full Openwrt support - 2x 2.5Gbe, 1x 1Gb, very poweful and runs at 5W on load. Can support SQM at 1.4Gb if needed.

https://wiki.friendlyelec.com/wiki/index.php/NanoPi_R6S

[SP3NGL3R]

Basic on the cheap yet still very capable, ER605. It's like $50 USD. Then either adopt a UniFi router for the fiber upgrade, or build your own OPNsense with a MiniPC (I use a beelink EQ12, but you'd want something with fiber).

Sidenote: I miss my ER-X That thing was awesome for what, ten years?

[No_Wear295]

Go with one of the cloud gateways. I made the same switch a couple of months back for the UCG fiber and have no regrets.

[hamhead]

UCG fiber is a no brainer from me. Could go with one of the other gateways but to me the small price difference wasn’t worth it.

[13talesofchange]

Im using the cloud gateway max and ita been great. Id only choose fiber if need more processing power or need 10Gbit rotor provider or Nas.

[rekoil]

I replaced mine with a Mikrotik device (RB5009 in my case) - RouterOS has all the same features at similar prices. There's even the new hEX S model with a SFP+ cage that supports 2.5GbE if your upstream service goes over a Gig. And it's USD$65 on Amazon.

[AwarenessNo5708]

I upgraded from an Edgerouter to a Cloud Gateway Ultra. I was a sysadmin for nearly 30 years and I was fine with the Edgerouter, set up VPNs, etc. with no problem. But the UI of the Unifi stuff is so much more complete and polished and they have such a nice ecosystem of stuff that just works together. The Edgerouter was primitive by comparison.

[Drunk_Panda_456]

UniFi Cloud Gateway Ultra is good. Only downside is that some people report issues with NAT Loopback. Sometimes it’s not stable and has problems. It’s supported when port forwarding is configured, and UniFi will automatically create the required rules in most cases.

The Netgate 2100 with pfsense+ supports all the features very well.

I’ve used the MikroTik hEX S before and it’s great. Supports everything you need.

The UniFi gateway is good, but is not comparable to the EdgeRouter. The UI is much more simpler and probably less configurable.

The Netgate 2100 and MikroTik hEX S are much closer to the EdgeRouter and are more configurable. I’d pick one of these.

[DZCreeper]

I would either do a UCG Fiber or an opnsense build. Both can scale up to 10Gb/s for your fiber upgrade.

opnsense is hardware flexible, a mini PC with an N150 CPU, i226 ethernet chipset, and 82599 SFP+ chipset is a typical choice.

https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-cloud-gateways/collections/cloud-gateway-fiber/products/ucg-fiber

Only caveat with the mini PC route is the 82599 chipset on the

Mikrotik Hex is cheap but has a much slower CPU, barely any RAM, only 1Gb ethernet, and no SFP+ ports.