Buying a router can be a tricky thing and it depends on a lot of things. One of the places where most routers go down provides enough coverage to every corner of your house. This is where mesh routers began to gain ground. Simply put, Mesh routers offer extensive coverage in the form of repeaters. You can place the repeaters near places where the Wi-Fi turns off. Today we’re looking at AmpliFi Instant Router. It is a mesh router with an additional mesh point outside the central unit. So you can place it where the signals are weak.
I have been using the router for 6 months and it offers brilliant performance and an easy setup experience.
AmpliFi instant router test
AmpliFi Instant is an Ubiquiti mesh router. They are known for making beautiful routers without additional tentacles, which we have seen in many routers. They come in the form of small square boxes that you can place on the table. It offers 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology, Gigabit Ethernet ports and is powerful enough to cover most small and medium homes.
main Features
- You can set this up in no time if you have a modem from your ISP. The central unit and the mesh unit connect automatically and you can configure using the mobile application.
- It has Wi-Fi 802.11ac technology, a WAN port and a Gigabit Ethernet port on each of the units.
- It offers an elegant design with an LED light on the bottom, takes up little space and looks attractive.
- It supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels.
- It is easily scalable because you can add as many mesh points.
- On the books, two of them can cover a range of 4000 square feet. The main unit has a range of 2000 square feet.
- Integrated firewall, which can be changed in bridge mode
Design and specifications
Let’s start with the main unit, which comes with a small LCD screen. It is also one of the most powerful features as you can check data speeds, usage, IP address, etc. Many times I have to find the router’s IP address, and I can find it without opening an application or digging into my computer’s network settings. You can tap the screen to switch between the different states displayed.
Downstairs you have the LED light, which surrounds the entire base. You can configure the brightness of the LCD screen and the LED, and that’s it. Aside from flickering, when the settings are changed, they don’t play much role. I would have liked it to flash differently for situations like Wi-Fi is not working, disconnected from the main router and even a weak signal.
It offers night mode to increase the life of the light and the display. It also saves energy.
Where to place the AmpliFi Instant Router
If you really want to know where and how to place the router for better performance, the ApliFi portal can help. This tool allows you to draw a plan of your house, define the thickness of the walls. Then you can place the router and repeaters and see where the signal weakens and where it works best. You can also switch between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz mode to see the difference in the range.
You can only use it when you have added the router to your account. The router will appear automatically, with all repeaters. You can then place them in places to see how it will fill the place.
How to configure the AmpliFi instant router
Everything you want to configure is possible via their mobile application. You do not need to connect to a computer to configure it. Launch the application, select the type of product you want to add, turn on the routers and configure it. If you do not have a modem configured, it supports DHCP, Static and PPPoE.
- When configuring the application for the first time, you will need to create an account. So do it.
- Click on Configure the AmpliFi mesh system, it will first ask you to switch off your modem, then connect the Ethernet cable coming from the modem to the WAN port.
- Then turn on the modem followed by the mesh router
- It will then search for the new router, and when it is found, press it and follow the configuration wizard to complete the configuration.
Once the basic configuration is complete, the application offers a dashboard where you can see the main router and the connected mesh points. At the bottom, you can see the number of connected clients, the download and upload speed. Tap the main router and it will reveal all the configuration details.
- General: Device name, time zone, location option, change password, reboot and factory reset
- Wireless: Configure security, guest account, create additional SSID, configure guide strip, router direction
- The Internet: If you need to configure DHCP, Static and PPPoE.
- LED and LCD brightness controEarth Night mode
- Apart from that, you can also configure UPnP, clone MAC address, VLAN ID, IPv6, port forwarding and bridge mode.
I used PPPoE and DHCP on this. The only downside to PPPoE is that it doesn’t have an option to configure the service name. Although this is an optional feature, my ISP said it was mandatory, and without it it will not work. So I had to configure an additional router (essentially a modem) and use the Amplifi in DHCP mode. The good side of this experience was that I could confidently say that the two-minute configuration claim was legitimate!
Performance
I measured the download speed at different distances, the download speed in MBPS and the ping time. The router is configured at 5 GHz. Here are the results.
Using Ookla’s SpeedTest app
- At 60 feet with at least three walls: 1
- At 40 feet with two walls: 3.11
- At 30 feet with a wall, speed jumped to 73.6
- Close router speed was 92.5
- At 40 feet without walls: 7.53
Using the Fast Speedtest app
- At 60 feet with at least three walls: 5
- At 40 feet with two walls: <1
- At 30 feet with a: wall: 6.3
- Close the router: 93
- At 40 feet without walls: 10
If I switch to 2.4 GHz, the coverage would increase but not the speed. I had no connection problems with it at any time. Clear notifications on the Internet do not work is a charm.
Ping test using Fing App in milliseconds
- At 60 feet with at least three walls: 5
- At 40 feet with two walls: 10
- At 30 feet with a: wall: 5
- Close the router: 2
- At 40 feet without walls: 4
My favorite features of the AmpliFi instant router
Profiles
Particularly useful with children, if you want to control the Internet for a group of devices, you can add them to a model or category. Once done, you can pause the Internet or add a quiet time when the Internet will not work for them. You can add multiple periods of silence and change your child’s schedule.
You can also control access to individual devices by pressing the pause button next to it.
Teleportation and VPN
Yes, you get a free VPN and the teleport feature will allow you to connect any device to the AmpliFi router. So if you want to access content only available in the country of origin, but not your current location, you can access it using this feature. You can also use it if you do not want to connect to a public access point for security reasons.
When you have two AmpliFi routers
Since I tested two AmplFi routers, I discovered that there is an easy way to connect if you have two and they are in different locations. Using this method, you can create a private VPN tunnel and connect a remote device to your home network.
The first thing to do is to activate the remote access function for routers. The option is available in the application menu.
Next, go to the list of connected devices, then swipe left and select Teleportation. On the next screen, you can choose the other router you can teleport to. Devices that use the teleport feature will have a red teleport icon next to them.
Give friends and family access to the AmliFi router
It works like any other VPN app, but it’s very simple for the end user.
- Open your AmpliFi application, then click on the three-line menu and select Teleport Code.
- Configure the duration and the number of devices that can connect using teleportation
- Activate the button and it will instantly generate the code.
- Click the Share Code button to send it to the end user.
- Ask your friend to install the teleportation app, then enter the code.
- That’s it. The person will now be connected to your ApliFi router via Teleport
- To change the code, deactivate it and reactivate it.
To revoke access without changing the code, open the ApliFi application, then go to the router. You must list all devices connected using Teleport on the dashboard. Select it, then choose to revoke access.
AmpliFi Instant Router
Amplifi builds routers adapted to different use cases. AmpliFi Instant has a use case, and the way I see it, because it fits well where there are more Wi-Fi devices and fewer Ethernet dependent devices.
Limited Ethernet ports
It is particularly suitable for scenarios where the main way to connect the devices is Wi-Fi or where you cannot lay Ethernet cables because it will look ugly. For example, at home, I have an office without a Wi-Fi adapter. I can place one of the mesh points and connect the computer to it via Ethernet. The location will also become one of the Wi-Fi zones.
The main mesh router and the mesh point have a single Ethernet port.
No USB port
Those who use a USB drive as a network storage drive will not have an option here. You will need to purchase an Ethernet to USB adapter to connect.
No QoS
There is no way to prioritize devices based on their needs, that is, Streaming, Gaming or Normal.
No web interface:
There is no web interface to configure everything, but you can still type http: //amplifi.lan/ and configure a few things. Honestly, the mobile app is reliable, and you don’t miss the interface, but as some of you may be looking for it, that’s it.
Awards and verdict
The AmpliFi instant router is priced at Rs 10,349. It’s not one of the cheapest routers on the market, but it does offer great mesh point technology for places that have too many places where Wi-Fi is weak or disappears. For example, the corners of my house (kitchen and master bedroom) had problems with the Internet, especially with so many walls. Now no one complains.
In addition to this, the number of features it offers and the ease of configuration and use will appeal to you. I love the profile function I use for my child.
Finally, design! I would never feel weird keeping it on my table. He looks beautiful and elegant.
Related reading: Best wireless routers to buy.
