[qsi]

Similar to the other responses, it's the fact that I can manage my network remotely from a simple app or UI. This helps me answer phone calls from my family asking why Netflix doesn't work on TV #2, when I'm not at home. Won't solve all problems, but at least I can narrow it down and troubleshoot.

And I like the fact that I can an overview of the state of my network; one of my wired links to an AP would degrade to 100 Mbps at times, and being able to see the link speeds easily was very helpful (it was a bad ethernet cable in the end).

Before I moved to Ubiquiti I had a spate of problems with my fiber broadband, which would stop working for a few minutes at random, resetting my RDP connections. I had a vendor-supplied Linksys (I think?) router, and trying to troubleshoot it was painful. If I ever have such problems again I'll have much better diagnostics.

That said, I won't buy any Ubiquiti gear that requires the cloud, and my faith in the company is eroding. But, like others, I would be at a loss what to replace my gear with at the moment. I just hope it'll function well enough until either Ubiquiti gets it act together (again?) or a viable competitor arises.

[thinkloop]

> it was a bad ethernet cable in the end

Checking the cable is like checking if the power is on, it is NEVER the cable - except in networking for some reason. Half the time it's the cable.

[oarsinsync]

Network cables (copper and fibre) have a limited bend radius. Most people don't think about this and will bend a cable beyond tolerance, which will eventually result in the cable not working correctly, and/or manifest as intermittent issues.

I suspect that's the most common cause of network cables 'going bad' in the home.

[magicalhippo]

I learned this back in school, when the previous years students had laid new Ethernet cables from the classroom to the server room, but the machines would only get 10M and not 100M link as they should.

Didn't take us long to notice they had laid the cable like electricians, neatly following the contours of a few door frames with tight 90 degree bends.

Glad I learned that lesson early.

[luag]

You might be interested in Gl.inet.

It uses OpenWRT, and you can access it remotely.