[Network] Premium Home WiFi 6 setup comparison 2023 | Part I: Feature

In this multi-part comparison series for my journey of finding the best premium Home WiFi 6 setup, I will compare and contrast “features” amongst the latest version of Aruba Instant OS, Ruckus Unleashed firmware and UniFi Network OS.

Introduction

For each of the systems, following OS/firmware versions are used, which are the latest versions at the time of this writing.

• HPE Aruba Instant 8.11.2.0
• Ruckus Unleashed 200.14
• UniFi Network 8.0.7

All system setup consist more than 2 access points to experience multi-AP setup. As a disclaimer, I am just a home user, network hobbyist. So there are many features that I haven’t touched and do not even now what they do. In general my network setup motto is “keep it simple, do no harm”.

This is a general feature comparison from home user perspective rather than full comprehensive one.

Also, it’s important to note that UniFi system when looked at access points alone lack several features when compared to the other two, so I am including UniFi Network OS feature. However, technically, Network OS features are router/gateway feature and therefore, I can use them independent of access point. So if you are thinking just AP but have different network system, please pay close attention to the difference.

Features

On today’s feature comparison category, I will look at following groups of features.

• Radio Resource Management
• Guest WiFi
• SSID Customization
• Security
• Analytics/Troubleshooting Tools

Radio Resource Management

Choosing the right or wrong combination of parameters can have a drastic impact on the WiFi network performance and stability.

Given most home setting requires only a handful access points deployment, the basic manual setting should be able to attain near optimal performance of the system for a given instant; however, the optimal setting may change time to time in home environment due to uncontrollable factors such as neighbor’s WiFi. So I believe availability of automatic radio resource management can have strong impact to home user’s daily WiFi experience.

	Aruba Instant	Ruckus Unleashed	UniFi
Special Technology	Client Match	Channel Fly	ー
Auto Channel Selection	◯	◯	△
Auto Tx Power Adjustment	◯	◯	△?
Band Steering	◎	◎	◯
Load Balancing	◯	◯	❌
Background Scan	◯	◯	❌*

Aruba Instant AP

Aruba Instant calls their automatic radio resource management technology, Adaptive Radio Management (ARM). ARM adjust channel configuration and transmission power in real time for each access points. There are many customization we can do to ARM setting. One of the feature is called “client match”.

The ARM client match feature continuously monitors a client’s RF neighborhood to provide ongoing client band steering and load balancing, and enhanced Instant AP reassignment for roaming mobile clients. This feature supersedes the legacy band steering and spectrum load balancing features, which unlike client match, do not trigger Instant AP changes for clients already associated to an Instant AP. When the client match feature is enabled on an Instant AP, the Instant AP measures the RF health of its associated clients. Client match is supported on standalone and cluster deployments. If any of the following trigger conditions is met, clients are moved from one Instant AP to another for better performance and client experience:

Aruba Instant User Manual 8.11.2.0 p346 (Client Match)

The ARM client match technology will disconnect even already associated client devices when better AP choice is found for the device in your network. From the end user perspective, this technology can help reduce the sticky client issue.

From my brief experience of the technology, this seems to work fairly well. For example, client match seemed to help the situation where I was on 2.4 GHz connection on dual band SSID. Despite I walked towards the AP, it still roamed to 5 GHz band. This won’t typically happen if you just let client device decide what band to connect.

This is because client won’t see its requirement for WiFi disassociation from 2.4 GHz, as the signal continues to become higher rather than lower. But client match knows I got to the point with usable 5GHz radio, so it triggers disassociation and as a result my iPhone looks for new AP association and properly finds 5 GHz. The important part of client match is that it is APs that affecting connection so it does not require client devices to support “client match”.

Above is an actual example of client match data analyzer. This is a MacBook Pro that is being intentionally connected to 2.4 GHz only connection SSID. It is currently associated with the second best RSSI AP. Though technically there is a better signal 2.4 GHz AP at this particular moment, it did not switch because it did not meet the criteria for significant enough difference or perhaps long enough difference.

In fact, if I checked the heat map in a minute or two for the same client, it is now looked to be the best AP choice.

So the key here is the device definitely picking a reasonable AP that I would have manually chonsen myself as well. It’s pretty cool technology.

Ruckus Unleashed

Ruckus Unleashed also supports real time adjustment of transmission power and channel configurations.

One of relevant signature technology by Ruckus here is called, Channel Fly.

ChannelFly® automates wireless channel planning to minimize interference from both Wi-Fi and non-Wi-Fi sources. It analyzes channel activity and uses specialized algorithms to select the best channel based
on historical values. In combination with RUCKUS BeamFlex adaptive antenna technology,
ChannelFly maximizes throughput in the most demanding enterprise environments. It optimizes
RF channel selection based on the number of neighboring APs and the historical capacity on
each channel.

Ruckus CommScope ChannelFly | ChannelFly

Supposedly, unlike traditional background scanning just looking for less interference channels, channel fly constantly evaluate and use statistical data to look for higher throughput capacity channel. This makes a total sense. The interference is a secondary findings indicative of reduced throughput capacity, but what user really care is actual throughput capacity. So measuring it directly should be more accurate.

I can’t say for certainty how Ruckus Unleashed RRM compares toARM in Aruba. On paper, I would not be surprised if Ruckus’s RRM including ChannelFly turns out to be superior to Aruba. Because if for nothing else, ChannelFly uses statistical data over time to find better channel while ARM relies on instantaneous snapshot of the RF environment.

In Aruba, there is newer technology called AirMatch that use 24 hours of RF data for choosing optimal setting but this is only available to those who have local dedicated controller system and not for regular Instant APs.

Ruckus Unleashed supports both load balancing and Band Steering with customization capability. Here rather than giving set of prebuilt options, we can actually put number.

UniFi

Unlike the other two platforms, UniFi does not real time radio resource management.

With the most recent version OS, the wording of what they do is more clear as previous wording was felt a bit misleading.

UniFi APs will adjust the transmission power only the time of AP start up. For the channel selection, they adjust either at the time of start up or when you manually ask it to do.

Although UniFi supports band steering option, it is either on or off without granular control, nor the actual detail of what it does. I do not see load balance option for UniFi.

I am a bit skeptical about their Optimize Channelization feature for two reasons. One is timing of optimization is only at the moment of user click the button. So it won’t prevent from user choosing wrong timing.

The second piece is UniFi APs are required to stop serving WiFi when optimization is being processed. This makes me wonder if the actual dataset they are using to optimize may not be reflecting real network status.

Guest WiFi

Many home users like to set up Guest only WiFi where guest can use WiFi without having ability to access any of your home network devices. All 3 systems support Guest WiFi setup.

	Aruba Instant	Ruckus Unleashed	UniFi
Captive Portal Login Mode	◯	◯	◯
AP Client Device Isolation	◯	◯	◯
Subnet Isolation	◯	◯	❌
Individual Guest Pass	❌	◯	❌
QR code	❌	◯	❌

One of the difference is ability to be able to isolate subnet or interVLAN connection. Both Ruckus Unleashed and Aruba Instant offer AP level configuration to block inter-VLAN network. While for UniFi, this needs to be done at the level of router.

Between the Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed, I felt amount of time it took me to figure out initial set up for interVLAN isolation was quite different.

For Aruba Instant, I had to enter each block entries in correct order manually to ensure client devices do not have access to any of my home network device. In fact, I had to spent couple hours figuring out how to do this exactly because I didn’t initially think of adding DHCP and DNS exception entries.

In contrast, the screen shown for Ruckus Unleashed is its default setting when Guest WiFi is selected. Basically, Ruckus Unleashed had default complete client isolation when Guest WiFi mode was selected.

One of neat feature that all 3 platforms support is an option to use captive screen login for guest WiFi.

This is the feature that you see on public hotspot access such as in Cafe, Library, and Airport. All three allow us to customize the captive screen and also offer option to use social authentication service.

For UniFi and Aruba, the social authentication option is limited to Facebook while Ruckus have Google, LinkedIn and Microsoft in addition.

Although I have not tested this myself, one unique-looking feature to Ruckus Unleashed has it its ability of individual guest pass. This feature is based on their signature technology DPSK, which I will touch briefly later, but its an evolved version of PPSK.

This feature can allow every guest using your WiFi be distinguished from one another. The feature even allows you to set the system up such that you do not have to provide the guest pass, but instead guest can request it using their email and/or SMS automatically. It certainly sounds like a handy feature for enterprise setting, but I am not sure how useful this feature would be for home use.

Another currently only seen on Ruckus Unleashed feature, that’s not necessary related to guest WiFi, but I can see it could be useful in this setting is QR code log in. Ruckus can generate QR code for login.

Since most of the guest wants WiFi for their mobile device, I can technically print one and let them scan when they need Guest WiFi access.

SSID Customization

For the various reasons, we may want to create different types of SSID. Often these separation overlaps VLAN configuration, but sometimes they are unique to WiFi. To help customizing each SSID setting, different platforms offer different level of WiFi network customization.

	Aruba Instant	Ruckus Unleashed	UniFi
Bandwidth Limit	◯	◯	◯
Access Control List (ACL)	◯	◯	◯
Content Filter	$	$	❌
Private Pre-shared Key	$	◯	◯
Radio Separation	◯	◯	◯
WiFI Scheduler	◯	◯	◯

Common features such as bandwidth restriction, WiFi scheduler and Radio band separation are supported by all 3 platforms.

ACL/Content Filter

Access Control List refers to a way of blocking certain type of network connection access such as blocking Amazon Prime and Netflix app. While all three supports ACL and seem to properly block apps, web content filter does not seem to be well supported.

While Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed support content filtering, they require subscription.

I got to try Ruckus Unleashed content filter, which is free for first 90 days. It’s easy to use and works well while offering granular control. On my quick google search, it looks like the cost is $58.99 per Access Point for 3 years. Some may consider this is a reasonable price, but I as a home user somehow hates subscription.

Despite spending hours online, I could not get Aruba Instant content filtering work at all, which I believe is due to the fact I do to have subscription.

As for UniFi, this is not supported at the level of AP; however, UniFi OS does support at the level VLAN for free; however, the choices are fairly limited as you have only 3 settings to choose from. If you want high level of content filtering, the best option is setup dedicated router.

PPSK

Private Preshared key (PPSK) is an interesting feature that has been recently added to UniFi, but it has been one of signature technology for Ruckus for long time. At the very basic level, which is what UniFi has, this feature allows using different password to log into a given SSID. The chosen password decides which VLAN to use despite on the same SSID.

Ruckus Unleashed call this DPSK, and far more options. With DPSK, it does not just put client to different VLAN, but can uniquely tag a client and configure different things such as expiration time.

Aruba Instant line offers analogous technology with the name of MPSK, but this requires subscription to their clear pass technology.

Security Features

Network security does not just end or starts at router. WiFi security is important even for home users.

	Aruba Instant	Ruckus Unleashed	UniFi
WPA 3 Personal	◯	◯	◯
WPA 2/3 Enterprise	◯	◯	◯
Intrusion Detection	◎	◯	△
Intrusion Prevention	◯	◯	❌

The latest, more secure standard version of Wi-Fi protected Access Protocol is WPA-3, which was released in 2018 and more secure than previous generation, still popular WPA 2. These WPA standards come in both personal and enterprise editions.

Regardless of which one you like to choose, all three systems support WPA2 and WPA3 for both personal and enterprise. It is worth mentioning that though if you want to use features like PPSK and DPSK, they are currently only supported for WPA 2.

IPS/IDS

Another layer of Wi-Fi security involves detection and possible protection against specific types of wireless security threats and risks. Some of these includes such as Access point spoofing, DHCP spoofing, and many others that I have no clue about.

As far as I know Unifi can detect rogue access point, but not anything else. In contrast, Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed not only detects Rogue APs, but also offers option for containment. Having said that I think as a home user we should never use this feature as misuse of this feature can result in essentially breaking neighbor’s WiFi.

Looking at the number of listing, Aruba Instant have way more option than the Ruckus Unleashed especially for intrusion detection system.

But, I do not believe these features have much relevance to us as a home user.

Roaming Support

One of the important aspect of multi-access point WiFi system setup for me is seamless roaming. There are several protocols that help improving roaming of a client between access points.

	Aruba Instant	Ruckus Unleashed	UniFi
Fast Roaming (802.11r)	◯	◯	◯
BSS Transition (802.11v)	◯	◯	◯
Neighbor-list Report (802.11.k)	◯	◯	?
Cellular Call Roaming	◯	◯	❌

All three supports fast roaming and BSS transition. I could not find equivalent option in UniFi for neighbor-list report.

One key feature that both Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed have, but UniFi currently does not support is cellular call roaming. This feature allow roaming between WiFi and cellular network during Wi-Fi call.

Although I can’t say for certainly if this is the main reason but both Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed provide seamless WiFi call roaming at my home while UniFI was not able to do so.

Analyzer/Troubleshooting tools

In an ideal world, there is no issue with WiFi and we never have to use any of these tools, but when there is an issue, it would be nice to have some tools to help us point to the right direction. There are various trouble shooting and WiFi Analyzer tools each system provides. Some are unique to each platform.

	Aruba Instant	Ruckus Unleashed	UniFi
Speed Analyzer	◯	◯	◯
Latency Check	❌	◯	◯
Troubleshoot Analyzer	❌	◯	❌
Spectrum Analyzer	◯	❌	◯

For the connectivity performance check, each system offers slight different things.

Aruba Instant show a graphical representation for each client’s connectivity performance. The speed shown in these graph is simply wireless link speed, PHY. In addition, it also shows real time throughput for each client. I could not find direct latency check tool with Aruba Instant.

Ruckus offers the AP to client iPerf like speed test, but they require installing app on the client device so not all devices will be compatible.

Interestingly, Ruckus offers ping and trace route command directly within the mobile App and Web UI. Although we can certainly install apps for these or use computer terminal, it’s nice to have these practically useful tool built into the admin app.

UniFi has built in latency tool to each client that are connected to UniFi network. Of note, this is a gateway feature, so I could actually test a client device connected through Ruckus Unleashed or Aruba Instant AP using this feature.

In many case, WiFi performance degradation relates to the interference. So another set of tools, I sometime like to look is interference analyzer.

When it comes to visual inspection tool, I feel UniFi is couple levels above the other two. UniFi has RF Environment scan to see which channel is open or less congested by each AP. The channel interference is also nicely organized in a graphical form.

Although they do look nice, the practical value of these maybe debatable.

Despite neither Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed have any easy way to see other channel congestion status, we know they are actively checking in order to perform automatic RRM. Whereas in UniFi, the RF scan requires manual initiation and it stops the AP for serving WiFi to create one.

So under the hood, Aruba Instant and Ruckus unleashed are actually doing better job, and just hiding it from user. However, since UniFi users require manual radio resource management, these visual tool are necessity.

Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed have many other debug tools that are well beyond scope of most home users and certainly beyond my understanding of their utility.

Update 11/29/2023

Aruba Instant actually supports all channel visual RF environment analyzer. For this, you need to change the access point from “access” to “monitor” mode. The latter mode will stop serving WiFi. So it’s essentially like UniFi RF scan except it continuously put into that mode until you disable it.

Summary

In summary, each system has their own pros and cons for feature set. Although different user may have different requirement for the WiFi setup features, as an average home user, I think 3 main relevant difference are:

• Automatic radio resource management availability on Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed
• Cellular roaming support on Aruba Instant and Ruckus Unleashed
• Better integrated visual WiFi trouble shooting and analyzer tools on UniFi

Personally, Automatic RRM and cellular roaming have shown to improve my daily WiFi experience at our home.