AmpliFi Instant Whole-Home Wi-Fi Review

AmpliFi Instant Whole-Home Wi-Fi Review Our homes get smarter and smarter every day with connected devices everywhere. All these smart devices need a place to meet and that could very well be the Instant by AmpliFi. It's a mesh system, meaning that multiple devices work as one to give you the best coverage everywhere. AmpliFi Instant With large homes or just homes built with wireless blocking materials, you need something a little more than just an average router. Either you need to get something with a whole lot of power or you go for a mesh system. The AmpliFi Instant is the latter, allowing you to cover a large area in a simple way. One doesn't need a whole lot of knowledge to set it up and the company promises that you're up and running in 2 minutes. That also means that experienced users will be done nearly instantly. This is done through an app which is available in the Apple Store and Google Play Store. A Beautiful Design Smart devices have to either match our homes or be so simple that they'll blend in with anything. AmpliFi designed the Instant to be as simple as possible with a white colour and minimal size. You can hide it just about everywhere. The main router features a small display on the front while the LAN and WAN ports are on the rear side. The second mesh box only features a single LAN port on the rear and no display. It's also worth noting that the router's display features a 142 ppi capacitive touch. But that isn't the only extra feature AmpliFi added. They will also glow as they feature LED light at the bottom to indicate the status. Wired and Wireless Connectivity As hinted above, there aren't a whole lot of wired connection options in this mesh router setup. The main base has a Gigabit WAN port for your internet via your modem or fibre box and one LAN port. You can naturally expand the single LAN port with ease by using a switch. The target audience for this setup prefers wireless setup anyway and the AmpliFi Instant has that a good setup here. You get a dual-band option which offers up to 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1300Mbps on the 5GHz band. That might not be the latest or fastest, but it should be plenty for the average consumer. Do I Need to Worry About Power Consumption? With multiple devices to set up and run 24/7, some people might be worried about power consumption. But that's an unfounded fear as each of the two devices will draw a maximum of 9W. And that's only the peak power draw. So no, you don't need to worry about your electricity bill going up. Feature Highlights Tiny footprint and sizeTouchscreen on the router802.11ac 2x2 MIMO wireless networkingQuick and Easy setup in 2 minutes Specifications If you would like more information than these specifications, then we recommend you visit the official product page. Package and Accessories The box presents the AmpliFi Instant well. The front has a the unit pictured as well as the information about how easy it is to set up. While the front presents the devices themselves, the rear goes into details about the application. The sides feature the router and mesh point from the front and rear respectively. Once you open the box up, you'll see the two devices first. Below the units are the accessories and setup manuals. Speaking of those, this is how it looks unpacked. There are three "getting started" guide cardboard notes included as well as the two power supplies and an RJ45 cable. The guide cards are for the router, the mesh point, and the application respectively. A Closer Look The AmpliFi Instant consists of two small square devices. The first is the router which also features a touchscreen display on the front.text The display can show you all sort of useful information from a reminder to get the mobile app before it's initialised to information about available updates. Not only does it have a built-in display, the AmpliFi Instant also features under-glow. The bottom edge lights up - if you want it to. You can dim the brightness, turn it off, or use scheduled times for when it should glow. The bottom of each unit has a reset pinhole in the event that you need to start your configuration from scratch. The rear of the router has two RJ45 ports. The blue is for your internet and the other is for the rest. The USB Type-C port is for the power. The mesh point doesn't have any external features on the front, top, or sides. The rear side has a single RJ45 port which can be used for your systems when it's connected to the router via WiFi. It can also be used to connect the mesh with base. Setup and Initialisation The first thing you need to do is to download the mobile app onto either an iOS or Android device. The app is called AmpliFi WiFi and it's from the company Ubiquiti Networks Inc. The reason that I'm pointing this out is that it isn't completely clear when you search for it in the store. At least I wasn't sure if it was the right app until I used the QR code to take me to the same. Once the app is installed and launched, all you need to do is follow the instructions on the screen. From connecting the internet to the system, to when you need to plug the power in as well. The app guides you through it so anyone will be able to do it. During the setup, you might need to find and connect to the wireless network. Your device might find and connect automatically, but it will depend on your settings. You're even able to connect the system via a Google or Facebook account, allowing you remote access to it. Some will find this very useful, others won't trust it. Luckily, it's optional, so it is up to you. And that is it. The AmpliFi Instant is now ready and running. The next step would be to install the latest updates, if any are available. There most likely will be as there were for me. Mobile Companion App Within the AmpliFi app, you'll find all settings you're used to from a router. The main page presents you with a status view of the router as well as connected mesh units. The main settings which are mostly needed have their own tabs in the app while the rest are within each device's settings. You can also open up the sidepanel from where you can switch to another AmpliFi device or add extra mesh points. Before we get to the router settings, let us have a view at the main tabs within the app. It starts with a bandwidth meter which also allows you to test the internet connection. The next page is for the guest network where you quickly can change the amount of guests allowed at once as well as the settings. The next two tabs contains a scheduling system which can pause the internet based on groups and a status page. Router Configuration As mentioned above, you'll find all the usual router settings in the Amplifi Instant. Wireless, Internet, DHCP, port forwarding, and more. The LCD lighting as well as the underglow can be configured in brightness as well as with night mode. Flashing lights in low-light environments can be really annoying - but not with a Amplifi Instant. Just set your schedule and enjoy it doing the work. The wireless ettings include all the usual from name over encryption standard to password. The same goes for the Internet settings which also include options such as VLAN, UPnP, IPv6, and a bridge mode. The general informtaion settings is where you'll find name, time and date settings. You can also located the device you're connected with by letting it flash the underglow LEDs. Of course, there's also device information which lets you read out software and hardware information. Mesh Point Settings The connected mesh points also have their own settings, although they are simpler. After all, there isn't as much needed as with the main router. You can check up on the signals as well as configure how it connects with the base. This can be wireless or cabled. The mesh point can even run an additional SSID. Test Systems, Software, & Methodology From my point of view, testing a router's performance is a pretty straightforward process. I will first test the wired network performance with TPC and UDP packets as well as with fixed and variable packet sizes. This part is easy, and it is run with direct connections. Since there is no interference of any kind, the results stay consistent. The wireless bands will be tested in the same way as the wired connections, but I'll add another variable to the test. I will adjust the distance between the router and the receiving WiFi connection from short over medium to long distance throughout my apartment. The positions are the same for every piece of network equipment that I'm testing. Where wired networks are easy to control, wireless networks aren't. Wireless Environment While it's easy to test and give you a comparable view on the wired connections, it is a different story for the wireless bands. With wireless networks, we need to keep environmental factors in mind. These can't be avoided. In my previous reviews, my office was located in a big apartment complex where many of the residents have multiple WiFi networks. On an average day, my WiFi picked up over 60 wireless networks. All those wireless networks created a tough situation. My new home isn't affected as bad and as such, some tests might not be directly comparable. Mesh Networks Mesh networks are an exception from the usual test methodology. Due to their design for coverage, the distance variable falls away. The test area is 100 square meters which is a fairly common home size. Instead I'll make an objective walk around, testing the signal strength in all corners and other places where the signal could have trouble. External Storage Testing Whenever a USB 3.0 or eSATA port with file sharing is present, I'll also test the possible speed from this. For this, I'll use an SSD drive in an external docking station and LAN Speed Test. The network connection for this test will always be a wired one. Network Client system Supermicro C7Z97-OCEIntel Xeon E3-1230Lv3Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz (4x4GB)Toshiba OCZ VX500 512GB SSD (512GB)Sapphire R7 240 (2GB)be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 (850W)Noctua NH-D15SWindows 10 Pro Network Server System Supermicro C7Z270-PGIntel Core i7-7700KCrucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 2400MHz (4x8GB)Toshiba OCZ VX500 512GB SSD (512GB)be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 (1200W)Noctua NH-D15SWindows 10 Pro Network Structure ASUS PCE-AC88 Wireless AC3100 AdapterD-Link DXE-820T 10GbE Adapter External Storage Toshiba OCZ VX500 512GB SSD (512GB)SilverStone TS11-C Docking Station Performance: 2.4GHz Wireless The 2.4GHz band is the older of the two wireless bands that are in use today. On this band, we find 802.11b/g/n wireless standards with up to 600Mbps bandwidth on offer when using wireless-n compliant devices. Due to the lower operating frequency, 2.4GHz signals offer a wider level of coverage, but the lower throughput speeds are a disadvantage to this ageing band. Fixed Block Size To test the maximum throughput a connection can handle, a fixed block size of 16384 Bytes is sent from the client to the server over a period of five minutes. The higher block size will allow the transfer rate to stay as high as possible which is a scenario that you know from file copies. A single large file is a lot quicker to move than lots of small files with the same total size. Variable Packet Size In a real-world situation, the blocks of data that pass through a wireless adaptor are not of the same size each time, so to give a more realistic impression of how an adaptor performs, the adapter is once again tested at each range for five minutes. This time, however, the block size will vary from 32 Bytes up to 16384 Bytes in increasing steps of 148.7 Bytes each time. TCP Performance UDP Performance Performance: 5Hz Wireless 5GHz is a more recent addition to the consumer WiFi specification, and on this frequency, we find both 802.11n and AC standards on offer. We note that 802.11n is the only standard to run at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies and this is the most common standard for ISP routers to feature. Unlike the 2.4GHz band, 5GHz radio waves and solid brick walls do not go that well hand in hand, so while it does support a much faster throughput speed, its range is decreased in a dense operating environment. Fixed Block Size To test the maximum throughput a connection can handle, a fixed block size of 16384 Bytes is sent from the client to the server over a period of five minutes. The higher block size will allow the transfer rate to stay as high as possible which is a scenario that you know from file copies. A single large file is a lot quicker to move than lots of small files with the same total size. Variable Packet Size In a real-world situation, the blocks of data that pass through a wireless adaptor are not of the same size each time, so to give a more realistic impression of how an adaptor performs, the adapter is once again tested at each range for five minutes. This time, however, the block size will vary from 32 Bytes up to 16384 Bytes in increasing steps of 148.7 Bytes each time. TCP Performance UDP Performance Pricing At the time of this review, the AmpliFi Instant home mesh WiFi system kit can be yours for £201.04 in the UK and $179.99 in the US. If you'd like just the router without the extra mesh unit, then it's £117.29. Final Thoughts The Instant was the first AmpliFi unit I had the pleasure to test in person, and it was a pleasure. The AmpliFi Instant promises easy installation, setup and configuration - and they offer it. It's quick and easy to get started for anyone with a relatively modern smartphone. The benefits of a Mesh setup is clear. Ordinary routers need either a lot of power to reach all corners or your home or you'll have slow or dead spots. With a mesh system, you can cover the entire area and never notice when you move from one unit to the next. I tested this by playing YouTube videos while walking all over my house. No interruptions or hiccups while it switched from one to another access point. The performance wasn't record-breaking, but it isn't advertised to be so. So all good here. During our tests, we did see a good performance and throughput on both bands. I also moved around to all places of my home, every corner, and behind every object of some size. I had perfect connection everywhere. A Minimalistic Design, But... The only thing left to talk about is the physical design and that's something else. The AmpliFi Instant is tiny and will blend into any environment. The white design and rounded edges allow it to match modern homes as well as traditional. A thing that I really like is the display on the router. Not only does it show a lot of useful information, it's also a touchscreen and as such, doesn't require physical buttons for the control. This is another feature which helps with the simplistic design. The design does have one downside and that is that there isn't room for a lot of ports. You get one LAN and one WAN port on the router and one LAN port on the mesh units. Naturally, you can split those up with switches which shouldn't hinder the performance. You won't find any USB ports on this device either, so there are no direct sharing functions. I actually like this as I rarely use them and not having them makes the interface and configuration simpler. Pros Looks greatReal easy to set upSolid wireless performance and rangeTouchscreen Cons Not the fastest available WiFi with 867Mbps 5Ghz "The AmpliFi Instant whole-home Wi-Fi kit allows for easy setup and full coverage of your home. Should it still not cover it all with the basic kit, then you can expand with more mesh points. And it does that looking awesome!" AmpliFi Instant Whole-Home Wi-Fi Review Thank You, AmpliFi, for this sample