Route10 | 10 Gig Multi-WAN Router | High-Performance Qualcomm Quad-Core Hardware-Accelerated VPN Router | 2 10 Gbps SFP+ and 4 2.5 Gbps Ports | Real-Time Stats | Load Balancing | 40W PoE+

I've been impressed by this router. I was in the market for a 10 Gb capable router. The router that my fiber provider gave me with my service (Eero) didn't have support for multiple VLANs. I looked at the home Netgear and Linksys routers but not only were they more expensive than the Route 10, but they lacked SFP+ slots and didn't have all the features I was looking for. Any router capable of being flashed with OpenWRT didn't seem to be able to actually push 10G. Next I considered mini PCs designed for OPNsense/pfSense. Most had Intel N100 or N105 CPUs. The reviews weren't super encouraging that these CPUs could handle 10Gb throughput. That and once you added RAM and M.2 to them, they were much more than this router.My network background is strictly Cisco CLI, but the setup wasn't too hard to pick up. For initial setup, you simply create an account on Alta, connect your router to the internet and enter the serial number into your account. This is the default method for configuration (Alta calls it Control) where the router is configured via the cloud. There is no license fee for this option. Alta also provides a free VM/Docker image of Control if you want to run it locally. For my home setup, there wasn't much advantage to running it locally so I opted to use the default cloud method.After a few minutes of clicking around, I was able to set up multiple VLANs with DHCP pools and reservations, tie in some existing non-Alta APs, set up port forwarding and configure additional firewall rules.The documentation on the site is somewhat lacking, but I was able to find any information I needed on the forum. The software is actively being updated with new features. A few months ago, they added the ability to run a Wireguard server on the router.If you're in the market for a 10Gb capable router and feel comfortable with basic network concepts like firewall rules, VLANs port forwarding, etc, I would highly recommend this router.

I own an IT Firm & and an MSP. We have started using the Alta product line as our go to for networks outside of the datacenter. The Route 10 offers a cornucopia of options and the ports can negotiate 1Gb, 2.5Gb, and 10Gb. So for anyone looking for a better edge solution for 2+Gb internet, this could be what you are looking for. The cloud visibility and super fast deployment & scaling makes this product line great for our needs and that of many of our clients / customers. As a side note, the wireless mesh that the Alta ecosystem offers has an innovative approach that allows for a single SSID (one for 2.4 and one for 5GHz) with VLAN isolation based on password. So you can assign a password for guest, IoT, Private, Filtered traffic, etc. and your network clients will only know their password. This can drastically reduces wireless noise (depending on your deployment) and has an obfuscation effect for your private networks.

I really like this router, I really do. It's just flawed and most of that is to do with the cloud management.I don't have the on-prem controller so I don't know if that will work with this (I think it does), so you're at the mercy of your ISP's connection being up to modify any configurations in the router. You CAN still modify some configuration functions while it's offline, but not much.I haven't found a way, other than SSH, to get into it to make any config changes, which can be done but that can be a pain if you don't know what you're doing or inexperienced with using a CLI. And if you don't have an internet connection in the event that you need to get in and look things up, well hopefully you have a hotspot or redunant ISP link.The hardware runs relatively cool, around 125F most of the time. Throughput is solid, taking advantage of my ISPs 10gbps link (which I can finally settle the debate if my ISP is giving me what they promise. Hint: they don't).Initially you couldn't turn off the link lights or reduce the brightness on these routers and let me tell you, they're INSANELY bright. The link lights are bright white and they will absolutely light up a dark room. It's nuts. Thankfully they introduced the ability to turn off the link lights altogether through the web admin interface, but it would be nice if they could just reduce the brightness. I don't want to shut off the link lights, I just don't want to signal aircraft to land at my house either.My biggest gripe with Alta has to be the web based admin management. It's seriously confusing for someone expecting more configuration options available for a business grade network management suite. It IS simplistic to get started, but once you get everything up and running, you're wondering how on earth you're able to create something simple like a DHCP server. You can do it, it does so by default, but you do it through a roundabout way and it requires creating a VLAN and unique network. I still haven't quite figured out how to create multiple DHCP servers for things like IoT devices vs a primary network, but I'm sure playing around with it I'll figure it out.Though that's another issue, the lack of extensive documentation that you can easily find is pretty offputting if you're an experienced admin. You have to rely on a combination of using their support forums and the somewhat sparse documentation they have in place already. You can likely do what you need, but it's an awful lot of effort for something that seems so simple at a glance. The interface just feels all over the place and not cohesive enough to just go in and make changes, and misclicks, going to the wrong location, somehow getting lost in the GUI has been a common frustration, enough that I try to avoid going into it when possible.Once I get the time and motivation to remove DHCP and put it elsewhere in my network, I'll do that because trying to deal with Alta's interface is just too annoying. I kind of see what they're trying to do, encouraging VLANs and segmented networks for a tighter security footprint, but it just feels clunky and lacking at the same time.It's also got this bug that I still don't know what the deal is and will likely have to put in a support request for: I have had, on several network configuration changes, added a non-Alta switch, or even one of their own, and it literally deleted my main network's VLAN outright and killed my entire network. Each time it's super stressful because at first I have no idea what could possibly have changed, until I manage to get in through my phone in their app and see that the VLAN config is just gone. When you HAVE to rely on that VLAN config to run DHCP (they aren't related, but in Alta's interface, they're interdependent), your entire network is basically useless until you can restore that config, and if I didn't have the phone app, I'd be dead in the water for potentially hours. Imagine having this happen in a client's business network? You add a switch and their entire network goes down. Completely unacceptable.All that is a long explanation for how I ultimately feel about it. It's really good. It's a solid bit of hardware, throughput is solid, packet inspection is performant and I have noticed no change in speeds or strange network activity or hiccups. It's a good router, a perfect edge device for businesses and homes at a cost very competitive against business offerings from Meraki, Ubiquiti, Cisco, you name it, and ALL without licensing. As someone who deals with licensing for business clients on a daily basis, this is a fantastic offering and well worth the up front cost.The community is also solidly behind Alta's success and I get the feeling that the company and its employees are trying to build a comprehensive, well supported product that attempts to reduce the friction of cost and usability while bringing businesses and homes into modern network management and security. I support this completely, even if it's rough around the edges right now.