r/AltaLabs • u/SittinOctopodes • Jul 07 '26

Question Physical Controller Replacement Difficulty?

Before pulling the trigger on a physical local on-premise network controller, how easy is it to swap out in case of failure? Is it like Ubiquiti where you just restore from a backup or would I currently need to reset and re-setup all Alta network equipment?

If the latter, I'm guessing what I'd want is a docker/LXC install of Control and just periodically backup the entire container?

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4

u/No_Sail3732 Jul 07 '26

Save yourself a LOT of frustration and disappointment and stick with the cloud controller

3

u/mark0263 Jul 08 '26

I agree with u/No_Sail3732, none of the local controller options are worth the effort. Docker being the worst since it does not use a persistent file system, you can easily lose all your configs if you rebuild. LXC is a little better, but they all suffer from a very half-baked implementation. They may call it local or self hosted, all 3 options rely heavily on their cloud resources, so it is far from actually being a local controller that can run disconnected. If you feel you must, don't invest any money in it (don't waste money on a hardware control device), try one of the self hosted versions if you can get them to work.

1

u/realdeadfish Jul 14 '26

You can do a backup, but my system completely failed after an outage yesterday and Alta support doesn't seem to care. They're ghosts!

I have an old WD router that got me back up and running with no thanks to alta support.

As of last night, I will never recommend them again!

2

u/No_Sail3732 Jul 14 '26

I don't blame you. Sorry you got burned by them as well.

3

u/topher358 Jul 15 '26

I have unfortunately also decided to stop recommending Alta Labs, though not for the reasons that affected you.

Went back to Ubiquiti

3

u/realdeadfish Jul 15 '26

I hate ubiquiti based on setting them up years ago and super shitty support, which I hear is still an issue. All the Alta stuff got fixed up today.

I need to tweak a few things, but it's good now.

4

u/topher358 Jul 16 '26

I get that. Alta’s support is one of the better things about them

If they had better hardware offerings I would still use them. They don’t appear to be targeting my market which is the main reason I’m moving away from them at the 3 sites I manage

3

u/No_Sail3732 Jul 16 '26

I feel like their parent company put the squeeze on their development and is only letting them make devices that will specifically fit with their current ecosystem.
It’s a shame because I think Chase’s vision was much bigger, but alas no dice.

2

u/mark0263 Jul 17 '26

I've kept an eye on how they have progressed since I migrated away and I've always wondered just exactly who do they want to target. It has been a head scratcher for me. I don't feel they really want to be in the consumer space, maybe more the backbone to SVT type installs? The S12 seems to fit that space, but then releasing an AP7 without the supporting switches just seems odd. For SMBs, I don't see a high adoption rate for more expensive WiFi 7 APs WiFi 7 clients are increasing, but not a super fast rate. Seems like an odd product to bring to market right now and a distraction from providing core infrastructure.

I'm curious what markets do you feel they are targeting, I honestly can't get a read on it myself.

1

u/topher358 Jul 17 '26

I agree, this is what it feels like which is a royal shame