The business-grade Alta Labs Wi-Fi access point just works

5 mins flat. That's how long it took me to set up an Alta Labs Wi-Fi access point (AP) this afternoon.

OK, I exaggerated a bit, but that's how I perceived the experience given how quickly I set up the first of two AP6-Pro Wi-Fi APs.

Busted Wi-Fi controller

You might have read that Singapore experienced a brief power outage in Hougang on Monday. Though the power came back after 14 mins, my Wi-Fi controller didn't.

Which meant I was left without Wi-Fi.

It was a headache because I'm using an enterprise Wi-Fi system. It can work without a controller, but I'm going to have to climb a ladder to individually unmount and update the firmware of each AP.

It's really troublesome.

When Chase Harrison texted this morning that it's probably time to try his company's Wi-Fi products, I figured it was marketing talk.

Then two units arrived at my door in the afternoon, right from 😀Jason Yeo's TGN warehouse.

A desire for reliable Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi technology has been around for a long time. Ask the average teenager today, and they will probably give you a blank look over "Ethernet" or "data" cables.

I still remember my first Wi-Fi network. Back then, consumer Wi-Fi APs or "Wi-Fi routers" weren't very reliable and would crash or stop working once in a while - and need to be rebooted.

When I moved into my current place a decade ago, I decided I wanted rock solid Wi-Fi. Hence my current system, which has been mostly maintenance-free.

A new way to do wireless

Consumer Wi-Fi systems have gotten much better over the years. They've grown more reliable, are easier to configure, and even have robust mesh capabilities built in.

But if one were to design a new enterprise-grade Wi-Fi system from scratch today, what would it look like?

• Cloud-managed.
• Consumer-friendly UI.
• Fully configured via app.
• Extremely easy to set up.

I believe that's what Alta Labs achieved with its Wi-Fi system.

Done in 25 minutes

Back to my setup experience.

Getting everything up was closer to 25 mins. Mind you, that's the total time from the courier handing over a product I didn't know anything about.

Here's what I did:

• Unbox.
• Launch app.
• Recreate SSIDs.
• Plug in POE cable.
• Set up, provision AP.
• Update the firmware.
• Repeat for the 2nd unit.

And I did it without bothering with the instructions, which probably slowed things down when I stupidly walked away during provisioning - the phone must be within Bluetooth range for the initial bit.

I'll use it for a while before sharing more.