Is InControl2 Free and is it "required" to leverage some device features?

General
1

I’m trying to understand InControl2. It appears that you must use it to leverage some features - like StarLink control. It also seems as if it might be needed to configure products like AP One AX Lite (is this true??).

My Max BR1 5G is out of warranty and I don’t think I really need to access/config/control devices from the internet. Certainly not if it’s going to cost me a few hundred dollars a year vs applying that $$ to new hardware upgrades…

Can someone shed light on:

  1. Is InControl2 really completely free?
  2. Can I use Peplink devices without it / Will I have missing functionality (like Starlink features)?
  3. Will I be able to completely configure an AP One AX Lite as a repeater with multiple VLANs without InControl2?
  4. If I buy a switch, will I be able to completely control it without InControl2 (admin port on back?)

Thanks!

2

From what I can tell, you can purchase in-control here:
https://estore.peplink.com/products/ics-012

I figured I’d try it for a year for $29. That page says:

InControl 2 subscriptions are only available for the following models:

  • Balance One and Core, Balance 20, 50
  • MAX BR Series (excluding PrimeCare Model)
  • Surf SOHO
  • MAX On-The-Go
  • AP One Series
  • FusionHub Essential, FusionHub Pro, and FusionHub Solo
  • MAX Adapter

But it won’t accept my BR1 5G serial number.

3

Your BR1 Pro 5G is a Primecare model, so you can’t use that license.

As for if you can use your device without Incontrol2, yes its functional without IC2 but you lose a number of small but notable improvements:

  • web based central management/orchestration of multiple devices
  • starlink control information
  • reporting is better in IC2
  • firewall rules using geoIP
  • outbound policy using SaaS applications

the Primecare support for your device gets you:

  • Access to IC2, as you have noted
  • Hardware warranty
  • Support from Peplink
  • Speedfusion Connect
  • Intouch (which uses speedfusion connect)
  • All the SDWAN features (more concurrent tunnels, wan smoothing etc)
  • A wan-on-vlan license

see here: PrimeCare - Peplink

For the ap ax lite, yes you can use it without a care plan or IC2 on either device. The peplink itself can run an AP controller and manage the ap (up to 30 APs on the br1 pro 5G) if you don’t have/use IC2 to do it.

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4

Also add unlimited connections to fusionhub solo as long as the devices are under PrimeCare.
Network object management.
Ability to mass change admin wan settings/passwords easily.
Upgrade from 2 pepvpn’s to 5 pepvpn’s
peplink dyndns service
Hot failover , wan smoothing which you mentioned.

The switch/router has it’s own web interface so you can still manage it.

Depending on the model and your budget primecare is an excellent value.

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