I have seen most people rave about them. However they are rather pricey, or maybe I am broke, I’ll accept if it’s just me being broke.
For people who have been using stuff like UDM Pro for your advanced home network, would you from the bottom of your heart recommend Unifi devices for “prosumer” networking for homes?
It’s prosumer gear and it is very nice. There is a huge community of people to help (see r/ubiquiti). It looks great and can do a much more than a WiFi gamer router you pick up at a box store. Lots of people have amazing home setups which look like a data center in the house. It’s like the Apple of networking: top build quality and it looks amazing. Omada is like the Lenovo, and MikroTik is like the Android. I guess that’s a good analogy.
If you only have a few hundred to spend, well, it’s like Apple and that isn’t enough. Ecosystem cost is its major restriction, so a full kit isn’t for everyone.
Like anything networking, Ubiquiti will not solve problems associated with an impossible configuration, a bad ISP, or a sickly game server. It isn’t magic, but it is very nice.
Ubiquiti found an under-served corner of the market - people who know just enough about networking to know that their home router sucks, but can’t justify buying Cisco/Aruba gear, and yet also don’t want to roll their own pfSense machine - and made it into a real market.
All my stuff is Ubiquiti. I like it a lot. It is also quite overpriced.
The best things they make are their APs. Everything else they make is done either cheaper or better by other brands (though, of course, if you want to pony up for Ruckus/Aruba APs, you can certainly exceed a Ubiquiti AP as well).
I like having everything “under a single pane of glass” as they say, and also enjoy how easy it is to add users to my home VPN: “Let me know when you’ve downloaded Wifiman, and I’ll send you a link.”
Their stuff is also frequently buggy. Generally little things. Many users feel like beta testers at times. But in the main, their gear has provided the best home networking experience I’ve had.
I started out in my previous home we it’s a small Unifi setup. I had a gateway and a couple of APa for a typical center hall colonial - 2 floors plus finished basement totalling 3300 sq ft. It worked well, much more reliable than the many consumer grade routers I had used previously. Before switching to Unifi, I had tried a Cisco ASA5505 router, but the additional fees for features like VPN, firmware updates, and user licenses led me to try Unifi.
I immediately noticed that the family complaints about “The Internet” dropped significantly, so I considered the experiment a success.
After a couple of years, I retired and planned a move to my current house. Although the move was to a downsized home (~1700sqFt), I had ambitions to go full speed ahead with the emerging “Smart Home” concept. To that end, I did some research and settled on the Unifi products and topology I would use in the new home. I decided on a location for my core network devices and contracted to have Ethernet drops installed in various locations in the home - all running back to the location planned for a small network rack. When my Verizon FiOS service was activated, I started out using their router and a set top box. I set the SSID to match the one used in my. Ld home to allow family to use the new (temporary) network seamlessly as we were back and forth between the old and new homes for a few months. During that time, I purchased my Unifi gear and after connecting the gateway (with Verizon router double matted) using a separate subnet on the Unifi gateway, I began working on the setup and configuration of the new network topology.
While the old network was flat, the new network was going to make extensive use of VLANs and other features available with Unifi gear. By using completely different IP ranges and SSIDs, I ran the old and new networks side by side until I was satisfied with the new configuration. One that was done, I just shared the new SSID and password info and shut down the Verizon router. Everything was now running on the new network from that point forward.
Six years later, I have only needed to modify the setup when I have replaced or upgraded devices or used newly available features. Availability has been high with the only outages being due to Verizon service outages or extended power failure - I have my core equipment on a UPS, so short power blips or outages do not disrupt network availability. I attribute the high availability to the planning, provisioning, and admin procedure I have in place. I learned early to turn off auto update and to monitor the Unifi community site to benefit from the experience of others. When new firmware or products are introduced, I review the release contents and comments and only then decide when or if I see would apply the updates. As a result, I’ve never had to back out a release due to issues.
Over the years, I have become comfortable with the Unifi platform. I feel that the initial release quality of firmware releases has improved and the addition of new features seems to have accelerated too.
I’m happy with my Unifi network and the only hesitation I would have about recommending it is that a new user will have a learning curve to become familiar with the Unifi SDN (Software Defined Network) concepts before they can really use the products with any confidence. It is not plug and play!
TL;DR. Put me in the Unifi fan club
Saying this with UniFi everything, if I was to start again, I wouldn’t use ubiquiti gear.
While I might get shunned from the sub for saying this. My parent’s TP link deco wireless mesh is rock solid, no issues for 2 years of operation.
My full wired backhaul ubiquiti house? When it’s good it’s great, but there’s just so many issues. It’s not a case of ‘configure and forget’. I find myself having to tinker so much more than I expected.
My latest issue? If the APs stay on for more than 7days, WiFi speeds grind from 800-900mbps to <1mbps. Have I changed anything? No. Have any products updated firmwares? No.
That being said - using ubiquiti gear has made more advanced networking so much more accessible. Id feel much more comfortable operating Cisco or mikrotik equipment now that I’ve solved the problem once before with a nice UI
I have unifi aps and everything just works. No issues no speed problems. Set and forget. Worth it imo
Back when SmallNetBuilder was up and running they tested ok but definitely not top of the line.
I really like my unifi stuff, not a fan of their release cadence though. They drop half assed new launches randomly, then replace them with a superior version 6 months later at 2x the price.
Got 4 APs for my home (no dedicated hardware controller. Just put the software controller on a laptop that is always on and works as a server).
Had a lot of problems with roaming between APs on Apple Devices, wifi security cameras disconnecting, etc.
Tried multiple configurations and eventually just got tired of it.
Got 2 cheap Xiaomi AX3200 routers and everything just works now.
If money is no object, sure.
I’m not rich so I built my own PFsense router. For wifi, I use Eero. And the default verizon modem. Rock solid so far.
i love my unifi gear, however the whole ubiquiti camera range is crap compared to HIKVision.
It’s great, it just works. It’s a bit like Apple but for networking. Personally I use Omada which is also rock solid but cheaper.
I really think it depends on your use case. I have a big house and struggled with WiFi for years. Spent a ton on Google WiFi and never got good signal.
Now I’ve spent a ton on UniFi, probably over $2000 already with more to come, but everything works.
You get a level of control that was previously only possibly with really expensive equipment like Cisco, which would cost 10x more, but they also put it together with a really decent UX which allows you to do fairly sophisticated things without using a console, especially advanced WiFi configuration and VLANs.
If you’re reading this and thinking “damn that’s exactly what I need in my life”, then UniFi may be for you.
If you’re reading this and thinking “that sounds like an expensive overkill” then get one of the various decent all in one home routers.
Tp-link Omada line is way cheaper and has many (all?) of the features you’d need for a home setup that unifi offers.
I come from the Araknis/Snap AV side. And as others mentioned? Unifi is the Apple products of the industry. What others did well? Ubiquiti copies it, to market it. My wattbox is an amazing piece of kit, to make sure I never have to go to the basement. Unifi made a wifi outlet, that many copied. Ubiquiti made an amazing product at a more affordable price.
Ubiquiti made an ecosystem for the “Prosumer”, finding a niche to put their product, in every problem solver’s palm. I installed their switches, as they were just coming out, to many still in service today. They’re amazing kit for the price, with many other companies copying what they have done.
Personally? I’d go D-Link, as I’m waiting on them to release a Wifi 7 AP… But I have heavily considered UniFi for what their products can do, as I personally run 4 different wireless networks, so my IOT devices don’t all see eachother. I still run an Araknis AN-310 for my router/firewall, along with APs, with OVRC to watch them as I need. I use D-Link switches for my separation needs, which still are easily accessable from my server.
For an all in one based, at the reasonable what you’d consider “Prosumer” price? Ubiquiti has all you need. Otherwise? Many just go DD-WRT on any wireless unit they can root. In the modern generation? A solid network, is based on all the problems you can solve, to not have to deal with again. Ubiquiti listened to their consumers on this aspect.
The thing with ubiquiti and their products like unifi and their older product line edgerouters is that they use their clients like beta testers even though their software is labeled stable. Stable my &&@$. If it’s not a popular product item. They will abandon firmware for it. They really messed up the edgeOS 2.0.x … while edgeOS 1.x.x is what made it popular. I wouldn’t suggest getting products from ubiquiti … right now I have a edgerouter X and edgerouter 4 from a client that has a bad emmc storage and an abandoned edgerouter 12 … looking for alternative support like openwrt for the OS… as for Wi-Fi I recommend used Wi-Fi gear like Ruckus R610/R650 when prices are good… very stable and its enterprise grade usin ruckus unleashed firmware. It’s free… firmware support for 802,11ac wave 2 is still 2028
Been using Unifi kit for the better part of 4 years now and honestly haven’t had an issue. Is it the best networking kit? Probably not. Is it the most configurable? Again no! But when it works it just works - Its like the Apple of networking where you gain most value by being immersed in the ecosystem
Recently been seeing decent alternatives in the market (South Africa) with TP Link, Cudy, Reyee all bringing similarly specced kit at up to half the price. Then there is always Mikrotik if you really want to get into the nuts and bolts of your network
Yes, I installed unifi aps and with a dumb netgear switch 7 years ago. The only outage was carrier modem.
Have you looked at the mikrotik offerings?
I’ve installed a lot of Ubiquiti/Araknis in homes. They are both great for big houses with thick walls/elaborate architecture and on huge lots. I really wouldn’t recommend anything for a modestly sized house with standard construction.
Not only are you going to have severe congestion from tons of neighbors and extenders blasting at 100% power, you don’t want a bunch of access points at your house overlapping and set at 100% power.
There are plenty of overly powerful routers than can cover modest 2 story homes sufficiently when placed centrally… and if you wire in your TV’s and computers/docking stations your really just trying to cover smart switches and IoT devices that will be fine at a lower signal strength.