Ubiquiti UniFi

[Driftit 2078]

So I have been looking at options for home network and security.  I'm in the position where I want to start from scratch removing all my old random gear of various brands and moving to one well reviewed system.

Ubiquiti so far seems to have everything I want.  Especially integration of systems, remote management, a UI anyone can use.  And the security software and hardware is not a stupid amount of money and doesn't need a subscription service.

I'm looking at a WiFi 6 mesh system (maybe overkill)
Cloud Key Gen2
POE 4K Cameras and supporting swtiches

Only the cameras will be run via Ethernet (POE).  All other devices will be run on the low latency WiFi.

 

It all looks great on paper.  But I am wondering if anyone has a system, thought about getting a system.  Or is running UI stuff in their workplace?  Or maybe you are running something else?
 

Cloud Key Gen2
https://unifi-protect.ui.com/cloud-key-gen2
4k Cameras,
https://www.ui.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g4-pro/
AmpliFi Mesh system (Not the WiFi 6 version)
https://amplifi.com/gamers-edition
WiFI 6 version - The only thing not at a reasonable price.
https://store.amplifi.com/products/amplifi-alien-router-mesh
 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Driftit

[nick496 268]

We sell unifi's wireless at work, and they're a great bang for buck, centrally managed solution. 

The issue if you dig around is that they can add and drop features and systems really quickly. So what can happen is your system doesn't work after you do an update. Which home users in particular don't like. 

Haven't had any issues with the wireless in that regard, but figured it was worth mentioning. 

[kwhelan 241]

pretty hard to beat there wifi units quality for price thats for sure.

I would consider something that was maybe homesmart now or in future because thats where everything is heading, from your aircon, to lightbulbs, etc, so something that can tie into google home or amazon or one of the competing ones. there getting better all the time and even most cheap aliexpress stuff now works on one of the standard systems

[Driftit 2078]

Cheers guys.  I will have to have a hunt around for some info on the dropping of features etc.  Especially around the security stuff.

The home will have some smart devices.  Especially the heat pump.  Remote access to these devices is a must.

I house sat a few months back and the house had a Smart Kettle.  I laughed and thought why would you.  But asking it to turn on from bed was fun.  And  smart bulbs are handy.  The sharing of information is my only concern.  There is ways to block all that I guess.

[kwhelan 241]

there's no way I'd have alexa or a google home speaker but theres plenty that do, Just the other day Siri Piped up in the morning and asked me if I wanted to turn on my aircon. I thought I had disabled everything siri on my phone including location but apparently not.

Worse thou just for giggles I said yes turn it on and it bloody did, considering how I have never set anything up on siri or the aircon giving anything like those permissions i was pretty surprised it worked. I love the ability to manually have control but this Ai crap is scarry. I don't want to know the traffic conditions to my work when I have never told it where I work dammit.

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

Try talking about a subject and the later on open your lpad and see what adds come up when you look at the Herald or Stuff

[Jacko 2154]

I set up my garage door (old dominator) to be smart the during the weekend, pretty cool driving in the driveway and "open sesame" and the door opens

On the ubiquiti stuff, I very recently looked at it and it does look good, and well priced. Some of the cameras output looked a little bit iffy though... in the end I went with an Arlo 3 Pro system with 3 pro and 4K cameras due to not feeling to inspired to run more cat 6 around the house! Works well, integrates with google ("show me the shed video camera" etc). If I did it again Id use more 4k cameras and less of the 3 pros, the difference between the 2.7k 3 pro and 4k is more than just the resolution, the 4ks image looks better, has a wider field of view, and the microphone is better. 

 

[kwhelan 241]

2 hours ago, B.M.W Ltd said:

Try talking about a subject and the later on open your lpad and see what adds come up when you look at the Herald or Stuff

serves you right for reading that left wing drivel, RIP haha  

you know you can setup adblockers and cookie/private browsing though, don't use chrome would be step one

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

6 minutes ago, kwhelan said:

serves you right for reading that left wing drivel, RIP haha  

 

 I only go there to check the obituaries to see if my names in there

[eliongater 718]

I use ubiquity (W)APs at home, and have found them pretty good. Though a word of caution, be careful buying older models... I purchased a 2nd hand AC pro off trademe and assumed it would be fine. I had to downgrade my controller to get it to play ball, and then it wouldn’t see my router (USG). 
 

I’ve since upgraded my router to a Cisco Meraki unit and put the USG away, solving the controller issue. NB: the dashboard is kinda cool but I never used it

[Driftit 2078]

I was thinking of getting all current gear as you are the 4th person to tell me about a situation like that now.
Though all the bad points haven't put me off which is good.

I will be buying it all out of the US to avoid mark up and GST.  Probably directly from their own store.
Though by the time my house is ready the products will have probably changed.  So at this stage I am just going to have the house pre-wired for the cameras.  Pretty basic.  Just a single Cat6 to each camera area.

[eliongater 718]

Good call. It’s pretty nice gear, and I would use more of it if I didn’t have an excess of cisco gear to get through

[Spudooli 18]

Take note of this though - https://community.ui.com/questions/UniFi-Video-Products-End-of-Life-Announcement/dc529d39-0e58-43cc-96f0-8f0eed0d002c

[Driftit 2078]

12 hours ago, Spudooli said:

Take note of this though - https://community.ui.com/questions/UniFi-Video-Products-End-of-Life-Announcement/dc529d39-0e58-43cc-96f0-8f0eed0d002c

Hey thanks mate.  I'm reading through it now.

Ok wow.  Lots of pissed off installers.  I think I will revisit this when the house is ready in Q1 2021.  I am going to keep an eye on this EOL announcement though.  It really seems like they are shooting themselves in the foot.

[Driftit 2078]

I ended up going with Ubiquity.

1 x Dream Machine
1 x Cloud Key
Some access points, a door bell and a bunch of G4 cameras.

Purchased direct from their store in the US.  As even with the commercial account we have with PB Tech I was going to pay nearly $2000 more.

Only issue I had was that they limit the number of G4 dome cameras you can buy at once to 2.  But then allow you to place a second order for them....

I didn't go for the server rack sized stuff in the end.  Was going to take up too much space.  And make getting it to NZ more difficult.
But the Dream machine has IDS/IPS throughput of 850mbps which is pretty damn good for a little device.  My max connection speed is 900mbps anyway.

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-routing-switching/products/unifi-dream-machine

[M3AN 4016]

Remember to change your passwords and enable 2FA if you had a Ubiquity account pre-Jan 11 this year.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/tag/ubiquiti-breach/

[Driftit 2078]

Yeah I did actually.

They emailed me on the 12th of Jan asking me to change it.  I did on the 12th as I have an email from me requesting a PW reset because I had forgotten it anyway.  haha.

I did wonder about all this articles telling people to change their PW's in the last few weeks.  Ubiquity asked everyone to do this as a precaution on the 12th of Jan.