Good video and good install. Small recommendation from a security integrator. You have a few cameras that have a wall in the shot. I think it was side yard and back yard. I would rotate and pan away until you can’t see the wall in the video. Walls don’t need to be recorded and they also add to the night view being washed out. Same thing with the sky, if any of your cameras can see the sky that’s wasted recording space. Cheers!
Good install??Art... 🤣 Man, you are high or something... Wtf are these cables running wild in-out-under-above-between etc ? Terrible installation! I wouldn`t pay ever something like that. I am not mean. Im just saying.
You can use any RTSP NVR and can record all the cameras as a backup. I have 12 UniFi cameras connected to a cloud key plus as a recording backup and my main system is a blue iris server. It works with no problem.
Can the cloud key plus be used as a primary recorder? I know you need a switch as well but a switch and cloud key 2 plus and switch put it in the same price arena as Dahua and Hikvision.
This is a great review and installation summary. I switched to Unifi Protect from the Ring ecosystem around a year ago and I have loved the change from top to bottom
It’s really nice when a camera allows you to turn off its built in IR flood lights without turning off if IR night mode, then you can use a separate IR light and the spiders can build there webs there rather than in front of the lenses.
Looks like you ran your CAT 6 right along electrical wiring. That is a big no-no. Not only is it a code violation to run high and low voltage wires together, it will also cause problems with your data. Your ethernet should cross high voltage at right angles and be as far away as possible for parallel runs. Some of the problems you are experiencing with your switch may be solved by getting away from the high voltage wiring.
to expand on the answer/ when electricity travels it in the cable it creates a field around a cable and it can induce a voltage in the cable next to it. in powerlines, this is not that bad but in-network and video cable it is bad. this is why they use twisted pairs in the cables and different twists per foot to reduce this magnetic field. min distance is 8 in and 2 in for proper shielded cat 6
I found that you can record from the RTSP stream to another non-Ubiquiti NVR if you need to record for offsite backup also. That's how I keep a separate copy of the footage whilst keeping all of the benefits of Unifi.
@@TomasVillegas No worries as I was finding the same issue. Been doing it now for over a year and works really well. Seems a great workaround to the main flaw of Unifi especially when there are some good inexpensive NVR software tools out there.
the only issues i have with this review is saying that you need the nvr or udm pro personally the only things i would say are necessary would be a ubiquiti poe switch as running power bricks to every thing is not practical for most people but as for the unifi protect software if you dont mind getting your hands alittle dirty ubiquiti does let you install the unifi protect controller on ubuntu which if you have an extra computer lying around or in the case of synology you could run a vm to manage the cameras and record the footage without needing the nvr this is what i do and one major reason why i love the unifi product stack no while i will say transfering large amounts of footage somewhere is not easy this can be made easier if you can do alittle bit of python programming with the requests library allowing you do handle the network calls and allowing you to save time by automating the process not saying its perfect but can be done which is the main reason why i like all of my network services to beable to be controlled from a browser because then i can just make a simple network program with python to automate anything i need other then that good review
Thank you for a fantastic video, after watching, i pulled the trigger on a full setup... i appreciate the camera views and OS walk thru... i also bought the NVR, good call
If you are already in the Unifi Ecosystem, this may be worth while as basically any "licensing" is built into the cost of buying the hardware. IF you are not running any Unifi equipment, go for a different system that can use third party cameras. Even 10 cameras on a UDM Pro can slow down the system enough to noticeably affect internet speed. Also, like the Cloud Key Gen 2plus, only 1 HDD in the UDM Pro, which will a significant disadvantage unless you can handle losing everything or only having recordings kept for a short amount of time. The quality of the Protect camera range is pretty ordinary to be honest. Synology NAS could be a really good option due to the fact you can use the NAS for other things and you can then run cheaper cameras that are equally, if not more capable than the Protect cameras. Comes out to about the same cost, even with the Synology licensing system. Synology also have quick connect for external access. So yeah, Synology and Unifi are about the same cost. Synology licences should not need to be renewed. They are lifetime, one off license per camera. If you ever get an issue with it needing to "renew" a license when you have one, get in touch with Synology and they will fix it.
+1 synology. And I was surprised to hear mention of amcrest licenses, I have several amcrest on my syno and never paid an amcrest license... Unless you desire to use the amcrest "cloud" services maybe. But I can use DS Cam via mobile on my syno and get my feeds or history, so not sure why you'd also need amcrest cloud.. Overall great video, I abhor vendor lock and over the years I have upgraded cameras from different manufactures with no problem on synology. Lastly the syno camera licenses is, as mentioned, once per lifetime by camera count. If you get new cams you can reuse license as long as your overall count remains the same.
With the Unifi NVR or NVR Pro there is no licensing cost for the cameras and the 4 bay Unifi NVR is only $300, not including hard drives. So when you are comparing costs of camera systems on the Synology you need include the licensing cost which is around $50 per camera depending on license package. If you already have or are getting a Synology I can see using that if you 5 or less cameras. Anything more than that and I would personally go with the Unifi NVR instead. WIth the Unifi NVR the cost per camera drops with the more cameras you add and I would prefer to take that load off my NAS with higher camera counts especially when the Unifi NVR has a 10GB NIC on it. I agree the camera choices on Unifi are not anything special but they do offer everything that I'm looking for at a middle of the road price... then when you combine that with the low price of the Unifi NVR the Unifi system becomes very completive. Also Unifi provides remote access to the NVR and cameras at no cost without the need for port forwarding. And lets not forget how extremely easy it is to setup an Unifi NVR and Unifi Cameras, even someone who isn't in IT can set it up... this is one of the benefits using the Unifi ecosystem.
@@jam471975 Depends on which synology you have. I have a 918+ and I have run 10 4K camera's on that and have absolutely no issues, no slow down or any latency. Unifi recommend a maximum of 15 4K cameras on their UNVR and 20 on the UNVR Pro, which are more expensive than a lot of the Synology NAS devices that can support similar camera numbers. So with Synology, it depends on the NAS you use. If you use one of the absolutely cheapest models, then sure, you may max out at 5 cameras, but if you spend the same amount on Synology as you do on Unifi, Synology, even with the cost of the camera licenses, will handle more cameras, and you can use any camera you want, where is Unifi is stuck with the very expensive for what they are Unifi Protect cameras. This guy is incorrect in saying the Unifi sensors are superior. Dahua cameras at half the price have often out performed Unifi Protect cameras.
Great job thanks for sharing! While it’s convenient to use existing holes through baseboards, I would refrain from running any data cables, no matter the category of insulation, in close parallel to electrical since even the slightest EM interference will degrade network speeds. Running Perpendicular to electrical is okay.
For a camera, 100mbs connection will be fine. People take this too far... For critical high bandwidth applications, sure... For a camera feed, you'll be fine
It took me a while to get mine too. I have 13 cameras including the PTZ. The G4 pros are by far the best but the G4 Domes are good for the price point. The software gets better all the time.
I'm looking at a few cameras and I'm curious: Is the G5 pro a newer version of the G4 or is the G4 newer and better? This video is 2 years old and you seem like you would know the answer. One more question if you have time: I'm looking at the PTZ but don't have PoE++. I only have PoE+. If my switch has the available power will it still power the PTZ? My othe option is just get an inline PoE++ injector... Thanks :Dave
Unifi is an ok brand for their Ipcameras, wifi etc Not as much for their routing. Chiming in as the others have said you can use the RTSP feed and pass it to the software of yourchoice. Frigate,Shinobi Viseron Iris etc. Cheers
Great in-depth video . I went with ubiquiti after seeing there’s no subscription,plus it had the best video quality at night . I have five G4 pro cameras and one G3 pro . I swapped the G3 pro with a G4 pro after seeing the difference in picture . I’ll be using the G3 pro in my garage instead in order to monitor my cnc router table , so not like it’s a waste or anything. I like your conduit idea going to a double gang box , great idea . My only concern with your install is running Ethernet cable beside your electrical power branches . In the cable communications industry we avoid that , and we’re using shielding coax , but each to his own . I’m not fond of the picture quality using IR , and have installed motion lights to help a bit . I’m disappointed that the newest doorbell camera, the G4 doorbell Pro , doesn’t have a direct Ethernet connection. Kind of disappointing,but I’ll buy one if they ever change
Well apparently it does as of recently. Prior to this I’m pretty sure it did not have a direct Ethernet connection , and was wireless only . I’m in Canada , maybe it takes longer for them to list, but a new version of the G4 pro doorbell is available
Whaddup. Awesome job and thanks for sharing your setup. Seriously perfect real world review showing us exactly the type of things those who might be interested in doing the same type of setup instead of just spewing out specs. Lol. Btw yes. The G4 Pro is a beast. The PTZ is something stupid too.
Great video...thanks for the personal insight on everything; I've been on the verge of going with UniFi as I upgrade the home network and security equipment and this has helped me move forward with it...👍🏽👍🏽
I've set up systems for family rather cheaply, small systems although but easily upgradeable, Cloud key gen2 plus and some noname POE switch and G4 bullit camera with optional Flex cameras, doesn't have to be expensive and can be expanded later on
I ran all my own cabling with cat 6A. Moved all my equipment into a dedicated IT closet. Yeah, I’m prolly up to $8k I had BlueIris before this but wanted a more stable platform with better quality cameras.
You can use third party cameras with protect! There is a little run around method to doing it. But it is possible. Generally only Ui cameras should be the only ones used. But still...
I'm slowly but surely building out my Unifi protect system as well. I've been running their stuff for forever but always had Wyze and Eufy cams but am tired of the shady security behavior and subscriptions. The G4 instants are great for inside the house. I'm currently waiting for the G5 bullets to come back in stock. One thing that I think you should look into is an IR floodlamp for outside cams, specifically for your G3 Flex. I have a couple of the LONNKY LED IR Illuminator's and they are awesome. They spit out TONS of IR light for the cameras, have a light sensor to automatically turn them off when it's daylight, the housings are metal and have survived at my house in the open elements since Oct of 2019 and they're only like $25. Edit: My Wyze, Eufy, Hikvision and Ring cams all suffer from spiderweb false notifcations as well as larger bugs. I think that's just part of it honestly.
@@TomasVillegas Yeah I just recently got a G5 bullet and kinda shocked that I honestly think the G4 instant has a better picture quality both in daylight and night time and the instant has a wider FOV too. I don't know if the G4 instant can survive being directly exposed to the elements like the G5 bullet can but I ordered a couple more instants to mount under a soffit in the back of the house and another under an eve overhang in the front. I figure if my 2K indoor Eufy's can survive over 2 years out in these spots, the instants can too.
I’ve never heard of having to renew a Surveillance Station license, I don’t believe that is correct. The licenses are one time lifetime purchases and are transferable if you ever have to replace or upgrade your NAS.. The licenses run around $56 each. The nice thing is if your camera dies you can replace it just for the camera cost and the license is a moot point. A 4K Amcrest AI with person and vehicle detection is $139.99 and with the initial license purchase of $56 your at $195 before tax, compared to a 4K G4 Pro for $449. If you ever need to replace the G4 your paying the full $449 again where the price to replace the Amcrest 4K is just the camera, $139. I’ve been looking at both and am leaning towards Synology due to cost, reliability, functionality and I already own a Synology NAS. The Protect seems to be a much simpler initial setup, but I don’t think that outweighs the positives for Surveillance Station. I may set up Protect at my parents house though with a CK G2, a doorbell and a few of the inexpensive G3 Flex cameras as I think that would be easier for them to grasp.
You're right. The renewal comment I made is incorrect. I vaguely remember if requiring renewals when I made a video on Surveillance Station 4-5 years ago and never looked at it again. 🤝
In the UK we seperate cat cables from power. The cat cable could be affected by the current flowing through the power and cause image problems etc across long lengths. Good install though, better than most pros. Nice that there is no cables on the outside!
Yeah I learned that a little too late. It's I'm electrical code here too and it should be avoided. Lesson learned for the future on my part 👍 Thanks for watching.
Not just the UK, Australia we separate data and power and cross when we need to cable pass power. ..and no sharp bends, no loops, cable should be correct loose length.
Did you use staples to hold down those CAT6 cables? Because that's a really bad idea... They can puncture the shielding an cause signal or packet loss or even intermittent outages.
If you think that's expensive, you haven't worked in surveillance. NVR or UDM (only need 1) or the other + switch or UDM-Pro-SE for up to 8 PoE cameras. Decent NVR's can be close to $1,000 each, and cameras can easily range from $200-$700. I wouldn't use the G3 Flex. You can always use the rtsp feed into something like BlueIris (PC based software). The best part is the app imo. Decent video otherwise, much love
After owning 5 G4 pros for a while , I’m not all that impressed with it’s night time capability. I find if a car is in motion , besides noise , its very blurry ,but that same car in the daytime shows very good detail. I think motion lights are the only way to properly see a vehicle in question if it’s in motion . With people it’s the same thing . They’re very blurry if there walking past my house at night . As for license plates,IR is useless . All IR does is make the license plate glow white at night and completely unreadable.
Can you post some Home Depot links for the plastic conduit and junction boxes you used? I have a similar setup with vinyl siding. I’ve been nervous about drilling into the siding from my basement but this looks great.
G4 Bullet is a 4MP (1440p) camera. Generally speaking, a 1440p (2K) security camera can record super HD videos, which is twice that of a 1080p (1K) security camera. The UniFi Protect dashboard, as of today, still shows all 4MP cameras as “1080p” but they are recording at their rated 4MP resolution.
So how good do the cameras work in cold weather? I’m looking at installing several G4 pro cameras on my house but not sure if they will shutdown or stop working in the winter with Northern Indiana winters.
I was hoping to see what notifications are like in the app when you're away from home. Are you able to see a preview or still shot of the motion it detected?
At the time I made this video, the still shots were not showing. Thankfully through updates that is now available. Yes I see them on my Apple Watch and iPhone. 👍
@@TomasVillegas great thanks. And please let us know if that helps and if you can show on next video in real time to pull up a camera in live view. Keep up the good work
Very poor install that violates electrical code. You can't run low voltage and high voltage wires through the same holes. 1) if the wires get nicked you energize the cat5.. and you create interference running them along side each other.
The pipe you ran outside the garage looks...okay...but you should install a few 2 hole clips ...it probably looks ike a bannaana by now if you havent yet...
I secured them to the stucco like I mentioned in the video shortly after publishing this video. Definitely know that banana would've been reality if I didn't 😂
I love these cameras except protect on udm pro. Protect while viewing your cameras always chooses the lowest resolution unless you choose a particular camera and manually change it's resolution. You need to change resolution every time you start Protect 😒
UDP Pro = Don't push past 15 G3's but when you add G4's, number drops. The UDM Pro is quickly showing signs of grossly under-powered. Recording playback becomes a turd and thats with a WD Black HDD. VLAN's are a must if you have a somewhat bigger network as even the UniFi cameras are network noise makers. UNVR4 and dual NIC's should be the minimum for anyone doing anything bigger than Home. Sadly, there are many cameras for way less $$$ that outperform the G4 Pro's.
As we are biulding our first home & i also went with unifi access for all 4 external doors I decided to go with the full unifi stack. I work for a fairly large company and we have some old and some new NVR's around and by far the ones that give us the least grief are the Unifi protect setups my only regret about going all unifi is the UDM pro really sucks I am seriously debating switching back to pf sense and just having the udm pro behind NAT I have found that the whole of unifi os runs in podman on the udm pro so i am hoping somebody out there will eventually rip the containers and let people run them on other hardware.
Working to get my own system set up and currently trying to find how to disable the Lens Correction to open up the field of view as you say in the video. Can't find it anywhere!! Please Help.
Great video, but towards the end this would have been so much cleaner to have gone into the attic. Running any wire on the outside of a wall is a big nope. Please make sure to clean those wires so they cannot reach any other gear inside the home, or the internet.
If you set up a stock notification on their site you’re more likely than not to be able to get what you need. I agree I’m not sure why their stock fluctuates like that.
You almost got me just about absolutely convinced not to buy Ubiquiti cameras. Literally the only thing that I care about is people detection, most detection is worthless. Absolutely worthless. To defeat a camera, all you need to do is wear a mask, ski mask or hat covering your face and it renders the camera useless. In my case I've got grandchildren and I'm concerned about them getting out or going around the pool and I want people detection notification when I get a delivery at the door because we get an obscene mount of Amazon and other deliveries. I'm like you but I hired someone to run all of our CAT-6 wires to the soffits through our attic space. I ran enough for nine cameras for a cost of $1,200 which is a drop in the bucket. Also ran a few data drops and ceiling drops for APs I'm considering Amcrest AI 4K turret cameras, along with a Synology NAS. Looked at QNAP but as of right now it doesn't support the AI cameras. Amcrest offers the true color option for some of their AI cameras. Complain about it as people might. I really like my Google Nest Doorbell and its people detection has been pretty phenomenal actually. I've got symmetrical gigabit internet with no data caps. $70 a year is a pizza and wings.
The only benefit to the UNVR Pro is the 3 more drive bays. Otherwise they perform the same. You're looking at roughly 24TB of storage, so you'll only get about 3 weeks worth of footage if you leave the camera at the default 8.4mbps. To get 30 days, you would need 4x12TB drives. The UNVR Pro could have been 7x6TB. The UNVR Pro setup would have cost about the same as the UNVR + 4x12TB drives, if not a little cheaper.
@@Duke.Chocula I was hoping to squeeze 30 days out of it but as soon as it’s all installed and been running a while I will start tweaking Thanks for letting me know though
@@Duke.Chocula Another benefit of the UNVR Pro over the UNVR is the pro has a small solid state drive. The UNVR uses a USB thumb drive and they are much more likely to fail over time. There are posts online about the issue. I also own both of them. The pro has the ports on the front, which for some OCD people is a big deal. Nice video, also my daughter said cool background!
@@detroitwwraps I am not a huge fan of the ports on the front. I would have rather them forgone the screen and front ports and added another drive bay. In terms of the USB Flash Drive, I've only seen 1 post about it online with a user reporting they've had 2 bad units. I hope in the future they turn on the ability to stack units (like they claim they're adding) and would be cool if they would add some NAS capability but I'm not too sure the hardware can support it in terms of network speeds.
14K doesnt even cover the cameras so you must have some figures out or it fell off the back of the truck. Hope you figure out the bugs like I had to with Protect as that is huge amount of data stream to record while it potentially will create other networing games for you, been there, done that.
You say expensive, but comparing a medium to large business system from Axis or comparable company would costs much more. I do agree with vendor lock comment though you are absolutely correct however most surveillance companies started that way too especially access control companies and they ended up changing. I like owning my video, most of those cloud systems "ring" (don't get me wrong I have a ring doorbell) you do NOT own the video. With Unifi you own the video always and the only thing you need the cloud for is so you don't need to be a network engineer to gain easy access to manage your system and keep it updated.
Looked good until 12:51 - that's gross. why spend time and money getting it all plastered and looking nice to do that to it.... and outside - double junction box and external conduit come on man looks terrible. These are PoE, so it's literally only 1 cable a camera. That's a lot of conduit ect for 1 cable! The better way would have been to run all the cable for all the cameras on that level internal to a center point in the ceiling space and then run them all together down an internal wall to the basement alongside other cables already going there. Would be neat and tidy with nothing to see externally! And don't get me started on the network rack 😛 On a positive note - Your explain things well, wish i knew what wattage your PoE switch was thou
Never would accept to have such ugly electric boxes and conduits onto my house. I understand it's not always possible to have wires in-wall, but then at least use more esthaetic conduits. At least we have them in Europe... Black as well as two shades of grey, white and beige PVC conduits. Boxes as well.
Good video and good install. Small recommendation from a security integrator. You have a few cameras that have a wall in the shot. I think it was side yard and back yard. I would rotate and pan away until you can’t see the wall in the video. Walls don’t need to be recorded and they also add to the night view being washed out. Same thing with the sky, if any of your cameras can see the sky that’s wasted recording space. Cheers!
Good install??Art... 🤣 Man, you are high or something... Wtf are these cables running wild in-out-under-above-between etc ? Terrible installation! I wouldn`t pay ever something like that. I am not mean. Im just saying.
You can use any RTSP NVR and can record all the cameras as a backup. I have 12 UniFi cameras connected to a cloud key plus as a recording backup and my main system is a blue iris server. It works with no problem.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to look into this.
Can the cloud key plus be used as a primary recorder? I know you need a switch as well but a switch and cloud key 2 plus and switch put it in the same price arena as Dahua and Hikvision.
@@kahangunubro Yes it can. Its a full NVR server.
This is a great review and installation summary. I switched to Unifi Protect from the Ring ecosystem around a year ago and I have loved the change from top to bottom
Thanks for the feedback 🤝
It’s really nice when a camera allows you to turn off its built in IR flood lights without turning off if IR night mode, then you can use a separate IR light and the spiders can build there webs there rather than in front of the lenses.
Finally, a great unifi protect install video! Thank you for your review.
Thank you for the feedback. 👍
Looks like you ran your CAT 6 right along electrical wiring. That is a big no-no. Not only is it a code violation to run high and low voltage wires together, it will also cause problems with your data. Your ethernet should cross high voltage at right angles and be as far away as possible for parallel runs. Some of the problems you are experiencing with your switch may be solved by getting away from the high voltage wiring.
to expand on the answer/ when electricity travels it in the cable it creates a field around a cable and it can induce a voltage in the cable next to it. in powerlines, this is not that bad but in-network and video cable it is bad. this is why they use twisted pairs in the cables and different twists per foot to reduce this magnetic field. min distance is 8 in and 2 in for proper shielded cat 6
Agree.. it is also 100% no-no to run through same hole in case there is a nick in the two wires and you end up energizing the cat5
I found that you can record from the RTSP stream to another non-Ubiquiti NVR if you need to record for offsite backup also. That's how I keep a separate copy of the footage whilst keeping all of the benefits of Unifi.
Thank you for the information and suggestion. 👍
@@TomasVillegas No worries as I was finding the same issue. Been doing it now for over a year and works really well. Seems a great workaround to the main flaw of Unifi especially when there are some good inexpensive NVR software tools out there.
the only issues i have with this review is saying that you need the nvr or udm pro personally the only things i would say are necessary would be a ubiquiti poe switch as running power bricks to every thing is not practical for most people but as for the unifi protect software if you dont mind getting your hands alittle dirty ubiquiti does let you install the unifi protect controller on ubuntu which if you have an extra computer lying around or in the case of synology you could run a vm to manage the cameras and record the footage without needing the nvr this is what i do and one major reason why i love the unifi product stack no while i will say transfering large amounts of footage somewhere is not easy this can be made easier if you can do alittle bit of python programming with the requests library allowing you do handle the network calls and allowing you to save time by automating the process not saying its perfect but can be done which is the main reason why i like all of my network services to beable to be controlled from a browser because then i can just make a simple network program with python to automate anything i need other then that good review
Thank you for a fantastic video, after watching, i pulled the trigger on a full setup... i appreciate the camera views and OS walk thru... i also bought the NVR, good call
Thanks for the feedback, I sincerely appreciate it 🤝
If you are already in the Unifi Ecosystem, this may be worth while as basically any "licensing" is built into the cost of buying the hardware.
IF you are not running any Unifi equipment, go for a different system that can use third party cameras.
Even 10 cameras on a UDM Pro can slow down the system enough to noticeably affect internet speed. Also, like the Cloud Key Gen 2plus, only 1 HDD in the UDM Pro, which will a significant disadvantage unless you can handle losing everything or only having recordings kept for a short amount of time. The quality of the Protect camera range is pretty ordinary to be honest.
Synology NAS could be a really good option due to the fact you can use the NAS for other things and you can then run cheaper cameras that are equally, if not more capable than the Protect cameras. Comes out to about the same cost, even with the Synology licensing system. Synology also have quick connect for external access. So yeah, Synology and Unifi are about the same cost. Synology licences should not need to be renewed. They are lifetime, one off license per camera. If you ever get an issue with it needing to "renew" a license when you have one, get in touch with Synology and they will fix it.
They have NVR and NVR pro for the extra storage.
+1 synology. And I was surprised to hear mention of amcrest licenses, I have several amcrest on my syno and never paid an amcrest license... Unless you desire to use the amcrest "cloud" services maybe. But I can use DS Cam via mobile on my syno and get my feeds or history, so not sure why you'd also need amcrest cloud..
Overall great video, I abhor vendor lock and over the years I have upgraded cameras from different manufactures with no problem on synology. Lastly the syno camera licenses is, as mentioned, once per lifetime by camera count. If you get new cams you can reuse license as long as your overall count remains the same.
With the Unifi NVR or NVR Pro there is no licensing cost for the cameras and the 4 bay Unifi NVR is only $300, not including hard drives. So when you are comparing costs of camera systems on the Synology you need include the licensing cost which is around $50 per camera depending on license package.
If you already have or are getting a Synology I can see using that if you 5 or less cameras. Anything more than that and I would personally go with the Unifi NVR instead. WIth the Unifi NVR the cost per camera drops with the more cameras you add and I would prefer to take that load off my NAS with higher camera counts especially when the Unifi NVR has a 10GB NIC on it.
I agree the camera choices on Unifi are not anything special but they do offer everything that I'm looking for at a middle of the road price... then when you combine that with the low price of the Unifi NVR the Unifi system becomes very completive. Also Unifi provides remote access to the NVR and cameras at no cost without the need for port forwarding.
And lets not forget how extremely easy it is to setup an Unifi NVR and Unifi Cameras, even someone who isn't in IT can set it up... this is one of the benefits using the Unifi ecosystem.
@@jam471975 Depends on which synology you have. I have a 918+ and I have run 10 4K camera's on that and have absolutely no issues, no slow down or any latency. Unifi recommend a maximum of 15 4K cameras on their UNVR and 20 on the UNVR Pro, which are more expensive than a lot of the Synology NAS devices that can support similar camera numbers.
So with Synology, it depends on the NAS you use. If you use one of the absolutely cheapest models, then sure, you may max out at 5 cameras, but if you spend the same amount on Synology as you do on Unifi, Synology, even with the cost of the camera licenses, will handle more cameras, and you can use any camera you want, where is Unifi is stuck with the very expensive for what they are Unifi Protect cameras.
This guy is incorrect in saying the Unifi sensors are superior. Dahua cameras at half the price have often out performed Unifi Protect cameras.
Great job thanks for sharing! While it’s convenient to use existing holes through baseboards, I would refrain from running any data cables, no matter the category of insulation, in close parallel to electrical since even the slightest EM interference will degrade network speeds. Running Perpendicular to electrical is okay.
For a camera, 100mbs connection will be fine. People take this too far... For critical high bandwidth applications, sure... For a camera feed, you'll be fine
It took me a while to get mine too. I have 13 cameras including the PTZ. The G4 pros are by far the best but the G4 Domes are good for the price point. The software gets better all the time.
I'm looking at a few cameras and I'm curious: Is the G5 pro a newer version of the G4 or is the G4 newer and better? This video is 2 years old and you seem like you would know the answer. One more question if you have time: I'm looking at the PTZ but don't have PoE++. I only have PoE+. If my switch has the available power will it still power the PTZ? My othe option is just get an inline PoE++ injector...
Thanks
:Dave
Unifi is an ok brand for their Ipcameras, wifi etc Not as much for their routing. Chiming in as the others have said you can use the RTSP feed and pass it to the software of yourchoice. Frigate,Shinobi Viseron Iris etc. Cheers
Great in-depth video . I went with ubiquiti after seeing there’s no subscription,plus it had the best video quality at night . I have five G4 pro cameras and one G3 pro . I swapped the G3 pro with a G4 pro after seeing the difference in picture . I’ll be using the G3 pro in my garage instead in order to monitor my cnc router table , so not like it’s a waste or anything.
I like your conduit idea going to a double gang box , great idea . My only concern with your install is running Ethernet cable beside your electrical power branches .
In the cable communications industry we avoid that , and we’re using shielding coax , but each to his own .
I’m not fond of the picture quality using IR , and have installed motion lights to help a bit . I’m disappointed that the newest doorbell camera, the G4 doorbell Pro , doesn’t have a direct Ethernet connection. Kind of disappointing,but I’ll buy one if they ever change
I thought the g4 doorbell pro does use Ethernet for data also as the normal g4 doorbell doesn't.
Well apparently it does as of recently. Prior to this I’m pretty sure it did not have a direct Ethernet connection , and was wireless only . I’m in Canada , maybe it takes longer for them to list, but a new version of the G4 pro doorbell is available
Whaddup. Awesome job and thanks for sharing your setup. Seriously perfect real world review showing us exactly the type of things those who might be interested in doing the same type of setup instead of just spewing out specs. Lol. Btw yes. The G4 Pro is a beast. The PTZ is something stupid too.
Thanks for watching 🤝
Great video...thanks for the personal insight on everything; I've been on the verge of going with UniFi as I upgrade the home network and security equipment and this has helped me move forward with it...👍🏽👍🏽
It has its quirks but over really happy with the system’s performance 👍
@@TomasVillegas good deal…
I've set up systems for family rather cheaply, small systems although but easily upgradeable, Cloud key gen2 plus and some noname POE switch and G4 bullit camera with optional Flex cameras, doesn't have to be expensive and can be expanded later on
I ran all my own cabling with cat 6A. Moved all my equipment into a dedicated IT closet. Yeah, I’m prolly up to $8k I had BlueIris before this but wanted a more stable platform with better quality cameras.
This is the best and most thorough video on these cameras...extremely helpful in helping me make a decision. Thank you!
Appreciate the feedback Brian. Thanks 🤝
You can use third party cameras with protect! There is a little run around method to doing it. But it is possible. Generally only Ui cameras should be the only ones used. But still...
Nice work, happy to see you came back and painted. Getting ready for my place
Have fun! It’ll be awesome when you’re done.
@@TomasVillegas If you had to pick one camera as you favorite?
I'm slowly but surely building out my Unifi protect system as well. I've been running their stuff for forever but always had Wyze and Eufy cams but am tired of the shady security behavior and subscriptions. The G4 instants are great for inside the house. I'm currently waiting for the G5 bullets to come back in stock.
One thing that I think you should look into is an IR floodlamp for outside cams, specifically for your G3 Flex. I have a couple of the LONNKY LED IR Illuminator's and they are awesome. They spit out TONS of IR light for the cameras, have a light sensor to automatically turn them off when it's daylight, the housings are metal and have survived at my house in the open elements since Oct of 2019 and they're only like $25.
Edit: My Wyze, Eufy, Hikvision and Ring cams all suffer from spiderweb false notifcations as well as larger bugs. I think that's just part of it honestly.
The equipment is pricey, building out slowly is a good way to get everything you need/want. 👍
@@TomasVillegas Yeah I just recently got a G5 bullet and kinda shocked that I honestly think the G4 instant has a better picture quality both in daylight and night time and the instant has a wider FOV too. I don't know if the G4 instant can survive being directly exposed to the elements like the G5 bullet can but I ordered a couple more instants to mount under a soffit in the back of the house and another under an eve overhang in the front.
I figure if my 2K indoor Eufy's can survive over 2 years out in these spots, the instants can too.
That conduit looks really good. Nice work!
Thanks for the feedback 🤝
UniFi cameras support RTSP.....you set it via the camera web ui.
Interesting. After looking into this, it seems like more work than I'm capable of keeping up with 😅
Nice job on a difficult install. I'm fortunate to have mine wired during construction of my home.
Appreciate the feedback. Thank you 🤝
Fantastic and comprehensive overview. Great production quality too. Thanks so much
Thanks for watching 🤝
I’ve never heard of having to renew a Surveillance Station license, I don’t believe that is correct. The licenses are one time lifetime purchases and are transferable if you ever have to replace or upgrade your NAS.. The licenses run around $56 each. The nice thing is if your camera dies you can replace it just for the camera cost and the license is a moot point. A 4K Amcrest AI with person and vehicle detection is $139.99 and with the initial license purchase of $56 your at $195 before tax, compared to a 4K G4 Pro for $449. If you ever need to replace the G4 your paying the full $449 again where the price to replace the Amcrest 4K is just the camera, $139. I’ve been looking at both and am leaning towards Synology due to cost, reliability, functionality and I already own a Synology NAS. The Protect seems to be a much simpler initial setup, but I don’t think that outweighs the positives for Surveillance Station. I may set up Protect at my parents house though with a CK G2, a doorbell and a few of the inexpensive G3 Flex cameras as I think that would be easier for them to grasp.
You're right. The renewal comment I made is incorrect. I vaguely remember if requiring renewals when I made a video on Surveillance Station 4-5 years ago and never looked at it again. 🤝
Thank you very much for making this excellent video. It provided a lot of valuable information for people looking into putting in such a system
Thanks for watching 🤝
In the UK we seperate cat cables from power. The cat cable could be affected by the current flowing through the power and cause image problems etc across long lengths.
Good install though, better than most pros.
Nice that there is no cables on the outside!
Yeah I learned that a little too late. It's I'm electrical code here too and it should be avoided. Lesson learned for the future on my part 👍
Thanks for watching.
Not just the UK, Australia we separate data and power and cross when we need to cable pass power.
..and no sharp bends, no loops, cable should be correct loose length.
you did most of the install really well :-) but that cabling in your garage man... Great job on everything else though.
really like the junction box Idea
😅👍
A real world install. Cheers from Australia :-)
Thanks for the comment 🤝
There's a POE version of the doorbell now. yay
Thank you for the amazing samples, helped me tremendously
Thanks for watching 🤝
Wow thank you for this indepth video. Cheers.
Thanks for watching 🤝
Good video
I like Unifi but the cost way too much, I have 4K Reolink system cost 650 for all dvr and 6 cameras,
Doorbell I use Eufy is local
Definitely pay a premium. It is nice to have all my cameras and notifications managed in one app tho 😉👍
Great video! Couldn't agree more about the cobwebs and spiders!!! 🤨
It’s the worst part of the system. 😅
Video is very clear. Very pleased with this purchase.
Great to hear! Thanks for watching.
Did you use staples to hold down those CAT6 cables? Because that's a really bad idea... They can puncture the shielding an cause signal or packet loss or even intermittent outages.
To be clear, although not sure what was used here, low voltage staples are smaller and rounded and made specifically for low voltage runs.
I used the Arrow cable staples. They're made for low voltage runs. 👍
Thanks for this. Really enjoyed it.
Thanks for watching 🤝
everything is great but the only thing you shouldn't run the cable beside the power lines it may cause interference
If you think that's expensive, you haven't worked in surveillance. NVR or UDM (only need 1) or the other + switch or UDM-Pro-SE for up to 8 PoE cameras. Decent NVR's can be close to $1,000 each, and cameras can easily range from $200-$700. I wouldn't use the G3 Flex. You can always use the rtsp feed into something like BlueIris (PC based software). The best part is the app imo. Decent video otherwise, much love
Very true. The commerical stuff runs way more expensive, so I guess by comparison it isn't that much 😅
Thanks for watching 🤝
After owning 5 G4 pros for a while , I’m not all that impressed with it’s night time capability. I find if a car is in motion , besides noise , its very blurry ,but that same car in the daytime shows very good detail. I think motion lights are the only way to properly see a vehicle in question if it’s in motion .
With people it’s the same thing . They’re very blurry if there walking past my house at night .
As for license plates,IR is useless . All IR does is make the license plate glow white at night and completely unreadable.
Definitely a valid issue with any camera and its sensor. The IR helps, but not much. The only practical solution is adding a motion light.
This has been a very good extensive review. Thank you!
Thanks for watching 🤝
good review. Thank You Tomas
Thanks for watching 🤝
Can you post some Home Depot links for the plastic conduit and junction boxes you used? I have a similar setup with vinyl siding. I’ve been nervous about drilling into the siding from my basement but this looks great.
Hey - nice video. Thanks. I've only just realised you are the same guy who did the me2/mke-2 comparison years ago!
Appreciate you watching. Both.
🤝
@@TomasVillegas Someone has to do the hard yards.
G4 Bullet is a 4MP (1440p) camera. Generally speaking, a 1440p (2K) security camera can record super HD videos, which is twice that of a 1080p (1K) security camera.
The UniFi Protect dashboard, as of today, still shows all 4MP cameras as “1080p” but they are recording at their rated 4MP resolution.
Good point. I should've mentioned that. I wish they would just allow the 2K res to be downloadable.
@@TomasVillegas Clips from my G4 Bullets downloads at 4MP/2K
@@TomasVillegas What do you mean? The G4 Bullet records at 1440p but that footage is not downloadable?
Thank you for a great video. Could you please share the network rack link shown in the video?
I have all the rack stuff linked in my network update video ruclips.net/video/WRQxEPmC5Ac/видео.html 👍
I head that there is an option to add G4 Pro to Synology surveillance station using RSTP link, I just installed G4 pro, haven’t tried it yet.
I haven’t either. Seems like a viable option if it works.
I have no luck on getting these. Do you have any other recommendations for cameras with great microphones?
Why not use the RTSP and backup to Synology surveillance?
So how good do the cameras work in cold weather? I’m looking at installing several G4 pro cameras on my house but not sure if they will shutdown or stop working in the winter with Northern Indiana winters.
They work fine in the cold. They've held up over the Utah winters. 👍
I was hoping to see what notifications are like in the app when you're away from home. Are you able to see a preview or still shot of the motion it detected?
At the time I made this video, the still shots were not showing. Thankfully through updates that is now available. Yes I see them on my Apple Watch and iPhone. 👍
Great video. How is the application to view the camera when you are away from your house. Does the app bring up the live view quickly.
It's decent. Sometimes it struggles. I'd like it to be faster. I got the NVR to see if it speeds it up - video on that experience soon 👍
@@TomasVillegas great thanks. And please let us know if that helps and if you can show on next video in real time to pull up a camera in live view. Keep up the good work
How and where did you find a junction box that fit the camera base?
I just went with a 2 gang junction box for the G4 Bullets. 👍
Very poor install that violates electrical code. You can't run low voltage and high voltage wires through the same holes. 1) if the wires get nicked you energize the cat5.. and you create interference running them along side each other.
Thanks for the feedback.
Good detailed video!
Thanks for watching 🤝
Is there lag when you’re using the Timelapse feature for the G4 Pro? Especially with the UNVR, not the UNVR Pro.
I don't have the UNVR so there is a bit of lag when I initially connect.
The pipe you ran outside the garage looks...okay...but you should install a few 2 hole clips ...it probably looks ike a bannaana by now if you havent yet...
I secured them to the stucco like I mentioned in the video shortly after publishing this video. Definitely know that banana would've been reality if I didn't 😂
Great video. And how fast does the unifi protect app work on the phone to bring up the live view is it fast
It's not as fast as Nest and sometimes it's slow. But it's nothing that has made me regret my decision to get away from subscription service.
I love these cameras except protect on udm pro.
Protect while viewing your cameras always chooses the lowest resolution unless you choose a particular camera and manually change it's resolution.
You need to change resolution every time you start Protect 😒
UDP Pro = Don't push past 15 G3's but when you add G4's, number drops. The UDM Pro is quickly showing signs of grossly under-powered. Recording playback becomes a turd and thats with a WD Black HDD.
VLAN's are a must if you have a somewhat bigger network as even the UniFi cameras are network noise makers. UNVR4 and dual NIC's should be the minimum for anyone doing anything bigger than Home.
Sadly, there are many cameras for way less $$$ that outperform the G4 Pro's.
As we are biulding our first home & i also went with unifi access for all 4 external doors I decided to go with the full unifi stack.
I work for a fairly large company and we have some old and some new NVR's around and by far the ones that give us the least grief are the Unifi protect setups
my only regret about going all unifi is the UDM pro really sucks I am seriously debating switching back to pf sense and just having the udm pro behind NAT
I have found that the whole of unifi os runs in podman on the udm pro so i am hoping somebody out there will eventually rip the containers and let people run them on other hardware.
This is really what keeps me from buying the g4's.. I don't see what is so great shout them. Especially at that price point.
what is the website to be able to see your cameras on your desktop ?
Working to get my own system set up and currently trying to find how to disable the Lens Correction to open up the field of view as you say in the video. Can't find it anywhere!! Please Help.
It's in the settings of each camera. Check there.
Nice review
Thanks for watching 🤝
I have some unifi g3 i bought. didnt realize how old they were. What software should i be using
I think Unifi Protect is where you want to start 🤷♂️
does anybody know if there is a way to record live video on demand?
Great video, but towards the end this would have been so much cleaner to have gone into the attic. Running any wire on the outside of a wall is a big nope. Please make sure to clean those wires so they cannot reach any other gear inside the home, or the internet.
It would have been, but the insulation kept me out of the attic 😅
Where in Utah are you with a Comcast data cap?! I've lived here my entire life and never had one.
Northern Utah and they implemented a data cap back in 2016.
2024 and ubiquity gear is still always sold out or on backorder
If you set up a stock notification on their site you’re more likely than not to be able to get what you need. I agree I’m not sure why their stock fluctuates like that.
Question: how can I also get sponsored by Nike? 🤣 Great video!
Answer: send them an email.
Thank you 👊
I stayed as far away from electric lines as possible. That only invites issues.
Are you saying you can not down load indiviual videos from Protect and sav on you PC?
You have to set the parameters of the clip then download. I'm used to having accessible files.
Kinda random, but you sound just like Norm Macdonald (He played Lucky the dog in Dr. Doolittle)
👀
22:33 the resolution is 1440p
For that price I can get a 16ch Nvr with 16 4k cameras with nighttime color… Just saying
You almost got me just about absolutely convinced not to buy Ubiquiti cameras. Literally the only thing that I care about is people detection, most detection is worthless. Absolutely worthless. To defeat a camera, all you need to do is wear a mask, ski mask or hat covering your face and it renders the camera useless. In my case I've got grandchildren and I'm concerned about them getting out or going around the pool and I want people detection notification when I get a delivery at the door because we get an obscene mount of Amazon and other deliveries.
I'm like you but I hired someone to run all of our CAT-6 wires to the soffits through our attic space. I ran enough for nine cameras for a cost of $1,200 which is a drop in the bucket. Also ran a few data drops and ceiling drops for APs
I'm considering Amcrest AI 4K turret cameras, along with a Synology NAS. Looked at QNAP but as of right now it doesn't support the AI cameras. Amcrest offers the true color option for some of their AI cameras.
Complain about it as people might. I really like my Google Nest Doorbell and its people detection has been pretty phenomenal actually. I've got symmetrical gigabit internet with no data caps. $70 a year is a pizza and wings.
No redundancy or retention. Why?
I prefer Hikvision thanks.
Cool 👍
i just spend $14000 Aud on 18G4 Pros 4x 8TB Drives and a UNVR I really hope I dont need the UNVR Pro
The only benefit to the UNVR Pro is the 3 more drive bays. Otherwise they perform the same. You're looking at roughly 24TB of storage, so you'll only get about 3 weeks worth of footage if you leave the camera at the default 8.4mbps.
To get 30 days, you would need 4x12TB drives. The UNVR Pro could have been 7x6TB. The UNVR Pro setup would have cost about the same as the UNVR + 4x12TB drives, if not a little cheaper.
@@Duke.Chocula I was hoping to squeeze 30 days out of it but as soon as it’s all installed and been running a while I will start tweaking
Thanks for letting me know though
@@Duke.Chocula Another benefit of the UNVR Pro over the UNVR is the pro has a small solid state drive. The UNVR uses a USB thumb drive and they are much more likely to fail over time. There are posts online about the issue. I also own both of them. The pro has the ports on the front, which for some OCD people is a big deal. Nice video, also my daughter said cool background!
@@detroitwwraps I am not a huge fan of the ports on the front. I would have rather them forgone the screen and front ports and added another drive bay.
In terms of the USB Flash Drive, I've only seen 1 post about it online with a user reporting they've had 2 bad units.
I hope in the future they turn on the ability to stack units (like they claim they're adding) and would be cool if they would add some NAS capability but I'm not too sure the hardware can support it in terms of network speeds.
14K doesnt even cover the cameras so you must have some figures out or it fell off the back of the truck.
Hope you figure out the bugs like I had to with Protect as that is huge amount of data stream to record while it potentially will create other networing games for you, been there, done that.
You say expensive, but comparing a medium to large business system from Axis or comparable company would costs much more. I do agree with vendor lock comment though you are absolutely correct however most surveillance companies started that way too especially access control companies and they ended up changing. I like owning my video, most of those cloud systems "ring" (don't get me wrong I have a ring doorbell) you do NOT own the video. With Unifi you own the video always and the only thing you need the cloud for is so you don't need to be a network engineer to gain easy access to manage your system and keep it updated.
That’s true when considering commercial options if CCTV for home use. Those systems get really expensive in comparison.
Thanks for the comment 🤝
Those nasty spiders really love to web in front of cameras don't they?
Around my area in the summer I have to clean them off with a web brush roughly once a week. I think it’s the warmth of the camera.
Looked good until 12:51 - that's gross. why spend time and money getting it all plastered and looking nice to do that to it.... and outside - double junction box and external conduit come on man looks terrible.
These are PoE, so it's literally only 1 cable a camera. That's a lot of conduit ect for 1 cable! The better way would have been to run all the cable for all the cameras on that level internal to a center point in the ceiling space and then run them all together down an internal wall to the basement alongside other cables already going there. Would be neat and tidy with nothing to see externally!
And don't get me started on the network rack 😛
On a positive note - Your explain things well, wish i knew what wattage your PoE switch was thou
We're all entitled to an opinion. Beauty of RUclips is I put my work out there to be critiqued by the world. 👍
how often does the spider web thing happen
In the warmer months quite often.
It s just to expensive for what it offers...camera wise but udm is very good ,not a big fan of these locked and limited ecosystem
It being locked made it a pretty difficult choice for me too.
paint the clasp. such a lazy detail for a great job.
Never would accept to have such ugly electric boxes and conduits onto my house. I understand it's not always possible to have wires in-wall, but then at least use more esthaetic conduits. At least we have them in Europe... Black as well as two shades of grey, white and beige PVC conduits. Boxes as well.
Can’t win them all. I guess good thing it’s not on your home. 🤷♂️
Appreciate the feedback nonetheless. 👍
lol, looks horrible, cables just nailed to the wall, going diagonal...
Good thing it's not your garage 😂
They're downgrading everything. Every single time.
Useless field of view.