At around the 29:30 mark you guys are discussing, the single-point-of-failure issue ("If that goes down then everything goes down") - Whilst that is a valid concern, I think it blurs the boundary between domestic and business use. In a business, downtime is potential loss of revenue, whereas at home its more in the PIA category. I would argue that it would consume more time and effort to maintain multiple disparate systems (no SPoF) than it would be to manage an integrated (Unifi) system. Also, Unifi's simple backup and restore functionality makes it very cost-effective to mitigate against failure by having a cheaper Unifi model on the shelf, to which the latest backup can be restored in a recovery scenario - I run a ProMax but have a UCG-Ultra which will restore the network backup from the ProMax.
Hi Alan. Have you given any consideration to a suitable UPS for the UDM? I'm about to replace our less than adequate Sky router with a UDM Pro. I have a small Eaton Mini UPS on our ONT and one for the Sky router, but obviously that won't cut it with the UDM Pro. Just wondered if you're using a UPS and if so what have you got? Thanks.
I fell into the Ubiquity rabbit hole bc I wanted the security of VLANS to segregate smart home devices and keep thins separated from my PC & Synology DS923+. Near the end of June I installed a UCG Ultra, 3 AP6 Pro's, PoE 8 Lite, and 2 Flex Minis. I choose Unifi bc it is a full ecosystem, with easy installation of child devices to the UCG Ultra. The thing I enjoy most is the Unifi Design Center, so I knew exactly where to put my APs and the estimate for Cat6 cable was accurate (though when routing cable in the Design Center I did compensate for the cathedral ceiling & height of the cable above the ceiling). After my daughter & her husband will build a house in about 2 years when are out of the Army...I have already began saving money for them to have a rack with the UDM Pro SE, AP7's, cameras, Etherlighting, blah, blah, blah. haha My only regret for this project was beginning the summer in Arkansas, when it was so hot near the end of running Cat6 cable that even with a good fan my time limit in the attic became 10-12 minutes max!
Oooof - that sounds hot! I haven't fallen into the etherlighting rabbit hole yet - that seems a bit pointless to me, but it would be fun to just take myself off and go stare at my server rack's blinking lights!
@@HomeAutomationGuy I run a Pro Max 24 POE as my office switch and have to agree that watching the etherlighting can be a bit hypnotic - especially when I have finished for the evening and turn off the office lights 😀- That being said, the Pro Max is a really good switch regardless of any views about the etherlighting. Having lived with it for the better part of a year, I would make the argument that the etherlighting is excellent for checking the connection speeds at a glance. My previous switch had the standard connection-speed LEDs below their equivalent socket and this made it more difficult to check speeds. I have the switch in a floor standing 12U cabinet which meant that the LEDs were hidden from my usual line-of-sight. With the etherlighting, the whole plug lights up so no problems seeing what's what. Trivial argument I agree, but don't write off the ProMax range because the etherlighting doesn't float your boat.
The door access “added it to my basket then removed it so many times”. That made me laugh. I buy a lot of stuff on Amazon and there if you add something and then have second thoughts but don’t want to completely delete it you can do a “save for later” that moves it to a list just below the basket so that you can easily find it again and put it back into your basket with one click. I use that a fair bit when I’m on the fence about something and then often move on to some better solution and forget about it so it’s sometimes really funny when I do go and look at my saved-for-later list and find a load of junk from years ago that I almost bought and for a lot of it, seen years later, it’s a case of “what on earth was I thinking?”. Not that I would put the Ubiquity door access stuff in that category of course, that does look like good stuff.
My takeaway from this video is that I'm keeping what I have. When I built my home, I wired Ethernet to any, and every, location I thought may someday have a TV or other connected device. None of my streaming TV content is wireless. I only use WiFI when absolutely necessary. I rely on Lutron Caseta for lighting control so those devices are hidden from my network. My numerous surveillance cameras are all PoE and are directly connected to a stand-alone NVR so that traffic is also off my network. I implemented a mesh WiFi system and don't use my Internet providers router. All these mesh devices use a hardwired backhaul. I had a multi-decade career in IT infrastructure, but don't see my situation warrants Unifi or anything else like it. I agree its a good solution for SMB but that's not my situation at home. At the 26:00 mark, it was mentioned that introducing Unifi (or something similar) might actually be worse than some consumer-oriented product due to the steeper learning curve. I fully agree. "Is the juice worth the squeeze?" In my case it's not. Thanks for the video.
I'm in the final planning stages of a smart home and security system I'm going for RioLink PoE cameras and NVR purely to keep them off network, so the only data that I'll be using is when somebody is actively viewing a stream of the camera, which is unlikely to coincide with people in the household gaming, so they'll be reduced degradation of service, that cloud-based systems like Nest or on-network systems like UniFi could introduce Everything else will be administered via Home Assistant to mainly Zigbee devices, As I swap out all of my Wi-Fi ones I would like a Unifi managed setup, but without Unifi costs , so I'm looking for alternatives which don't have this enormous barrier to entry
@@chrisc_1012 This is the way. My systems are as local as I can have them, cloud connections only used for backup and offsite copies. Security system, cameras, garage door, and appliance/energy monitors are managed on-prem with Home Assistant handling automation. Reolink POE cameras (along with a few of the battery powered) and NVR provide coverage of the property (I do have a Frigate install and some other niceties but totally optional). Tablets on different levels of the home along with mobile dashboards provide access to everything. My neighbor has a UniFi install with UDM and HomeKit and I'm confident we're near parity but he's at triple (or more) the cost of my setup.
I went with Omada kit, probably for daft reasons but it's been decent so far. Got a controller, 3 APs and 2 of their switches so far. Have a multi wan router to go in but that's gonna be a task to install.
I am not sure I completely agree with you regarding Google WiFi, I have had it literally for years and I would add trouble free years, I have great coverage throughout the house. Sure there are some caveats, for example I can't set up a vlan, but then I have not looked into it that much either. Whilst I do admit I would like a Unifi set up, it is expensive, and from what I hear in your video, setting it up is not for novices. Maybe this is an opportunity for you to make a slow, detailed video on how to set up such things on Unifi with IOT devices, Streaming Dongles and Home Assistant.
I have the cloud gateway ultra and 4 access point. One for each floor and one for the garden and works really well. For now I use a POE switch from another company. The devices and the packaging are well made but a bit expensive. If I compare the CCTV I have Reolink NVR with the new 12 megapixel cameras for a fraction of the cost of UniFi
Just bought a system to replace my Xfinity provided equipment. NIGHT AND DAY difference. Arris S33 Modem Cloud Gateway Max U7 Pro USW Flex 2.5G 5-Port Switch Now I need to run Ethernet to all my rooms with some managed switches and we will be in business! Probably should put another AP upstairs but right now everything is sooooo much smoother than before.
UniFi is a terrible financial decision.... once you start, you can't stop! I have about 30 UniFi devices and I'm getting more. E.g. I'm about to implement their doorbell fingerprint scanner to unlock my house w/out a key...
At around the 29:30 mark you guys are discussing, the single-point-of-failure issue ("If that goes down then everything goes down") - Whilst that is a valid concern, I think it blurs the boundary between domestic and business use. In a business, downtime is potential loss of revenue, whereas at home its more in the PIA category. I would argue that it would consume more time and effort to maintain multiple disparate systems (no SPoF) than it would be to manage an integrated (Unifi) system. Also, Unifi's simple backup and restore functionality makes it very cost-effective to mitigate against failure by having a cheaper Unifi model on the shelf, to which the latest backup can be restored in a recovery scenario - I run a ProMax but have a UCG-Ultra which will restore the network backup from the ProMax.
Hi Alan. Have you given any consideration to a suitable UPS for the UDM? I'm about to replace our less than adequate Sky router with a UDM Pro. I have a small Eaton Mini UPS on our ONT and one for the Sky router, but obviously that won't cut it with the UDM Pro. Just wondered if you're using a UPS and if so what have you got? Thanks.
I have an APC Back-UPS 1400VA that keeps my Unifi gear and my home server running for about 20 mins in the event of a power failure
I fell into the Ubiquity rabbit hole bc I wanted the security of VLANS to segregate smart home devices and keep thins separated from my PC & Synology DS923+.
Near the end of June I installed a UCG Ultra, 3 AP6 Pro's, PoE 8 Lite, and 2 Flex Minis. I choose Unifi bc it is a full ecosystem, with easy installation of child devices to the UCG Ultra.
The thing I enjoy most is the Unifi Design Center, so I knew exactly where to put my APs and the estimate for Cat6 cable was accurate (though when routing cable in the Design Center I did compensate for the cathedral ceiling & height of the cable above the ceiling).
After my daughter & her husband will build a house in about 2 years when are out of the Army...I have already began saving money for them to have a rack with the UDM Pro SE, AP7's, cameras, Etherlighting, blah, blah, blah. haha
My only regret for this project was beginning the summer in Arkansas, when it was so hot near the end of running Cat6 cable that even with a good fan my time limit in the attic became 10-12 minutes max!
Oooof - that sounds hot! I haven't fallen into the etherlighting rabbit hole yet - that seems a bit pointless to me, but it would be fun to just take myself off and go stare at my server rack's blinking lights!
@@HomeAutomationGuy I run a Pro Max 24 POE as my office switch and have to agree that watching the etherlighting can be a bit hypnotic - especially when I have finished for the evening and turn off the office lights 😀- That being said, the Pro Max is a really good switch regardless of any views about the etherlighting. Having lived with it for the better part of a year, I would make the argument that the etherlighting is excellent for checking the connection speeds at a glance. My previous switch had the standard connection-speed LEDs below their equivalent socket and this made it more difficult to check speeds. I have the switch in a floor standing 12U cabinet which meant that the LEDs were hidden from my usual line-of-sight. With the etherlighting, the whole plug lights up so no problems seeing what's what. Trivial argument I agree, but don't write off the ProMax range because the etherlighting doesn't float your boat.
Thanks for bringing these guys on for feedback. The 3 of you do a great job sharing great information.
It's been fun chatting with them, glad you're enjoying it!
The door access “added it to my basket then removed it so many times”. That made me laugh.
I buy a lot of stuff on Amazon and there if you add something and then have second thoughts but don’t want to completely delete it you can do a “save for later” that moves it to a list just below the basket so that you can easily find it again and put it back into your basket with one click. I use that a fair bit when I’m on the fence about something and then often move on to some better solution and forget about it so it’s sometimes really funny when I do go and look at my saved-for-later list and find a load of junk from years ago that I almost bought and for a lot of it, seen years later, it’s a case of “what on earth was I thinking?”. Not that I would put the Ubiquity door access stuff in that category of course, that does look like good stuff.
My takeaway from this video is that I'm keeping what I have. When I built my home, I wired Ethernet to any, and every, location I thought may someday have a TV or other connected device. None of my streaming TV content is wireless. I only use WiFI when absolutely necessary. I rely on Lutron Caseta for lighting control so those devices are hidden from my network. My numerous surveillance cameras are all PoE and are directly connected to a stand-alone NVR so that traffic is also off my network. I implemented a mesh WiFi system and don't use my Internet providers router. All these mesh devices use a hardwired backhaul. I had a multi-decade career in IT infrastructure, but don't see my situation warrants Unifi or anything else like it. I agree its a good solution for SMB but that's not my situation at home. At the 26:00 mark, it was mentioned that introducing Unifi (or something similar) might actually be worse than some consumer-oriented product due to the steeper learning curve. I fully agree. "Is the juice worth the squeeze?" In my case it's not. Thanks for the video.
Sounds like you have a great set-up! If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
I'm in the final planning stages of a smart home and security system
I'm going for RioLink PoE cameras and NVR purely to keep them off network, so the only data that I'll be using is when somebody is actively viewing a stream of the camera, which is unlikely to coincide with people in the household gaming, so they'll be reduced degradation of service, that cloud-based systems like Nest or on-network systems like UniFi could introduce
Everything else will be administered via Home Assistant to mainly Zigbee devices, As I swap out all of my Wi-Fi ones
I would like a Unifi managed setup, but without Unifi costs , so I'm looking for alternatives which don't have this enormous barrier to entry
@@chrisc_1012 This is the way. My systems are as local as I can have them, cloud connections only used for backup and offsite copies. Security system, cameras, garage door, and appliance/energy monitors are managed on-prem with Home Assistant handling automation. Reolink POE cameras (along with a few of the battery powered) and NVR provide coverage of the property (I do have a Frigate install and some other niceties but totally optional). Tablets on different levels of the home along with mobile dashboards provide access to everything. My neighbor has a UniFi install with UDM and HomeKit and I'm confident we're near parity but he's at triple (or more) the cost of my setup.
@@chrisc_1012you are blabbing to yourself homie
@@Southsidegroovinnn Says the person replying to a months old comment
Is there any alternative to unifi? Unifi is top class but expensive. Is omada tp-link good? A little bit cheaper.
In my experience, TP-Link Omada is a solid choice. I wanted to mention it as an alternative in this episode, but I totally forgot!
Mikrotik is great if you want to get into the nitty gritty
buy once, cry once.
Fritzbox
I went with Omada kit, probably for daft reasons but it's been decent so far. Got a controller, 3 APs and 2 of their switches so far. Have a multi wan router to go in but that's gonna be a task to install.
I am not sure I completely agree with you regarding Google WiFi, I have had it literally for years and I would add trouble free years, I have great coverage throughout the house. Sure there are some caveats, for example I can't set up a vlan, but then I have not looked into it that much either. Whilst I do admit I would like a Unifi set up, it is expensive, and from what I hear in your video, setting it up is not for novices. Maybe this is an opportunity for you to make a slow, detailed video on how to set up such things on Unifi with IOT devices, Streaming Dongles and Home Assistant.
I have the cloud gateway ultra and 4 access point. One for each floor and one for the garden and works really well. For now I use a POE switch from another company. The devices and the packaging are well made but a bit expensive. If I compare the CCTV I have Reolink NVR with the new 12 megapixel cameras for a fraction of the cost of UniFi
Yep, the Reolink NVR is great!
Just bought a system to replace my Xfinity provided equipment. NIGHT AND DAY difference.
Arris S33 Modem
Cloud Gateway Max
U7 Pro
USW Flex 2.5G 5-Port Switch
Now I need to run Ethernet to all my rooms with some managed switches and we will be in business! Probably should put another AP upstairs but right now everything is sooooo much smoother than before.
It's such a nice feeling having reliable internet and network access everywhere!
i think the access points are worth the money and I like the switches but I wouldn't use them for a router.
I'd love to know what you'd use instead?
@@HomeAutomationGuy right now I use an Turris Omnia but i'm looking at switching to a box that runs opnsense
UniFi is a terrible financial decision.... once you start, you can't stop! I have about 30 UniFi devices and I'm getting more. E.g. I'm about to implement their doorbell fingerprint scanner to unlock my house w/out a key...
I definitely agree with this statement 🤣