I Switched My Network to Unifi and I’m Hooked

Having used a number of manufacturers of networking gear through the years, I just lately made the swap to Unifi. With an entire ecosystem at my disposal now, and totally managed networking at my fingertips, I am not going again.

What’s So Particular About Unifi?

Ubiquity is an enterprise-grade networking firm for the lots. The Unifi sub-brand focuses extra on the prosumer facet of issues, whereas Amplifi is designed for individuals who desire a extra plug-and-play resolution.

All Unifi switches provide at the very least layer two administration, permitting for VLANs (virtual local area network), port isolation, and extra. The Unifi wireless access points are the identical, delivering each a number of SSIDs and full consumer isolation choices throughout the administration interface.

VLANs and consumer isolation are one of many greatest issues that Unifi has to supply. Whereas within the enterprise world, these capabilities are well-known, Unifi actually ushered them into the buyer market with an easy-to-use UI.

Unifi’s routers additionally provide full zone-based firewall configuration, which work in tandem with the VLANs to assist preserve your community protected. Typically, to get a correctly configurable firewall, you need to purchase a separate community equipment, however Unifi builds it in.

Along with all that, Unifi gear is usually high-quality and makes use of premium elements. This helps improve the worth proposition, and likewise the longevity of the switches, routers, entry factors, and extra. I do know many individuals operating Unifi gear that is over a decade outdated with no issues.

The most important factor that makes Unifi so particular, although, is the ecosystem. All of Unifi’s gear works flawlessly inside its ecosystem, they usually’ve even opened it as much as permit outdoors units to work nice with it too.

Providing a full vary of merchandise, together with routers, switches, NAS techniques, NVRs, entry management, VoIP telephones, and way more, Unifi is a one-stop store for each residence and SMB customers.

What Made Me Change to Unifi?

I’ve wished to change to Unifi for years. A few years. Whereas the rationale was once “All of the cool children run Unifi!,” that is modified over time into an actual, precise motive why I wished to run Unifi: VLANs.

Whereas Unifi is not the one firm that gives VLANs, I actually take pleasure in shopping for into an ecosystem that has a number of consumer assist and supplies a fairly interface. I do know that I may have gone the route of an older Cisco or a Mikrotik swap, TP-Hyperlink Omada, or any variety of different manufacturers. However, the ecosystem of Unifi actually drew me in.

With VLANs and the zone-based firewall, I am going to have the ability to segregate my community into little chunks. Every chunk of the community may have particular entry in or out. My IoT community, as an example, capabilities each wirelessly on 2.4GHz and wired over Ethernet. That is really one of many different issues I like about Unifi. I will make my IoT community 2.4GHz solely, as an alternative of two.4, 5, and 6GHz like the opposite networks. This helps to alleviate community site visitors on these different bands to unencumber bandwidth for my different units. Plus, because of the IoT VLAN, I will segregate these sensible units away from my major community, whether or not they’re related wirelessly or wired.

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Doing because of this, if an IoT machine I personal is hacked, it might solely entry different IoT units on my community. It is blocked from accessing my computer systems and different units that I personal. Simply final 12 months, 3D printers were getting hacked. I’ve a Bambu Labs A1 mini, and I would like it related to the web, simply not all of the units on my residence community.

The best way that VLANs might be arrange with Unifi permits me to grant my desktop (a trusted pc) entry to the 3D printer on the IoT community (an untrusted machine), however not vice versa. So I am nonetheless in a position to talk with the 3D printer from my pc, and it might even reply again. However, the 3D printer can’t provoke communication to my pc, serving to preserve my community safer than it was earlier than.

One other nice characteristic is that I can have a separate visitor community, the place I’ve much more management than a typical Wi-Fi router provides you. I can set pace limits on the visitor community, select to both isolate it from my most important community or not, give it a special subnet, and extra.

Usually, visitor networks are utterly segregated from all different community exercise. With Unifi, I can select to do this, or I can select to provide the visitor community restricted entry to my printer by itself VLAN, ought to I select. The quantity of management that Unifi gives is without doubt one of the most important causes I wished to change my residence community over to it.

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When the Unifi Dream Router 7 (additionally referred to as the UDR7) was introduced earlier this 12 months, I knew that was my entrance into the Unifi ecosystem.

The UDR7 allowed me to have the complete Unifi stack in a compact unit that additionally delivered Wi-Fi 7 and 6GHz assist to my community. It has a 2.5Gb Ethernet swap on the again, a 10Gb SFP+ port, and a singular PoE+ port. It is ready to be the central hub to my Unifi community.

Along with the UDR7, I additionally obtained an older Wi-Fi 5 entry level used, a used 48-port 500W PoE swap, and the newer Flex Mini 2.5G Ethernet swap.

Being totally within the Unifi ecosystem permits me to run a very managed community now. I can handle every Ethernet machine on my 48-port swap, in addition to all of my wi-fi units. I also can take pleasure in whole-home Wi-Fi protection with mesh networking, the place I can simply improve my older Wi-Fi 5 AP to Wi-Fi 7 at a second’s discover. Or, even exchange with Wi-Fi 7E or Wi-Fi 8 down the street.

The Unifi ecosystem is what introduced me in, and it is what is going to preserve me.

I‘m Now a Unifi Consumer for Life

Now that I am within the Unifi world, I do not see myself ever leaving. Whereas I will not use all of the merchandise, I’ll possible, over time, undertake fairly a couple of.

Issues just like the UNAS-PRO, a NAS system from Unifi, is one thing that I do not see myself ever getting since I run my own servers for that. Nevertheless, issues just like the UNVR, a community video recorder, I do see in my future as I develop the PoE cameras round the home.

I additionally love how seamlessly it integrates inside itself, and the way straightforward it’s to improve. Proper now, my PoE swap solely does PoE+, and it solely does Gigabit speeds. Nevertheless, I can simply simply swap that out for a multi-gig swap sooner or later, or one with extra PoE energy if I want. Similar with the entry factors, I can simply unplug my Wi-Fi 5 entry level and plug in a Wi-Fi 7 one and duplicate my settings over, having quicker wi-fi networking in just some minutes.

The Unifi ecosystem is so strong that it might deal with something my residence networking wants. It is also strong sufficient to deal with small to medium enterprise networking, too. My church is on the brink of construct a brand new constructing on a brand new property, and we’ll be putting in Unifi all through the campus to deal with all of our networking, safety, digicam, and extra.

It’s going to be good that I will be operating Unifi each at residence and on the church, as I assist handle the IT there. I can deliver the expertise that I’ve utilizing Unifi at residence into the skilled area, and it will cross over.

UniFi Dream Router 7

The Unifi Dream Router 7 is a full-fledged community equipment providing NVR capabilities, totally managed switching,a built-in firewall, VLANs, and extra. With 4 2.5G Ethernet ports (one with PoE+) and a 10G SFP+ port, the Unifi Dream Router 7 additionally options twin WAN capabilities ought to you’ve got two ISP connections. It features a 64GB microSD card for IP digicam storage, however might be upgraded for extra storage if wanted. With Wi-Fi 7, you’ll attain as much as a theoretical 5.7 Gbps community pace when utilizing the 10G SFP+ port, or 2.5 Gbps when utilizing Ethernet. 

On the finish of the day, Unifi gives premium merchandise to deal with all of the networking duties you could possibly ever want in a house (or SMB) setting. Unifi has been a pacesetter within the residence networking area for a lot of, a few years, and now handles my own residence community, and I do not see that altering any time quickly.