I Switched My Network to Unifi and I’m Hooked

Having utilized respective brands of networking cogwheel implicit the years, I precocious made the power to Unifi. With a full ecosystem astatine my disposal now, and afloat managed networking astatine my fingertips, I'm not going back.

What’s So Special About Unifi?

Ubiquity is an enterprise-grade networking institution for the masses. The Unifi sub-brand focuses much connected the prosumer broadside of things, portion Amplifi is designed for those who privation a much plug-and-play solution.

All Unifi switches connection astatine slightest furniture 2 management, allowing for VLANs (virtual section country network), larboard isolation, and more. The Unifi wireless entree points are the same, delivering some aggregate SSIDs and afloat lawsuit isolation options wrong the absorption interface.

VLANs and lawsuit isolation are 1 of the biggest things that Unifi has to offer. While successful the endeavor world, these functions are well-known, Unifi truly ushered them into the user marketplace with an easy-to-use UI.

Unifi's routers besides connection full zone-based firewall configuration, which enactment successful tandem with the VLANs to assistance support your web protected. Often, to get a decently configurable firewall, you person to bargain a abstracted web appliance, but Unifi builds it in.

In summation to each that, Unifi cogwheel is typically high-quality and uses premium components. This helps summation the worth proposition, and besides the longevity of the switches, routers, entree points, and more. I cognize galore radical moving Unifi cogwheel that's implicit a decennary aged with nary problems.

The biggest happening that makes Unifi truthful special, though, is the ecosystem. All of Unifi's cogwheel works flawlessly wrong its ecosystem, and they've adjacent opened it up to let extracurricular devices to enactment large with it too.

Offering a afloat scope of products, including routers, switches, NAS systems, NVRs, entree control, VoIP phones, and overmuch more, Unifi is simply a one-stop store for some location and SMB users.

What Made Me Switch to Unifi?

I've wanted to power to Unifi for years. Many years. While the crushed utilized to beryllium "All the chill kids tally Unifi!," that's changed implicit clip into a real, existent crushed wherefore I wanted to tally Unifi: VLANs.

While Unifi isn't the lone institution that offers VLANs, I truly bask buying into an ecosystem that has a batch of idiosyncratic enactment and provides a beauteous interface. I cognize that I could person gone the way of an older Cisco oregon a Mikrotik switch, TP-Link Omada, oregon immoderate fig of different brands. But, the ecosystem of Unifi truly drew maine in.

With VLANs and the zone-based firewall, I'm going to beryllium capable to segregate my web into small chunks. Each chunk of the web volition person circumstantial entree successful oregon out. My IoT network, for instance, functions some wirelessly connected 2.4GHz and wired implicit Ethernet. This is really 1 of the different things I emotion astir Unifi. I'm capable to marque my IoT web 2.4GHz only, alternatively of 2.4, 5, and 6GHz similar the different networks. This helps to alleviate web postulation connected those different bands to escaped up bandwidth for my different devices. Plus, acknowledgment to the IoT VLAN, I'm capable to segregate those astute devices distant from my superior network, whether they're connected wirelessly oregon wired.

Doing this means that, if an IoT instrumentality I ain is hacked, it tin lone entree different IoT devices connected my network. It's blocked from accessing my computers and different devices that I own. Just past year, 3D printers were getting hacked. I person a Bambu Labs A1 mini, and I privation it connected to the internet, conscionable not each the devices connected my location network.

The mode that VLANs tin beryllium acceptable up with Unifi allows maine to assistance my desktop (a trusted computer) entree to the 3D printer connected the IoT web (an untrusted device), but not vice versa. So I'm inactive capable to pass with the 3D printer from my computer, and it tin adjacent respond back. But, the 3D printer cannot initiate connection to my computer, helping support my web much unafraid than it was before.

Another large diagnostic is that I tin person a abstracted impermanent network, wherever I person a batch much power than a emblematic Wi-Fi router gives you. I tin acceptable velocity limits connected the impermanent network, take to either isolate it from my main web oregon not, springiness it a antithetic subnet, and more.

Typically, impermanent networks are wholly segregated from each different web activity. With Unifi, I tin take to bash that, oregon I tin take to springiness the impermanent web constricted entree to my printer connected its ain VLAN, should I choose. The magnitude of power that Unifi offers is 1 of the main reasons I wanted to power my location web implicit to it.

When the Unifi Dream Router 7 (also called the UDR7) was announced earlier this year, I knew that was my entranceway into the Unifi ecosystem.

The UDR7 allowed maine to person the afloat Unifi stack successful a compact portion that besides delivered Wi-Fi 7 and 6GHz enactment to my network. It has a 2.5Gb Ethernet power connected the back, a 10Gb SFP+ port, and a singular PoE+ port. It is capable to beryllium the cardinal hub to my Unifi network.

In summation to the UDR7, I besides got an older Wi-Fi 5 entree constituent used, a utilized 48-port 500W PoE switch, and the newer Flex Mini 2.5G Ethernet switch.

Being afloat successful the Unifi ecosystem allows maine to tally a wholly managed web now. I tin negociate each Ethernet instrumentality connected my 48-port switch, arsenic good arsenic each of my wireless devices. I tin besides bask whole-home Wi-Fi sum with mesh networking, wherever I tin easy upgrade my older Wi-Fi 5 AP to Wi-Fi 7 astatine a moment's notice. Or, adjacent regenerate with Wi-Fi 7E oregon Wi-Fi 8 down the road.

The Unifi ecosystem is what brought maine in, and it's what volition support me.

I‘m Now a Unifi User for Life

Now that I'm successful the Unifi world, I don't spot myself ever leaving. While I won't usage each the products, I volition likely, implicit time, follow rather a few.

Things similar the UNAS-PRO, a NAS strategy from Unifi, is thing that I don't spot myself ever getting since I tally my ain servers for that. However, things similar the UNVR, a web video recorder, I bash spot successful my aboriginal arsenic I grow the PoE cameras astir the house.

I besides emotion however seamlessly it integrates wrong itself, and however casual it is to upgrade. Right now, my PoE power lone does PoE+, and it lone does Gigabit speeds. However, I tin easy conscionable swap that retired for a multi-gig power successful the future, oregon 1 with much PoE powerfulness if I need. Same with the entree points, I tin conscionable unplug my Wi-Fi 5 entree constituent and plug successful a Wi-Fi 7 1 and transcript my settings over, having faster wireless networking successful conscionable a fewer minutes.

The Unifi ecosystem is truthful robust that it tin grip thing my location networking needs. It's besides robust capable to grip tiny to mean concern networking, too. My religion is getting acceptable to physique a caller gathering connected a caller property, and we're going to beryllium installing Unifi passim the field to grip each of our networking, security, camera, and more.

It'll beryllium bully that I'll beryllium moving Unifi some astatine location and astatine the church, arsenic I assistance negociate the IT there. I tin bring the acquisition that I person utilizing Unifi astatine location into the nonrecreational space, and it'll transverse over.

At the extremity of the day, Unifi offers premium products to grip each the networking tasks you could ever request successful a location (or SMB) setting. Unifi has been a person successful the location networking abstraction for many, galore years, and present handles my ain location network, and I don't spot that changing immoderate clip soon.