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Quick q: My understanding is that the unifi controller doesn't actually control anything actively, it just serves as UI to the APs. When my controller box goes

by creeble 10y ago

Quick q: My understanding is that the unifi controller doesn't actually control anything actively, it just serves as UI to the APs. When my controller box goes down, I don't seem to notice any service difference with my 3 APs. Is that true?

nikcub 10y ago
It doesn't need to be running unless you have guest portal. I recently moved my internal network to containers - forgot to move the controller and didn't even notice until weeks later.
elahd 10y ago
This is true. You don't need a dedicated box (at least for the simple configurations that I've run). A home user would be fine installing the controller software on their laptop and only launching it when changing config settings.
lvillani 10y ago
I just run the Unifi Controller on my Mac when I need to configure something and then shut it down. AFAIK some features (e.g. WiFi captive portal, if I remember correctly) require a Controller running full-time.
Freestyler_3 10y ago
We ran the controller in enterprise setup (100s of APs) for easy adopting of new devices and monitoring. It did add some functionality there, but for a home solution it does not need a controller at all.
cwisecarver 10y ago
They have some hardware that runs it's management interface on the device itself. Their UniFi and USG and some of their more prosumer-ish switches and stuff require you to run the UniFi Controller, which is web-based, on a computer. Our ops guys manage our 3 UniFi APs running the UniFi Controller on their individual laptops. If they need to change configuration they fire up the UniFi Controller and hit a webpage on their localhost. The devices, once configured, run independently of the UniFi Controller. It's just needed for configuration changes or monitoring outside of snmp. (or apparently the guest portal)
dawnerd 10y ago
Yeah don't need it all the time, but it's nice to have running since you can use their mobile app to make config changes without having to boot up a laptop or make sure the app is running.

by creeble 10y ago

nikcub 10y ago

It doesn't need to be running unless you have guest portal. I recently moved my internal network to containers - forgot to move the controller and didn't even notice until weeks later.

elahd 10y ago

This is true. You don't need a dedicated box (at least for the simple configurations that I've run). A home user would be fine installing the controller software on their laptop and only launching it when changing config settings.

lvillani 10y ago

I just run the Unifi Controller on my Mac when I need to configure something and then shut it down. AFAIK some features (e.g. WiFi captive portal, if I remember correctly) require a Controller running full-time.

Freestyler_3 10y ago

We ran the controller in enterprise setup (100s of APs) for easy adopting of new devices and monitoring. It did add some functionality there, but for a home solution it does not need a controller at all.

cwisecarver 10y ago

They have some hardware that runs it's management interface on the device itself. Their UniFi and USG and some of their more prosumer-ish switches and stuff require you to run the UniFi Controller, which is web-based, on a computer. Our ops guys manage our 3 UniFi APs running the UniFi Controller on their individual laptops. If they need to change configuration they fire up the UniFi Controller and hit a webpage on their localhost. The devices, once configured, run independently of the UniFi Controller. It's just needed for configuration changes or monitoring outside of snmp. (or apparently the guest portal)

dawnerd 10y ago

Yeah don't need it all the time, but it's nice to have running since you can use their mobile app to make config changes without having to boot up a laptop or make sure the app is running.