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Sort of, and sort of not. UniFi requires a controller that gives you a single pane of glass style interface to control everything. Most of their controllers ca
by CobaltFire 3y ago
Sort of, and sort of not.
UniFi requires a controller that gives you a single pane of glass style interface to control everything. Most of their controllers can run multiple applications, the top two being Network and Protect. Network runs their Routing, WiFi AP's, and Switches and gives you in depth data about what's going on where. Protect is their NVR system, which also does some AI stuff and ties into a few other things like Ring does.
This device is a bit low powered, so only runs Network; they do sell standalone NVR's that will tie into it and run Protect. The $50 more expensive UniFi Dream router is similar, but has a switch with POE built in to run a couple of AP's or cameras, and can run both Network and Protect (with caveats; it's not terribly powerful and it only saves Protect footage to an SD card).
So you can think of it as just a fancy AP, but it's also the base building block of a much larger ecosystem.
As a note, the weakest link of the system is, IMO, the routing. Running UniFi with a more professional router of choice is a common way to go.
- globular-toast 3y agoI don't get why anyone would want/need the Unifi controller but doesn't already have somewhere to run the controller. I just ran it on my NAS but presumably could be run on a Raspi or something.
- edmundsauto 3y agoI've seen this term used a lot lately, what does it mean? > single pane of glass style interface
- CobaltFire 3y agoThe simplest way to put it: Everything on one screen in a GUI with graphs. I THINK it comes from aviation, where the transition from steam gauges to MFDs to really big MFDs meant some massive UI changes. That may not be quite accurate, but it’s as close as my brain can do this late.
- atomicnumber3 3y agoIt just means a unified (sorry) UI that handles everything, instead of having say one system/UI for routing, another for LAN management, another for firewall, etc etc where nothing necessarily knows about the others.
- midasuni 3y agoTypically means Vendor lock-in. Certainly every company I talk to, from arista to unifi, are keen on it, for obvious reasons.