Ubiquiti UniFi Reviews

My major use case for Ubiquiti UniFi is enterprise Wi-Fi.

The most beneficial aspects of Ubiquiti UniFi are pricing, because it is significantly cheaper compared to major enterprise vendors such as Cisco, Aruba, or Fortinet. However, this lower cost comes with tradeoffs, as the product lacks some functionality that competitors offer.

The centralized management platform helps to streamline control over my networking infrastructure, though it is functional only up to a certain point.

The remote access feature in Ubiquiti UniFi is about security gateways, and without a security gateway, it is impossible to use it.

The major issue I see is connected with troubleshooting, which is my main concern. Troubleshooting capabilities are limited, and some advanced features are missing. For example, enterprise Wi-Fi solutions include features that help administrators handle many sleeping devices that are connected but doing nothing while still utilizing airtime. As more of these devices connect, the harder it becomes for active devices using the Wi-Fi, which impacts their performance. More expensive solutions provide functionality to handle this, but Ubiquiti UniFi does not.

I do not use the real-time statistics feature, so it does not help with my network monitoring.

While the solution is scalable, I have about 30 sites in my enterprise, and it is difficult to quickly locate which site a particular device is connected to. Ubiquiti UniFi cannot answer this question efficiently, and I have to switch between network sites one by one to find the device.

I do use guest management and client isolation, though I do not use hotspot features because my enterprise does not need them.

The impact of Ubiquiti UniFi VLAN setup on my network traffic management is straightforward and simple. Access points work in bridge mode, not in tunnel mode, which the system does not support. I configure a trunk port for every port where the Wi-Fi access point is connected and that is all.

From a technical standpoint, Aruba, Fortinet, and Juniper are higher in capability because they operate at a different level that I cannot compare.

Some advanced features are missing, particularly handling sleeping devices. This is the most critical example because managing 50 connected devices where 45 are doing nothing and just utilizing airtime is complicated. I want to handle this in some way, and Ubiquiti UniFi does not support this feature or help in any manner.

I have been using Ubiquiti UniFi for more than five years.

The solution sometimes misbehaves and takes some time to troubleshoot, but this does not occur very often. In my enterprise of 30 sites, in a year, maybe up to three access points out of 300 malfunction.

The solution is quite scalable, but it becomes harder to switch between multiple sites to find a single device.

The initial setup of Ubiquiti UniFi is quite simple and straightforward. The network controller can be installed in various ways. It can be installed as a virtual machine, as an application on Windows, Linux, or Mac, or in a container. It also comes as a hardware appliance that can be connected with a single cable and supports PoE-in. It comes in many configurations and is very easy to set up.

In the beginning, I compared Ubiquiti UniFi with Aruba, Fortinet, and Juniper, and in terms of pricing, Ubiquiti UniFi is the cheapest among those options.

I currently work with Fortinet products like FortiGate and FortiSwitch, though I do not have experience with FortiAP in the past two years. I am planning to buy the FortiSwitch Data Center in a few months. I work with both Ubiquiti Wireless and Ubiquiti UniFi products, as Ubiquiti UniFi is the broader platform. I am a client of Ubiquiti, not a partner, integrator, or service provider.

Ubiquiti UniFi is saving money, and I recommend it as a good solution for the beginning. However, if your enterprise grows really fast, be ready to replace it at some point.

On a scale from zero to ten points, where ten is the best, I would give Ubiquiti UniFi a rating of six points.

I am using Ubiquiti UniFi exclusively for their video system, as I removed their wireless components.

I utilize UniFi Protect, which is their video solution. They offer video cameras, Wi-Fi, and switches, but I only maintain their UniFi Protect.

I don't monitor the network with the UniFi controller software; it's solely for our parking and security, with about 30 cameras in the unit, making it a set-it-and-forget-it solution that I appreciate.

The advantage of Ubiquiti UniFi is that you can have on-premise storage and avoid all cloud fees, allowing you to keep building your storage, adding more video storage units, and store video for up to three years and nine months without paying external fees.

You pay more upfront for Ubiquiti UniFi, but you don't receive substantial support, which is problematic. They previously provided setup support but discontinued this service, though you save money overall by not paying monthly fees.

I would rate Ubiquiti UniFi's support zero because they've always had inadequate support. Trying to get someone on the phone is nearly impossible, and although they now have a support plan, emergency help is frustratingly difficult to find when the company doesn't provide it.

I have had one of these units fail previously, but it doesn't require much maintenance. I simply removed the hard drives, recorded which slot they belonged in, then drove to a Ubiquiti facility where they exchanged my unit, and everything functioned properly afterward.

I used Ubiquiti UniFi Wi-Fi components but experienced numerous failures, which led me to switch to Ruckus for my Wi-Fi because the actual hardware malfunctioned, including three separate UniFi Wi-Fi controllers.

I don't have a single VLAN anywhere, despite my 30 plus years in IT experience.

I used Ubiquiti UniFi Wi-Fi components but experienced numerous failures, which led me to switch to Ruckus for my Wi-Fi because the actual hardware malfunctioned, including three separate UniFi Wi-Fi controllers.

I used Ubiquiti UniFi Wi-Fi components but experienced numerous failures, which led me to switch to Ruckus for my Wi-Fi because the actual hardware malfunctioned, including three separate UniFi Wi-Fi controllers.

I deploy Ubiquiti UniFi products on-premise only, not with any cloud service.

When I purchase Ubiquiti UniFi products, I don't waste time looking for a reseller; I directly search and buy from Amazon or Ubiquiti if they have inventory.

I rate Ubiquiti UniFi an eight out of ten.

My main use case for Ubiquiti UniFi is for small businesses, managing internet traffic of users and making sure that Wi-Fi is spread across the campus.

I manage internet traffic using Ubiquiti UniFi mainly for coverage and reliability, as it really helps in large warehouses getting from one side to the other and having a centralized management console that can see exactly who's connected to which AP.

I love the best features Ubiquiti UniFi offers, especially the user interface and the easy readability of the connected access points. The UI is beautiful, super easy to read, and very straightforward and intuitive, and the settings console and the advanced management options are just very clear on where you need to go and how to get there.

As for additional features, I wish all products were as intuitive as Ubiquiti UniFi, with usability right out of the box, just super straightforward. There is no configuration you need to do.

Ubiquiti UniFi has positively impacted my organization by eliminating any more outages for large file transfers across the warehouses and I have seen no issues whatsoever with the network since we started using Ubiquiti UniFi. I have received zero support tickets regarding network issues, which is huge.

Regarding improvements for Ubiquiti UniFi, I think the price point is super nice, and I don't think it can be improved.

I have been using Ubiquiti UniFi for more than five years.

Ubiquiti UniFi is stable.

My experience with Ubiquiti UniFi's reliability and uptime is that uptime has increased by a factor of three. We used to have outages all the time when we were just going through the service provider, but switching to Ubiquiti minimized all outages.

Ubiquiti UniFi's scalability is as easy as it gets.

In terms of scalability, Ubiquiti UniFi has made it absolutely easier to add new devices, and coverage expansion was quite nice from one end of the campus to the other.

The customer support for Ubiquiti UniFi has been excellent, as I have never had to reach out. It has been that good.

Before Ubiquiti UniFi, we were just using off-the-shelf access points and then the provider's integrated solution for the internet or the ISP, which was terrible.

I have seen a return on investment with Ubiquiti UniFi, as we were able to maintain our management with just an overarching individual handling the console. If anybody had issues, the support tickets would just go to them, allowing us to maintain what we had with less time spent troubleshooting and taking care of bigger things for expansion.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Ubiquiti UniFi was not too bad, as I think it was more simplified than I expected.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing Ubiquiti UniFi, as I researched enough to know that Ubiquiti UniFi covered my bases.

I would rate Ubiquiti UniFi a 10 because of ease of use, diminished support tickets, coverage across the campus for networking, and ease of use.

Ubiquiti UniFi has influenced my IT team's workflow by allowing me to solely manage the network infrastructure, making my life a lot easier without having to take care of outages on a regular basis.

I would describe the security features of Ubiquiti UniFi as having ease of use for setting up SSIDs for the APs, which is way nice, allowing me to rotate them on the spot and use the RADIUS service for authentication tied to people's username accounts instead of just having a Wi-Fi password.

The integration of Ubiquiti UniFi with other tools and systems in my organization has been so smooth.

My advice for others looking into using Ubiquiti UniFi is that the sky's the limit, as they have got everything.

I have additional thoughts about Ubiquiti UniFi, as I use it in my home and recommend it to other people as well, not just for business or supporting other businesses. I would rate this review a 10 out of 10.

Ubiquiti UniFi is the most cost-effective network (wired and wireless) solution on the market. I think the reason they are so cost effective is that their support model is community driven. If your needs are rather basic and you are willing to dig in and learn the solution, it will pay dividends for years to come. The advanced feature sets are lacking, but for small businesses, Ubiquiti UniFi checks most of the boxes for features required. Ubiquiti UniFi offers a lot of enhancements through software (which is free) as time goes on making the hardware a better value all the time. No support contracts required.

For switching and wireless, Ubiquiti UniFi is a hit, and as long as your requirements are pretty basic, Ubiquiti UniFi will make you look like a star with the bean counters. It's enterprise hardware for the price of happy homeowner equipment. We've deployed Unifi solutions in numerous small and medium sized businesses without and problems. With the cloud management each network can be managed from the same logon but different sites. Ubiquiti has two factor Authentication (2FA) to secure the cloud management.

The software developers at Ubiquiti are awesome. I think of Ubiquiti as a software company as much as a hardware solution. Ubiquiti offers a cloud-managed solution connecting to your controller that can be hosted locally, in the cloud, or on Ubiquiti's Cloud Key controller. 

They recently stated offering cloud managed hosting so you can use that as your controller for a montly subscription. There are also 3rd party solutions for this. You can manage multiple networks (sites) from the same cloud logon.

The weak link to Ubiquiti UniFi's solution is the gateway/firewall appliances. While they offers basic features, it doesn't have much above basic. Some of them are also underpowered to handle the advanced features that it does offer at Internet connection speeds above 250 Mbps. This has been resolved in most recent hardware upgrades. At most sites, we have installed alternate security appliance solutions to the Unifi's. This is slowly being addressed by Ubiquiti though.

Some end users will miss the advanced features and technical support. But considering the cost, this can be seen as a plus once you get your bearings on how to configure the equipment. For large enterprises used to the feature set of Cisco, Juniper, and the other big names, this is not a good solution. There are simply too many feature shortcomings for most large enterprises. 

If you need more advanced features, Ubiquiti offers another product line called EdgeMAX. It's not as advanced as Cisco and Juniper, but it is much closer. Ubiquiti has not released any new Edgemax products in a while. The lines future is unclear.

More than ten years.

Carrier-class stability. RMA is available while under warranty. The product is cheap enough to be able to afford cold spares.

Can be scaled out to large networks as long as your requirements are basic.

The community forums are very populated with others that are more than willing to help. The biggest concern with this is if you run into something that is a show stopper there is no one to call to get a fast resolution. The equipment is so cost effective you can afford to keep cold spares on a nearby shelf though.

Neutral

Previously we used Cisco small business solutions. The cloud management and price brought Ubiquiti to the front runner position.

Pretty straightforward. If you have network experience, the quick start guide will have you off and running and impressed in no time.

In-house. Ubiquiti was very simple to learn for me. If you are familiar with network systems you will be up and running in no time.

Ubiquiti is a value leader for those looking to dig in and learn a network solution that is pretty unique in the industry with regard to value and bang for the buck.

It's very cost effective! There is no licensing required with the Unifi product line.

Cisco small business equipment, Netgear.

Purchase one of each device (switch, AP, USG) and try them out in a lab environment with a PC based controller. They are so cost effective you will find them impressive. Ubiquiti was founded by a former Apple employee, Robert Pera, who was a wifi engineer at Apple. 

Provide WiFi and Networking to School and Business Campuses that are Clients of our MSP, because we manage the networks too we can't just install some equipment and walk away, we need to be able to quickly make changes. The UniFi line gives us that ability through the Cloud Management feature. We host our own cloud management server so we are not tied to the manufacture's whims, schedules, and changes. The software easily resides on other cloud-based servers we already had so the additional monthly cost is minimal. 

The cloud management has revolutionized the way we provide services to clients, onsite trips have almost ceased and once complicated changes are made in minutes.

In the old days, if I client needed a change we had to find a PC or Server we could use to access the switch, worse is if they were having problems you couldn't even tell if the switch was up, and you had to track all those IPs. With the Ubiquiti Unifi line the switch checks into the server, so if it has any ways of reaching the internet we can see what is going on.

Definitely Cloud management, to be able to monitor and work on remote equipment has saved us a fortune in travel and diagnostic time. And not just making changes, but being able to remotely power cycle and individual POE port has helped us troubleshoot issues that had nothing to do with the switches themselves. So say an AP or VOIP Phone is completely locked up, a quick search for the mac address, if the port isn't already labeled, lets us find the device and power cycle it without affecting any other devices.

Documentation could be improved, especially regarding known issues or new features. It relies heavily on the user community to provide support and info. There is a vast user group with support groups on both the dedicated forums as well as most social media platforms. So far we have been able to find solutions to all our issues but there is always the fear an issue will come up we can't resolve and we won't be able to reach out to the company directly. They do offer a subscription support service, but it doesn't make sense for the large number of devices we have.

We have been using the UniFi line of Ubiquiti products for the past few years, we moved over when Cloudtrax was purchased and closed the free cloud service offering.

We use this in sites from 6 ports to over 600 and have had no issues.

The one bad part, it is almost nonexistent and relies on a user community.

Negative

We came from the OpenMesh CloudTrax system, we liked it a lot but they were bought by Datto and the free cloud service went to $10 per device/month and that wasn't something we felt our clients would accept.

Very Simple once you get the cloud controller working.

In-House, support with Unifi is very minimal so you will need to know how to set it up yourself.

Well looking at other options at $10 per device a month our ROI is in the $1000s.

Take the time to read through the forums and groups first and you will learn some neat tricks, pricing is straight forward with no hidden costs so no surprises there. Play with it first before your first install, we actually build the whole network before a single piece of equipment goes onsite.

We came from OpenMesh so we kind of knew what we wanted, we looked at a few other options like Datto and Cisco but they were too expensive. We also looked at the ZyXEL cloud line but we found the command link was blocked by some of the firewalls we used.

Try it, you will be pleasantly surprised at all it does for such a low price.

We use the UniFi Security Gateway (USG) and the access points.

Normally, we use it to set up small scale networks. I have not implemented any large-scale corporate networks with it. Rather, they have been small to medium-sized. It is useful if they want to configure VLAN or implement VPN connectivity between two sites. The VPN can also be configuring using UniFi Wireless.

I like the centralized management console, where we can add all of the devices to the UniFi controller and then management them from a single point. When we are setting up a VLAN, we have to define a network and then add the ports to the particular profiles. After that, the configuration is finished. 

Security-wise, it has a lot of features.

The UniFi controller is user-friendly and it is very easy to manage.

This product is regularly updated, including firmware updates, which is something that I like. 

I don't like the concept of the QoS, Quality of Service configuration because it doesn't give very granular configuration access to prioritize network traffic. I am a Cisco CCNP and I know that in Cisco, we have more granular ways to define a quality of service, but I have found it quite difficult to do so in UniFi.

Some of the networking features are not very easy to configure.

I have been fully engaged with UniFi for the past year, although I have been working with it for almost two years.

UniFi is a stable solution.

This is product is scalable, although I haven't worked in a large-scale network.

I have eight clients who are using UniFi.

I have not had the opportunity to speak with the technical people, although the UniFi knowledge base is a very good reference. Initially, I read through the knowledge base and I consult it when I encounter issues. 

I have experience with a similar product by Cisco.

It is very easy to deploy UniFi, especially compared to other products. Setting up the whole network might take a couple of days, or if you have all of the products and work continuously, it might be done in a couple of hours.

When it comes to wireless access points, it is normally cloud-based.

When clients purchase this product, I normally help them to configure it.

UniFi is a product that I can recommend if it is a small or medium-sized network. Personally, with a medium-level network, I would definitely purchase UniFi for that.

I have not used the command-line option, but instead, I use the graphical interface. My understanding is that if you are good with the command line then it is easy to install.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Our primary use case for the solution is for our own office use. In addition, we've deployed it in a retirement village where we use it for tracking nurses as well as providing internet access for residents and staff. We deal with small to medium size enterprise companies. Our company are resellers and integrators, and I'm a company director. 

The most valuable feature is the functionality of the cloud key in terms of monitoring and managing the environment. If something's not working, we can remotely log on, fix an AP, change a password, implement upgrades, etc. It can all be done remotely. In general, the solution is reliable, trustworthy and generally works quite well. 

In terms of improvements, I would say that the software interfaces could be better, they can be somewhat lacking at times. There's also a lack of documentation. We work with distributors and they are the ones that supply support and solutions for us. There is currently no proper after-sales technical support from the company.

As mentioned, the product could be improved by including documentation which is currently insufficient. I would also recommend additional testing of software before new releases. The product needs more R & D in terms of their software.

I've been using this solution for about five years. 

Once you get over the initial setup the product is stable and works quite well. We've had some issues where devices automatically stop working and they need to be re-set. There have also been glitches in the firmware where a device stops working and then you can't find it in the application. It needs and it requires a hard reset. But on the whole, it's stable.

We use the local support rather than the Ubiquiti technical support. We have our own team to maintain the products.

The initial setup takes about one to two hours and is somewhat complex in the fact that there's no proper support in terms of out of the box or a manual, or any indication of where to find proper information, so they do need to work on documentation. 

Implementation needs to be done by a technical person. There are a lot of chat groups and forums online and you might find five or ten different solutions to resolve the issue but it's not coming from the company. From that aspect, we'd prefer a solution where more testing is done before they release the product. 

There are no licensing fees. When you buy the hardware it comes with the software so there's no annual fee. In South Africa to buy Ubiquiti the cost is around 1,900 Rand (approximately $USD100). 

My advice would be to research the solution first, set it up in a lab environment to make sure it's working fully before you approach a customer with it. It's a good product at a reasonable price, much better in terms of cost than Cisco which is very expensive. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of 10. 

The solution is primarily meant for internal office use. The solution has only one SSID, and there aren't normally restrictions on bandwidth, etc.

The central management is the solution's most valuable aspect.

There's an ability to keep out some users as well which can be very handy.

Overall, the suite of tools is quite useful.

The solution is straightforward and simple to use.

If I could manage the W-LAN or other items without a UniFi switch, that would be very helpful. I have not tried, but I think some options are tied to the hardware, like the Ubiquiti switch.

I've been using the solution for seven or eight years. Before I worked at my current company I was using it at my home and for some customers. I started using it originally around 2014 or 2015.

The solution is very stable. I must say that when we deploy some notch points, we never get feedback - neither negative nor positive. It's just transparent and it works. A client would only reply is something is not going well, so their silence is a sign that everything is good. Basically, we set it and forget it.

We haven't had any very big deployments yet. We might have one or two bigger ones this summer for some other companies. We are going to deploy 70 in one hotel, and maybe more than 200 in another company. We haven't extensively tested the limits of the solution's scalability yet.

I've never been in touch with technical support because I've never needed assistance.

I personally haven't used a different solution. However, another person in the office has used Google's version of the solution. We have tried to deploy it in the past, but the cost is really, really high so the customer rejected it.

If the customer wants only one or two access points, then it may be that he already has some consumer-level solution, like TP-Link, and we have to adapt to it. Normally, we only work with Ubiquiti and don't deploy other brands.

The initial setup was really straightforward.

Deployment only took a little bit of time, since I had some preset virtual machines to load for the customer. I simply had to connect the switches to the areas we were trying to reach and assign them and we were done. There was nothing much more to do beyond that.

I always update the solution to the latest version, so I think that 99% of our customers have the latest instance.

While the solution is on-premises, sometimes it has a remote login from the Ubiquiti Cloud. We're not on the cloud, we just use the login. 

I'd advise others considering using the solution to use a virtual machine. It's cheaper and simpler than using Ubiquiti Key. I don't know, with the integration of the cameras, if that's possible in all cases, however. In those cases, companies may have to use Ubiquiti Key.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Ubiquiti UniFi is used for deploying Wi-Fi connectivity for staff and students. All of the services have MAC bindings and are whitelisted, and once they leave they can no longer use it. 

The most valuable feature of this solution is how it is centralized. There are two options that you can use, where one is a cloud-based approach and the other is standalone. The cloud-based approach is more flexible and allows me to access it and control things from anywhere.

The coverage is ok, it is stable, and I am able to discover things quickly.

I am able to easily identify who many users are accessing the Wi-Fi, along with which people are connected to which access points. All of this information is available in the console.

This solution could be more user-friendly.

Setting up IP generation for something like guest access is pretty confusing and should be improved. The Java support within that is also a problem. The system is able to use the launcher base, and also use the social networking IP generation, but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It depends purely upon the Android device in which you are using to access it. Even with a laptop, it will wait for Java and if it is not there or not configured properly then the client will suffer. The UniFi controller or the help guild should report what the Java version is so that I can easily see what is required.

I would like to have better and more structured reporting about individuals. Right now, we can see the user and where they are connected, but it does not give details such as what is being accessed.

I have been using Ubiquiti UniFi for the past two years.

I would say that this solution is stable.

Both the access point stability and controller stability are factors that come into play. The access point stability does not give me any difficulty. However, the controller keeps taking updates and if something goes wrong then I have to reconfigure and reinstall. I don't have the chance to reaccess it, reconnect, or login. It is not allowed. I have to completely take it out. There is a way to back up the current setting in a database, but it is not happening currently. I have written a support ticket about this, but I have not received a proper response from the team.

The scalability is based on the capacity of the controller. In our case, it is a small campus that has 18 towers with access points. We have not reached the maximum yet, and getting all 18 devices working has not been an issue. Also, if I add a new device then it will recognize it.

There is a limit to the number of end-users who can connect to each access point. We have found that a maximum of six or seven people can be connected to a single tower with pretty good bandwidth. Beyond that, bandwidth becomes a problem.

Overall, I think that it will work for a small organization, but not a large one.

The level of support is limited. When I am stuck with any technical issues, it takes a long time to fix. In fact, the biggest difficulty that I have with this solution is getting the proper level of support.

We had a couple of generalized Wi-Fi towers on the campus before this solution was implemented. These were easily integrated into the current system.

The initial setup is straightforward. Once you create the master login, you start adding the access points. In standalone mode, you can immediately start the discovery. Whatever is there in the LAN will automatically be detected.

The only thing is that when the configuration for the access points is being done for the first time, it needs to be done properly so that it detects them. For example, if you use a different IP address and it is not being directed properly then you have to re-configure the access point and then wait for a few minutes before you can use the new IP. You sometimes have difficulty with the discovery but it is usually straightforward.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing Ubiquiti UniFi.

This is a solution that I recommend for small companies and organizations. A single controller can handle a maximum of 255 users on a single subnet.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We use this solution for both wired and wireless networking in a factory that is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

UniFi Network Management Controller has allowed our admins to effectively monitor and troubleshoot network issues, both online remotely and on-site.

The most valuable feature is the UniFi Network Management Controller. The level of reporting offered by the controller, when used with other Ubiquiti equipment, has been invaluable.

A more powerful heatmapping application in the controller would assist in more reliable WiFi modeling.