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General Ubiquiti discussion

Posted on 1/25/22 at 8:49 pm
Posted by BabySam
FL
Member since Oct 2010
1504 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 8:49 pm
Just wanted to see what others may be doing regarding Ubiquiti and their lack of response to addressing software/firmware issues. The UDMPs and UDMs have faced large-scale issues with devices becoming bricked/unresponsive, and G4 PTZ cams becoming unresponsive as well.

While I have a USG/UCK2+ for controller, ive been recommending/installing UDMPs and UDMs for friends and clients. Im a bit nervous to continue putting all my eggs in one basket with Ubiquiti’s lack of addressing their shortcomings. Curious what manufacturers for small business, IT enthusiast, home operated business yall would recommend as an alternative to ubiquiti. Im considering getting into the Aruba Instant On for infrastructure and add a Fortinet firewall. Starting to do some research…
Posted by bluebarracuda
Member since Oct 2011
18228 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 9:46 pm to
I'm one of the few on here that recognize dream machines and dm pros are are absolutely terrible value and their switches are even worse
Posted by roobedoo
hall summit
Member since Jun 2008
1089 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 10:06 pm to
I have been checking out their nano 5 AC wireless bridges. I may have the need to send a Wi-Fi signal about 200 yards.

Are you hearing about issues with those type devices?
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28703 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 10:14 pm to
The nanos and locos are solid, pretty much set and forget. I have several sets out there and never have to touch them. Been through heat waves, hurricanes, and even an ice storm. They pretty much all have multiple security cameras on the other end, so it's a steady stream of data and never seen so much as a hiccup.
Posted by roobedoo
hall summit
Member since Jun 2008
1089 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 10:19 pm to
That is good to hear, thanks for the response.
Posted by TAMU-93
Sachse, TX
Member since Oct 2012
896 posts
Posted on 1/25/22 at 11:17 pm to
Ubiquiti products are rock solid in my experience. I've been frustrated when settings goes missing because of a GUI change, but I've never had anything brick. I'm always going to trust my experience over some chatter on the Internet.

Most products in the SMB space require licensing. Ubiquiti doesn't. A SonicWall TZ series router with a 3 year security license is about $2500. The UDMP has those threat management features built in for $400. If I were looking to move, I'd check out the Netgate devices running pfSense.
Posted by ColdDuck
BR via da Parish
Member since Sep 2006
2759 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 7:47 am to
We have no Dream Machines in production, but hundreds of ACPros, switches, USGs and they are pretty solid I have had a few USGs lock up in the past few months, so I need to research that. Switches are solid.
Posted by BabySam
FL
Member since Oct 2010
1504 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 7:49 am to
@roobedoo
The UISP side has been solid and i have used 2 locos to bridge to my shed (my telework office) instead of direct burial cable. Ive also installed another bridge for a buddy at his farm and used as proof of concept with solar charged battery pack…all worked great.
Posted by BabySam
FL
Member since Oct 2010
1504 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 7:52 am to
@TAMU-93
Yep, all my experience with them had been great up until the last 2 months with the recovery/brick issue. Then this camera issue. Ive worked in IT and always hated the licensing/subscription cost for something you normally purchase outright, so that’s why i was going the ubiquiti route when i started a side gig.
Posted by roobedoo
hall summit
Member since Jun 2008
1089 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 10:04 am to
For the Nanos, what degree of signal do they send? Is it 45 degree, 90 degree, 180 etc?
Posted by efrad
Member since Nov 2007
18644 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 11:05 am to
quote:

I'm one of the few on here that recognize dream machines and dm pros are are absolutely terrible value and their switches are even worse


And a pain if you don't buy into their ecosystem. They're the Apple of the networking world.
Posted by BabySam
FL
Member since Oct 2010
1504 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 11:20 am to
The nanostations, from what i saw on product summary, dont specify signal coverage angle. But their data sheet shows graphs of the broadcast angles.

I installed the LiteAP AC Access Point one as the base station at buddy’s farm and that boasts 120degree angle and can do PtMP. Have NanoStation AC 5 at one spot as site bridge and works fine. I do need to fine tune the pointing for more optimal signal still.
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28703 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 11:40 am to
quote:

For the Nanos, what degree of signal do they send? Is it 45 degree, 90 degree, 180 etc?
See the nanostation radiation patterns here (5ac pg7 and loco5ac pg9).

In your case of only 200 yards PtP you will hardly have to aim them. Just point two locos in the general direction of each other and they'll link up pretty strong. They'll shoot for miles with some aim. I haven't done any PtMP setups but I think if you plan to maybe get the 5ac for the access point and locos for the multiple stations. Depending on range you could probably set up 90+ degrees easily.
Posted by roobedoo
hall summit
Member since Jun 2008
1089 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 11:59 am to
Thanks for the reply and the link. I am not sure if it will be PTp or ptmp. I should know more in a couple of months. Thank you.
Posted by Hopeful Doc
Member since Sep 2010
14942 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 12:14 pm to
I use them in my office, at home, and I've installed it for my father in law for his camp and his house.


I have not had an overly poor experience with software/firmware issues to date. I have 1 UDMP between the setups. It just has worked since I bought it, fortunately. I'm in no rush to deploy more, but it fit its use case well (wanted cameras at home, wanted to deploy UniFi Talk at home before deciding if I could use it in my office or not (I can't just yet. I still need to buy some phones and test 3cx and could probably deploy this and save myself quite a bit, but I'm waiting until a bit closer until my contract is up to work on this. It's not a horribly difficult thing to do, I realize, but the time it would take me away from patients if there was an error to troubleshoot hasn't been worth it to date. For Unifi to have cheap phones and cheap service to test as an add-on pushed me to the UDMP. Result: certainly not ready for primetime (Talk, that is). I want to be cool and criticize the UDMP, but I haven't had a reason to yet.


I finally went over the edge and installed Protect several months back. The apps are decent. I like the results I get. It's a much easier setup than a Blue Iris and a much better product than the standalone NVR that are everywhere. For a set-and-forget, it costs a lot. I think it's a good product, though, at its base.
Cons: The Protect App viewed from an OSX computer is essentially unusable. iOS it is adequate at worst. Direct interface is pretty good. Making short clips to download on ios and even from the console could use some work- latest update addressed that. Overall, it tends to do what it is supposed to, and they seem to keep improving it. It does feel, sometimes, just barely past Beta, but they seem to be putting most of their time/efforts into this, and I cannot complain about the results.
I demoed it for my FIL. He liked it enough that he, also, was willing to go the "more expensive" route. We went with a Protect NVR for him. Cloud controller, grabbed one of their switches because they're actually one of the cheaper options that offer 802.3bt, and in his case, using 3 of their Flex switches (and their box for it) offered the best cosmetic/functional result (802.3bt in -->4x 802.3at out). We have 3 of these in different areas and have 2-3 cameras and an AP deployed from each of them. There are certainly other solutions. But at the price, the asethetics and function are fairly hard to beat.
He previously had Omada APs. He has a pool and a cabana across the pool- wifi was poor out there with the TP Link (and he had a wireless extender out there). I cannabalized his AP and put a camera in place (wife's request because she hated the look of what is essentially the unifi Mesh AP with ears on it. I swear they are the same device), trenched the wire over to the cabana and moved the AP out there. Wifi coverage is a lot better and now makes it to the end of his yard, too (about another 100y, and he spends a lot of time in "the way back").


It's generally reliable and effective with a con of pricey. Setup is easy. Functionality is enough.
I wish there was a better desktop app for Protect, but there are enough other ways of accessing it that I can give it a pass.
Talk isn't deployable for me.
I'm considering adding an Access control to my garage, more as a tinkering project than a real functional one. I sort of use my home as a test bench for stuff I deploy in my office.
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28703 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 12:18 pm to
quote:

roobedoo
After re-reading your posts, I think I should clarify a couple things. You mentioned "bridge", which these devices will certainly do. But you also said you need to send "wifi" 200 yards. To be clear, these devices are *not* wifi access points. Wifi devices cannot connect directly to them. Rather, they connect to each other and you will have to set up a wifi AP device at the other end.
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28703 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 12:30 pm to
quote:

The Protect App viewed from an OSX computer is essentially unusable. iOS it is adequate at worst.
quote:

I wish there was a better desktop app for Protect
What problems are you having with it? I don't use apple stuff, but it has been working well for me on linux and windows machines, as well as the android app.

I had some performance issues last year when live viewing more than 6 or 8 cameras, but the more recent versions have drastically improved performance (mostly by auto adapting resolution). Now I can watch 16+ cameras at once without issue.
Posted by Hopeful Doc
Member since Sep 2010
14942 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 12:47 pm to
quote:

What problems are you having with it? I don't use apple stuff, but it has been working well for me on linux and windows machines, as well as the android app.



It crashes:
1) upon opening about 50% of the time, depending on the update
2) about 75% of the time if viewing the timeline
3) about 80% of the time if toggling sound while scrolling the timeline (default is mute, if you go back to an event, realize you want to turn sound on and do, it crashes quite frequently)


I don’t generally love apple products, but I do currently spend most of my time on one (m1 MacBook Air, mostly for the text to speech, battery life, on-screen popups for text/phone calls). I’ll likely move away from it next time I need a laptop. I hate the windows management even after “getting used to it.”


quote:

I had some performance issues last year when live viewing more than 6 or 8 cameras

I do technically have “above the limit” of cameras on my UDMP (g3 instant, g4 instant, 2 doorbells, 6 g4p). FIL has a UNVR that does not exceed the limit. It does not matter which of the two I log into- the crash is similar. I believe it’s the app, not the hardware limitation being pushed.
Posted by Korkstand
Member since Nov 2003
28703 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 1:03 pm to
quote:

It crashes:
1) upon opening about 50% of the time, depending on the update
2) about 75% of the time if viewing the timeline
3) about 80% of the time if toggling sound while scrolling the timeline (default is mute, if you go back to an event, realize you want to turn sound on and do, it crashes quite frequently)
Oh wow, no I don't have any of that on android. Occasional crashes sure, but very few and far between. Can't remember the last one. It pretty much just works as expected with little to no frustration.

Looks like a new iOS beta version was released yesterday, maybe give that a try?
Posted by roobedoo
hall summit
Member since Jun 2008
1089 posts
Posted on 1/26/22 at 3:11 pm to
Korkstand

A little more color to the issue is that I am anticipating a Starlink dish on a few months. However, I may have some obstructions to the north. My neighbor is across an open pasture with no obstructions, so I may see if he would host it.

So Starlink to a switch, switch to Starlink router, or his own. Switch out to nano on his side. Nano on my side connected to switch, switch connected to my router.

I know new dish requires the Ethernet adapter.

I do not mean to sidetrack OPs thread, I may start one once things get a little more tangible.
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