With Early Access there is no guarantee that the equipment will truly work as intended... and technically that it will ever be launched as a full product. That being said it is not in Ubiquiti's interest to NOT launch the products they will have put so much effort into.
There are limited numbers of Early Access items (even less than their normal supply) and it is intended for people willing to try out the hardware (and associated firmware) and provide feedback to Ubiquiti. I have been closely watching a few different items on there but have never seen them appear in stock for more than a hour when I did get a notice (always sold out again).
Completely off topic - a few years ago my daughter and I were driving somewhere and she heard a song on the radio that she liked. She asked me to play it again - and was completely confused when I told her I could not because... radio.. she then asked me to put on a different song she wanted to listed to then. sigh.. kids today with all their new fangled technology..
Determine if a particular **phone or device is connected to WiFi for presence detection. Monitoring various aspects of your network with alerts through HE. It's very cool to have so many options available even if there is no specific use-case yet..
** you HAVE to shut off MAC randomization on the phone/device for this to work properly..
I recommend discussing them more in the driver (thread) itself, but here are a bunch of examples:
Presence detection of networked devices. Ex: Smartphones (without MAC randomization) or known "troublemaking" devices
General network status and Unifi Controller health
Using the RGB LEDs on various AP models to signal status (they are generally located unobtrusively, but easy to spot)
Controlling a Unifi Smart Plug (and soon, hopefully, Unifi Power Strip) with your HE instead of manually with the app or controller interface
Blocking network devices with HE Rules. Ex: kids up too late? Warning by dimming their lights... Smartphone still active? Blocked until morning and turn the lights off...
Hopefully other people will find other uses. I am trying to make many of the features available that these devices have. The biggest limitation is my lack of equipment.
This is a known bug for a few years now. Ubiquiti knows it but not fixing it.
You can assign the client name and fix ip and it will show up on a reboot. It's annoying as hell but it's Unifi
Couldn't stand Linksys. Mesh went down at least once every month, and what "should" have been a simple reboot of the mesh nodes always ended up requiring an entire network reboot. Scrapped those a year ago, upgraded to a UDMP, Unifi switches, and nano APs, haven't looked back since. Haven't had to reboot once.
Every single automatic firmware update left me with no network. I turned automatic updates off, but when I did have a problem and I decided to be on the latest firmware before calling tech support, it brought the whole thing down and required hours of work to get it back. As a result I will never, ever recommend a Belkin or Linksys product to anyone, ever. Maybe it works for some people but definitely not for me.
I'm a data-driven guy, so here's some data. The top graph represents the Linksys mush network, routed through Unifi (port 1 on the UDM). The bottom graph is the Unifi network as a whole. Look what happens to the error rates and packet loss as I move traffic off Linksys and onto Unifi alone. Granted the Linksys stuff was wireless backhaul and my Unifi network is not.
Yeah I had a client experiencing issues with his older Velop system. Had him disconnect the wired backhaul we set up and things started to work better. Not sure these consumer grade mesh systems are really built for that.
I admit I once thought that the Mesh approach was superior and usually recommended it for residential clients but did not really understand what was going on behind the scenes. For some use-cases it works great, particularly for existing setups or if the client is fixated on a particular brand.
Now a big fan of Ubiquiti's APs.. and other similar tech - lots more flexibility and control.
Yeah though the investment in Unifi gear for the average consumer may not be practical. I'm easily going to be about $10k into this project though it includes running some electrical as well. The hardware and cable alone for my install is about $3,500. I was afraid we would have to run conduit on the outside of the house to the 2nd and 3rd floors. The best part is my contractor located an old raceway that clearly had not been used since the house was rewired sometime in the 50s. While he's got it all open we are also running 4x15amp circuits to the third floor. One for the bedroom, 2 for the game room, and a spare. (Always run a spare!)
I have had no issues with my UDMP since I got it until this week. I have experienced a few instances where I lose internet access and unable to connect to the UDMP including directly connected. I have to restart from the console but it restarts a couple of times (on its own) before it boots up. At that point, I have internet and can connect directly but the unifi portal shows it as offline and the only way to fix that is reboot again but this time from the app. UGH!!
Wow that is expensive but not surprising. For whatever reason I have always enjoyed pulling wire and doing electrical work (Plumbing and painting are another story ). I rewired my house pulling old 4 wire phone wire and RG59 cable and replaced with Cat5e and RG6 about 14 years ago by myself. Lots of work but definitely worth it as I prefer hard wiring over wireless unless I can avoid it. Of course added on to that like hardwiring my Unifi LR's to my router too. But I am fortunate to have a nice tall crawl space and accessible attic.
I always run an extra Cat5e/6 wire just in case. There are so many baluns and other devices that allow you to run things over Category wire for IR blasters/receivers, video, low voltage power to LED lights, etc, etc. Endless possibilities. During renovations I always make sure there is a conduit going from my crawl to the attic too or from the crawl/attic to the TVs mounted on the wall.
). I rewired my house pulling old 4 wire phone wire and RG59 cable and replaced with Cat5e and RG6 about 14 years ago by myself. Lots of work but definitely worth it as I prefer hard wiring over wireless unless I can avoid it. Of course added on to that like hardwiring my Unifi LR's to my router too. But I am fortunate to have a nice tall crawl space and accessible attic.
