Posted: 8/19/2026 11:30:48 AM EDT
|
At work I manage an Axis camera server, 72 cameras, and NAS. I’ve got a number of UniFi POE switches at work and an old POE cloud key that’s mostly dead. So I’m not able to fully manage the switches right now. At home, I’ve been using a cheap Chinese bundle camera system. Cameras are dying and showing its age. For home, looking at maybe doing the UniFi Network Recorder instant kit.$699 NVR (4) 5G turret cameras. Or should I look more at BlueIris? I’m kind of interested in trying out UniFi stuff. Open to ideas. Worst case just get another Chinese camera system. TIA |
| I have worked with Unifi cameras at both work and home. I use the Unifi Dream Machine UDM with a 10TB drive. Currently I have an assortment of cameras. The new Unifi will allow both Unifi cameras and off brand cameras. In the past it would only work with Unifi Cameras. I am running some old starlink Dahua 2MP and 4MP cameras along with 3 Unifi cameras and Unifi Doorbell. and I have the capacity to add a couple more. I am happy with the setup but if I needed more than 9 cameras I would look at using this to figure out equipment. https://ui.com/cloud-gateways/resource-calculator |
|
I use Ubiquiti at work and home. Love it. Home rack Attached File |
I don't need therapy. I just need someone to rob me at the gas station so I can let it all out.
Member
Joined:
Dec 2023
Posts:
944
EE: 100% (31)
SC, USA
| FWIW, the reason I had a bunch of Dahua cameras was because I used to run BlueIris on a PC and it worked great but required a lot of tweaking over time as things changed over a period of years. When I made the switch to Unifi at home I had been using it at one of my stores and was happy to see that the cameras were getting better and their AI made leaps of improvement. Since switching I miss nothing that my BlueIris system offered. Also, Unifi continues to introduce new features and upgrades to their software while introducing new cameras every year. |
Don't let Perfection be the Enemy of Good
Joined:
Oct 2002
Posts:
10293
EE: 100% (2)
MN, USA
|
I use Unifi Protect at home. Several wired cameras and a bunch of the wireless ones. UDMPro with a 10TB WD purple. Also setup a Cloudkey+ for my parents' place and another at a 2nd family property. Software is easy to use for my folks and inexpensive enough once I share that they own the equipment and footage and don't have to pay upkeep. That kit wouldn't be too bad, but make sure it fits what you're looking to do expansion wise. |
The plane flew, admit you're wrong and get over it.
|
If you do use Chinese cameras make sure the cameras and NVR are on their own non-internet connected VLAN. 99.9% chance they will try to communicate back to China and a good possibility they will probe your network and send that data back home, too. Unifi tends to not be the very best cameras available but you have to view Unifi as the Apple of the networking world. There are better cameras but you won't find a better ecosystem for the prosumer and SMB market which is why they're eating everyone's lunch. About the only thing I really don't like about them is their software is often rushed out the door. An update may or may not result in issues. If everything is working fine give it a week before updating (turn off auto update) to see if there is a bad bug. Several years ago a group of Ubiquiti (Unifi) employees quit and formed Alta Labs because of disagreements about how to do software and firmware updates. The group that left wanted a slower pace with better QA testing. The CEO is the one pushing the rapid development pace and pushing half baked new product releases out the door. They're a good example of never trusting promises of future features. If it's not there when you buy it don't expect it to be there in any type of timely manner or at all. All of that said Unifi is what's in my house and I haven't had any show stopping bugs where something just stops working entirely but more of being cautious about updating your equipment. |
|
Originally Posted By Rebel31: If you do use Chinese cameras make sure the cameras and NVR are on their own non-internet connected VLAN. 99.9% chance they will try to communicate back to China and a good possibility they will probe your network and send that data back home, too. <snip> Agreed. I've got an older Hikvision NVR with 7 Hikvision 4K cameras. They're about 10 years old, but still work great. However, they try to call home about 17,000 times daily. Not an exaggeration. This is seen in the router logs. They're on their own VLAN with no outside access. To see the cameras when I'm out and about, I VPN back home and then fire up the app to look on the local network. I have a UDM Pro Max and two Unifi cameras. I'd like to move the Hikvisions over to it if there is adequate support for this, while eventually planning to replace all the Hikvisions. |
In the beginning, the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry, and has been widely regarded as a bad move. -Douglas Adams
|
Originally Posted By Sartorius: Agreed. I've got an older Hikvision NVR with 7 Hikvision 4K cameras. They're about 10 years old, but still work great. However, they try to call home about 17,000 times daily. Not an exaggeration. This is seen in the router logs. They're on their own VLAN with no outside access. To see the cameras when I'm out and about, I VPN back home and then fire up the app to look on the local network. I have a UDM Pro Max and two Unifi cameras. I'd like to move the Hikvisions over to it if there is adequate support for this, while eventually planning to replace all the Hikvisions. Originally Posted By Sartorius: Originally Posted By Rebel31: If you do use Chinese cameras make sure the cameras and NVR are on their own non-internet connected VLAN. 99.9% chance they will try to communicate back to China and a good possibility they will probe your network and send that data back home, too. Agreed. I've got an older Hikvision NVR with 7 Hikvision 4K cameras. They're about 10 years old, but still work great. However, they try to call home about 17,000 times daily. Not an exaggeration. This is seen in the router logs. They're on their own VLAN with no outside access. To see the cameras when I'm out and about, I VPN back home and then fire up the app to look on the local network. I have a UDM Pro Max and two Unifi cameras. I'd like to move the Hikvisions over to it if there is adequate support for this, while eventually planning to replace all the Hikvisions. I forgot to mention on top of the VLAN with no WAN connection you have to limit which devices can access the "Camera" VLAN. Unifi does have ONVIF now but like I said with them it's sketchy. They do a lot of things to check a box but the actual implementation is buggy and half assed. I guess if I could say one other thing that bugs me is they have a great partner program and got a bunch of YouTube shills to pitch their BS. These guys get partner link money and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of free gear but they almost never have anything bad to say or any follow up videos. I don't think Cody is a bad guy but he's obviously running a business and being a Unifi partner is great for his pocket book. He actually runs a legit install business and knows the system very well. But Attached File And  UniFi 10.6 Is Here — VPN SafeOps, Topology Spotlight & More! They just released 10.5 not that long ago, and if you actually read the Unifi release forums it's just not that good. They already have Cody shilling 10.6 when 10.5 hasn't even gotten a single point release bug fix update which is something they don't do. It's like every update is a feature release then onto the next one. |
|
I have unifi cameras at home. With the rackmount NVR and POE switches. Going on 7 years with this system. My experience is mostly good. Some of the issues have been - 2 of the outdoor cameras have crapped out. They are all exposed to the elements 24/7. Some of them got cloudy from water intrusion. Rather than screwing with unifi's shitty warranty support, I just keep a spare camera in a box to rotate in. The cameras were the cheap ones, like $70. - My NVR was one of the early ones with a fucking thumb drive installed in the case. The unifi software writes to that thumbdrive nonstop. Eventually it dies. The system keeps working, till months later when you happen to try to reboot it like after an update. Again, shitty warranty support. The option is mail it in and not have any cameras recording for a month or to void your warranty and fix it yourself. I fixed it by putting in another flash drive that lasted a while. When that died, I put in a USB SSD. |