Besides the 60 GHz UniFi Building-to-building bridge, they all exist in the UISP ecosystem. Ubiquiti also has many different point-to-point and point-to-multipoint wireless radios.
EdgeRouters and EdgeSwitches are marketed towards network operators, and professional users who need more control over their network than what UniFi offers. The UISP controller is an optional overlay for EdgeMAX, AirMAX, AirFiber, UFiber, and LTU products.
UISP: Network Operators and Professional Users This guide focuses on non-Dream Machine networks, where routing is handled by a USG, USG-Pro, UXG-Pro, or some other router.
If you have multiple network sites, this means you’ll need a Dream Machine at each, and you’ll be relying on Ubiquiti’s free remote access or a VPN to administer them individually, and all the security implications that come with that. The Dream Machines can’t be adopted to an external controller. If you opt for a UniFi Dream Machine or UniFi Dream Machine Pro, you have to use the built-in UniFi controller in those devices. The UniFi controller is the only way to make configuration changes for a UniFi network, and it provides monitoring and most of the benefits you’d want from UniFi products.īefore the UniFi Dream Machine came out, this was an easier topic to cover.
For anything more than a standalone access point or two, I’d recommend an always-on UniFi controller. UniFi devices can function without a UniFi controller present, with limited functionality. All UniFi devices rely on a UniFi controller for configuration, management, and monitoring. UniFi is an ecosystem with multiple models of wireless access points, routers, switches, security cameras, controller appliances, VoIP phones, and access control products. I’m going to address UniFi and UISP separately, so it helps to understand what those are before we discuss hosting options. This guide covers things how they are in early 2021. There are rumors of the two systems merging but for now, they are separate. Ubiquiti has made some of their plans for UniFi OS and UISP development public, but there’s a lot we don’t know. Things are changing on the UniFi side as well, with development of UniFi OS and the release of the UniFi Dream Machines. Recently, Ubiquiti renamed UNMS into UISP, and they started rolling out a line of UISP routers and switches. At Meta Mesh, we self-host both a UniFi controller and a UISP controller because we use UniFi, EdgeMAX, AirFiber, and LTU equipment. If you need products from both sides, you need to operate two separate controllers. UniFi and UISP are separate, and there is no easy way to tie them together and manage them in one place. Ubiquiti separates their devices into two separate ecosystems, with different use cases, software, and management models. If you want to run a Ubiquiti network, you need to decide which products you’re using, and where your controller is going to be hosted. UniFi and UISP Controller Hosting Options UniFi vs.