A plain-English introduction from AVNFi Inc., Calgary’s Certified Ubiquiti UniFi Specialists.
The short version
UniFi is a family of products made by a company called Ubiquiti. One company makes your internet equipment, your cameras, and your door entry system, and all of it is managed from one app, with no monthly subscription to record or watch your video.
That’s the whole idea. Most of the value is in that sentence.
The four systems
| System | What it does | What you’d install |
|---|---|---|
| UniFi Network | Your internet connection, your Wi-Fi, and the wired connections behind the walls. | Gateway, switches, Wi-Fi access points |
| UniFi Protect | Security cameras and video doorbells. Records the video. | Cameras, doorbells, a recorder |
| UniFi Access | Door entry. Unlock with a card, a phone, or a code. | Card readers, door hubs, electric locks |
| UniFi Connect | Displays, intercoms and chimes. | Intercom viewers, chimes |
Network is the foundation. Protect and Access sit on top of it. You can have a network without cameras. You cannot have cameras without a network.
Many people start with Network and add cameras later. That’s completely normal, but how you start decides whether adding later is easy or expensive. See the gateway guide.
The mental model: gateway → switch → PoE → devices
If you remember one thing, remember this chain. Everything in UniFi follows it.
Internet
|
GATEWAY <- the brain. Router + firewall + controller.
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SWITCH <- the box every network cable plugs into.
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PoE <- power and data, together, down one cable.
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DEVICES <- cameras, Wi-Fi access points, door readers.Gateway. Where your internet comes in and where the whole system is managed. Router, firewall, and controller in one box. On some models, the video recorder too. That last part matters more than anything else on this page.
Switch. A box with a row of network ports. Every cable in the building runs back to it.
PoE (Power over Ethernet). One network cable carries the data and the electricity. A camera under your eave doesn’t need an electrician to run a power outlet to it. It needs one network cable back to the switch. Same for Wi-Fi access points. Same for door readers.
The rule: if it’s a camera, a Wi-Fi access point, or a door reader, it needs a PoE port on a switch.
Devices. The things you actually see. Cameras on the eaves. Access points on the ceiling. A reader beside the door.
Two things that surprise people
There’s no subscription to record or watch. Your video records to a hard drive in your own building. Not to a cloud service. No monthly fee to store it, no fee to watch it, and you can still view it from your phone anywhere.
(Ubiquiti does sell optional paid extras: CyberSecure, a network-security add-on available on some gateways, and Official UniFi Hosting, a monthly subscription for running the UniFi Network controller on Ubiquiti’s own infrastructure rather than on a box in your building. Nothing here needs either, and no price on this wiki includes them. The cameras, the doors and the recording are subscription-free.)
Hard drives are never included. The recorder is an empty box. Drives are a separate line item, always. See Storage and Retention.
Where to go next
Pick the question you actually have.
| Your question | Page |
|---|---|
| “Which brain do I need? What’s a UDM?” | Choosing a Gateway. Start here if you read only one |
| “Which cameras, and what will they actually see at night?” | Choosing Cameras |
| “How many days of video do I get?” | Storage and Retention |
| “Do I need Wi-Fi 7? How many access points?” | Choosing Wi-Fi Access Points |
| “What switch, and will it power everything?” | Switches and PoE |
| “I want card access on a door.” | Door Access |
| “What does that word mean?” | Glossary |
Every building is different: ceiling heights, cable routes, where the internet comes in. If you’d like the version of this that’s specific to yours, AVNFi can walk it with you.