A worked example, not a specific customer project — illustrative reference design showing how the pieces fit.
Hardware prices verified 16 July 2026. Ubiquiti pricing changes — we confirm current pricing on every quote. Prices are indicative CAD, all-in. Contact AVNFi for a current quote.
The scenario
A business with a working network it doesn’t want touched. Meraki, Cisco, Aruba, whatever — it’s installed, it’s supported, there’s an IT provider or an internal IT person who owns it, and there may be a support contract with years left on it.
They want cameras. They do not want a network project.
Good. You don’t have to rip out what works.
The teaching point
There’s a version of this conversation where the installer says the cameras need UniFi, so the network needs UniFi, so here’s a quote to replace a network that was fine.
That’s a sale, not an upgrade.
UniFi Protect needs three things: cameras, power for them, and a recorder they can reach. It does not need a UniFi gateway. It does not need UniFi switches. It does not care what brand routes your traffic.
So: bring a standalone recorder and a PoE switch of our own, hang the cameras, plug the recorder into their network, and leave their network alone. Their IT keeps their support contract, their firewall, their config, and their job. We add cameras.
One box, one uplink, one conversation with their IT. That’s the whole design.
The build
| Qty | Item | All-in each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNVR — standalone camera recorder, 4 drive bays | $430 | $430 |
| 1 | USW-Pro-24-PoE — 24-port PoE switch, 400W | $1,025 | $1,025 |
| 6 | G6 Turret — 4K cameras | $307 | $1,842 |
| Hardware total (indicative CAD, all-in) | $3,297 |
Not included: drives (up to 4× 3.5″ CMR), rack space, cable, mounts, labour, Fluke certification. Priced separately.
The UNVR at $430 is one of the three cart-verified prices in our entire catalogue — $399 base + $31 memory surcharge, confirmed in the cart. It’s also the textbook example of why we quote all-in: Ubiquiti’s own site shows this SKU at $430 on one category page, $399 on the product page, and $399 on another category page, same day. If someone quotes you $399, they’re quoting a number that doesn’t exist at checkout.
Why each choice
UNVR ($430) — the recorder, and the whole reason this works
Four drive bays. Up to 18 cameras at 4K, or 60 at Full HD, roughly 30 days of storage. It runs Protect on its own — no UniFi gateway required. That’s the entire premise of this design.
It plugs into their network as one device. From their IT’s point of view, we added one appliance and asked for one IP address.
The UNVR powers nothing. Zero PoE ports. It records cameras; it does not feed them. That’s what the switch is for — always, in every design on this site.
USW-Pro-24-PoE ($1,025) — and this one’s a risk decision, not a convenience
The obvious question: they already have switches — why buy one?
Because their PoE headroom is unknowable.
We can’t log into their switch. We can’t read its budget. We can’t see what else is already drawing from it, or what the next IT project will plug in next month. Even if their IT tells us there’s room today, nobody controls what changes in six months — and the failure mode isn’t a clean error message. It’s cameras that reboot at random when the PoE budget is exceeded, and a fault that lands on us regardless of whose switch caused it.
Bringing our own PoE switch converts an unknowable risk into a $1,025 line item. The cameras’ power is on infrastructure we specced, we sized, and we can support. When a camera misbehaves, it’s a question with an answer.
It also means exactly one uplink touches their network — one cable, one port, one conversation.
6× G6 Turret ($307) — 4K, 30m IR, IP66, 12.5W. The workhorse.
The trap — read this before you quote it
The cameras have to be able to reach the recorder. On someone else’s network, that is not your call to make.
This is the part that turns a clean install into a three-week email thread, and it’s entirely avoidable if it’s handled up front.
Inter-VLAN routing and firewall
A properly-run third-party network is segmented. Cameras probably belong on their own VLAN — which is correct, and it’s what their IT should do.
But if the cameras are on VLAN 40 and the UNVR is on VLAN 10, traffic has to route between them, and their firewall has to allow it.
- We can specify what’s needed. Which devices, which direction, which ports.
- We cannot configure their Layer 3. It’s their kit, their support contract, their responsibility.
- We should not pretend otherwise, and we shouldn’t quote as though it’s ours to solve.
The clean version: cameras and the UNVR on the same VLAN, off our switch, with one uplink to their network. Simplest, fewest moving parts, least of their config touched. Get that agreed with their IT before ordering hardware.
If they need segmentation — and they may have good reasons — that’s fine, but their IT owns the routes and rules, and that gets written down, in the quote, before anyone starts.
PoE headroom on someone else’s switch
Covered above. Design around it: bring your own PoE switch. On someone else’s infrastructure you don’t have a budget, you have a question.
The three things to settle in writing, before ordering
- Which VLAN do the cameras live on, and which does the UNVR live on? Same is best.
- If different — who is configuring the routing and the firewall, and by when? Name a person.
- What’s the uplink? One port, one speed, agreed.
None of this is difficult. All of it is expensive to discover on install day.
Power check
| Devices | Draw |
|---|---|
| 6× G6 Turret @ 12.5W | 75W |
Against our own 400W switch: 19% loaded. On their switch: unknown, and that’s the point.
What breaks if you undersize
Using their switch to save $1,025. The saving is real. So is the risk, and the risk lands on you: their PoE budget is unverifiable, and it changes without you. Random camera reboots, six months later, and it’s your name on the system. If the client insists, it goes in writing that PoE capacity is theirs to guarantee.
Assuming the cameras can reach the recorder. See above. This is the trap.
A smaller PoE switch. A USW-Ultra-210W ($307) has 7 PoE ports and would technically power six cameras (75W, inside its 202W-with-adapter budget). But: no growth room, and its 202W only exists on the bundled adapter — feed it from PoE+ and you get 16W and nothing works. For six cameras and a client who’ll want eight, the Pro-24 is the honest answer.
Skipping drives, or using SMR drives. The UNVR needs 3.5″ CMR drives. SMR drives fail at continuous write, which is exactly what an NVR does, all day, forever.
Replacing their network anyway. It works. Leave it.
The expansion path
| Want | Do | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cameras 7–18 | UNVR records 18 at 4K. Ports and watts are already there. | camera only |
| Camera 19+ | Second UNVR ($430), or UNVR-G2-Pro (50× 4K) — Sold Out as of 2026-07-16. | $430+ |
| Longer retention | More drives. 4 bays. | drives only |
| Door access too | UniFi Access also runs without a UniFi gateway — but same VLAN conversation, and hubs need PoE++ (the Pro-24 has 8 such ports). | Design 5 |
| A viewing display | Protect Viewport ($269). Note: consumer TV warranties generally exclude commercial-premises use. | $269 |
| They later want UniFi networking | Then it’s a real decision, made on its merits. Cameras and switch carry over unchanged. | — |
| Power protection | Rack UPS. (UPS-2U Sold Out 2026-07-16.) | — |
The ceilings, in order: ports (24) → recorder (18× 4K) → watts (19%). This build has an enormous amount of room, because the expensive parts are sized for a business that grows.
The summary
You don’t have to replace what works. A standalone UNVR plus our own PoE switch adds a complete camera system to any network, from any vendor, touching one port.
But “we’re not touching your network” is a promise that only holds if the cameras can reach the recorder. Settle the VLAN and the firewall with their IT before you order. In writing. That’s the whole difference between this being the easiest job on the list and the worst one.
Prices indicative CAD, all-in, hardware at cost, labour separate. Ubiquiti reprices without notice; lead time ~7–10 days. Verified against ca.store.ui.com and techspecs.ui.com 2026-07-16.