I bought into the ecosystem while taking my networking cert classes back in 2017. They were much cheaper than Cisco gear for business-grade networking, and overall I’ve been happy with them.

Their security offerings are locally managed, and you can make local accounts, but I just bought a NAS from them and I had to sign in with my ubiquiti account first before I could make a local account, and it seems the cloud account has some privileges that you can’t give to local super admins.

So now I’m having second thoughts. I figure since it’s enterprise-grade stuff they can’t really make it cloud-dependent like you see on the consumer side since a lot of companies need air-gapped networks. On the other hand, on those occasions that I didn’t have internet access and hadn’t yet made a local-only account, I was locked out, so…

Regarding the NAS specifically, I use a TruNAS system at work and it works well enough on a rack server, but since it uses ZFS I don’t know it would be good for home use. What alternatives are there?

Are there any truly FOSS networking options? I figure especially on the switching side you need purpose-built hardware, right? There aren’t generic motherboards with 48 network ports you can buy.

I like my Unifi setup, I’m just scared of a rug pull.

  • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    6·
    8 hours ago

    My biggest gripe with them is consistency. They release products without all the features they promise. They have been known to just abandon entire lines (I’m still salty about their mFi gear).

    I like my UDM pro however the SE came out and for almost a year they basically ignored the Pro.

    Good hardware that’s usually made or broken by their software.

  • redlemace@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    11 hours ago

    I only use their WiFi because I got some in- and outdoor ap’s for free. The Wifi manager is selfhosted and has no internet access. For upgradesi downoad the deb file, trasnsfer and install. It’s not the best out there, but works for me and i’m still happy with it.

  • talkingpumpkin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    11 hours ago

    A NAS is just a computer and TrueNAS is just Linux (ok, TrueNAS CORE is Bsd).

    You can run zfs on any machine: they recommend loads of RAM for optimal performance, which you don’t need at home (or at work, unless your job is running a data center).

    You can choose from a number of FOSS NAS-specific operating systems, plus all linux distros (since you post here, I’d assume you either can or aim to administer a home sever?)… why would you go with a proprietary OS?

    There are several FOSS operating systems for network equipment too (keyword “NOS”), but as far as I’m aware none that work on small soho/edge switches. OpenWrt runs both my router (mikrotik) and WAPs (tplink), but the two 8-port switches I have at home (also tplink) run their proprietary firmware.

    • early_riser@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      11·
      11 hours ago

      why would you go with a proprietary OS?

      I’m happy with my Unifi network and security setup, especially the single pain of glass. I had assumed the NAS would integrate with that system, but it doesn’t seem to.

  • just some guy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    11·
    20 hours ago

    Opinion wise: love unifi for networking equipment. Especially since that equipment doesn’t require the web account. For a Nas, I’m in too deep already, I’ll only use equipment I fully control. I wouldn’t buy a Unifi NAS just like I wouldn’t buy a Synology, but I’ll keep leaning on my Unifi stuff as long as it keeps doing its job well.

    As for using TrueNAS w/ZFS at home, go for it if you know and like it! I actually was recently given my boss’s old home NAS that used to run his Plex server. When I got it it was still on FreeNAS (same thing, just a few versions behind) and it’s using ZFS. Worked for him, and now works for me, no problem. Both of us also use Unifi equipment for our networks. The only problems we’ve ever had were our own doings.

  • RamRabbit@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    21 hours ago

    Are there any truly FOSS networking options?

    PFSense falls into this category for routers. Netgate makes hardware specifically for it, but you don’t have to buy anything from them to use PFSense. I only mention them because their hardware is good and you can buy anything from a normal home router to enterprise level gear.

    I had to sign in with my ubiquiti account first before I could make a local account

    I used to be pretty into ubiquiti, but this requirement really put me off. I have no desire to do anything ‘cloud’ with my router. This requirement sent me elsewhere and I sold off all my ubiquiti equipment.

    TruNAS … What alternatives are there?

    TruNAS has a community edition, so you could start there. Other alternatives are a standard Debian install, use mdadm to setup RAID, then setup a network share in the OS, etc.

  • ccunix@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    15 hours ago

    Just use switches and APs and I’m happy. Had 2 generations of AP and will eventually upgrade to the current ones, but am not in a rush.

    I have no desire to expand beyond that, but the networking gear works well.

  • mongojarle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    16 hours ago

    Mikrotik for switches. Grandstream for APs. All been just working, and easy to set up. Good price as well.

  • Brkdncr@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    20 hours ago

    Tplink Omada doesn’t need a cloud connection. There’s plenty of other reasons to not like Omada but it’s something to consider. It’s also dirt cheap.

    • AbidanYre@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      20 hours ago

      TPlink Kasa smart gear didn’t used to need a TPlink account until they made an app update. I would be very wary of anything from them.

      • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        19 hours ago

        I buy TPLink gear, but only because I check to make sure it can be flashed with OpenWRT beforehand. I may not actually do that (my router is running it, but my PoE access points aren’t yet), but I make damn sure I can.

        (Also, I almost bought Kasa smart plugs, then checked to see whether they could run ESPHome or Tasmota and picked a different brand instead. You always have to check, every single time!)

  • SapphironZA@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    17 hours ago

    I am quite satisfied with the unifi ecosystem so far as networking and CCTV systems go. They are cloud enabled without being cloud dependent. Since the early 2025 networking update, their routers are pretty good now. The UDM SE is a pretty compelling router/POEswitch/NVR in the home context.

    Their NAS ecosystem is still very new and I would not it a viable option yet. They are also leaning towards the vendor lock-in direction with drives. Its the same reason I would stay away from Synology and QNAP.

    Personally, I run a old desktop as a NAS/homelab running Proxmox(FOSS based hypervisor). I run ZFS on it and its “fine”. It performs fine even with a mixed bunch of disks, provided you have them in pairs or groups of 3 that perform close to identically. I just run a Debian container on the Proxmox as my fileserver and a few VMs for homelabbing.

    One player that works well in a home environment is UnRAID. It a Linux distor that runs on commodity hardware and handles redundancy with “just a bunch of disks” better than most. The UI is friendly to non technical users. The catch is that UI is commercial software. Many consider it a fair exchange for the convenience it brings.

    • early_riser@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      12 hours ago

      I have a QNAP NAS in addition to the unas2 mentioned in the OP. Both have WD red drives. I also run Proxmox on an ancient laptop. How does virtualizing a file server work?

  • non_burglar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    16 hours ago

    This is an opinion on the WiFi access points.

    I took the unifi pill in 2018 on the advice of my devops coworkers that ubiquiti is set-and-forget. I also was sold on the unifi network controller I deployed and used until last month being easy to use and local only.

    The single pane of glass to control and update the access points is nice. Wifi works OK. There are, however, several downsides:

    • channel and power management are not automatic and tweaking WiFi settings with unifi is not intuitive.
    • similar to your nas experience unifi advanced metrics are locked behind paying for other unifi equipment or an official controller.
    • network appliance is built on mongodb and its performance is pretty abysmal (Up to 2.5GB memory to run it)
    • the network appliance is now discontinued and self-hosting the network appliance can no longer happen software-only, you have to use their “server os”, which can’t be run in a container. edit: its been pointed out to me that running the network controller in a container is possible.

    After the unifi Debian repo stopped updating properly, I decided to install openwrt on my APs.

    Not only did it work well, but performance is now much better with openwrt.

    I’m personally stepping away from brands that have their own ecosystems from now on, if I can help it. The enshitification is just too tempting for them, it seems, and it it’s always at our expense.

  • Pumpkin Escobar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    19 hours ago

    Not so much to the content of your post but to your title:

    Their web interface is nice, reasonably priced (not cheap) prosumer sort of gear. I have 2 APs and 1 router, 1 AP is flaky, it’s the 7 XGS which should be a high end AP. It gets pretty bad coverage with it and it’s flaky, randomly going offline once a week. RMAed it, replaced Ethernet cable, poe injector (ubiquity branded) and tried tweaking settings. Still happening

    So to the subject, some good in the web interface but I will not buy again. That said, most network gear has some sort of jank in my experience, flaky, or just bad management interface, etc…