Unifi's BIG Mistake | Is this the end?

Ubiquiti is back to their old ways of handling new product roll-outs and their impact on support for previous generations.

0:00 Unifi's Troubled Past
0:42 Signs of Improvement
1:34 Recent Developments
2:30 Ubiquiti's Future
3:07 What This Means For Us

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[DPCTechnology]

**UPDATE** Ubiqiti listened and there will now be a "free" version of UI for access.. They will be rolling it out soon and details are in the unifi reddit channel..

[LiveMedia]

If this is the beginning of subscriptions at UniFi I am pretty sure that ALOT of people and businesses will be selling of their gear. I will. I choose UniFi because you don’t have to worry about subscriptions or pay for software updates. If that disappears. They can go bankrupt for all I care.

[dave-]

Non subscription is what made Unifi successful, so much so the industry leader Cisco produced products without their typical licensing fees to compete. Offering additional support for a fee is fine, but making a product unusable without a subscription is a deal breaker. I want to own what I buy not constantly lease it.

[Techcensorshipbot]

Ubi was always that one you went with that didn't have recurring costs like meraki. If they change that, they will then begin to compete with those subscription-based companies.
There are better vendors that already are in that space.

[davidhyman]

They entered the market with a price disruptive plan that helped small business get equipment similar to enterprise business at price point that could be afforded. They made newer equipment with newer and greater features but dropped the basic reliable units that worked fine for small business. Now all we have is pricey equipment that they keep replacing such that there is no long term consistency with their products.

[jrronimo]

I ran into this issue a few years ago with the UAP-ACs I bought for my department in 2014. Ubiquiti did give a sundown time period so I had plenty of time to swap out, but their lack of roadmap is, in my opinion, very detrimental to an "Enterprise" business. Their response at the time was "We won't be publishing a roadmap since our equipment is cheap enough you can just replace it. If you want that sort of thing you can get it from our competitors." It definitely taught me a valuable lesson.

I also feel like Ubiquiti has a communication problem. They make changes to Unifi (like the VLAN changes in 7.5.4) without any sort of explanation... just "this is how it is now." I really feel like a short description or even a video from them explaining new 'features' changes and showing why it's better would really go a long way.

[maichwainaina]

Finally someone has informed ubiquiti the truth about their solutions life's span.

[ColinRendell-py]

Excellent post. In Australia we are bound by Consumer Law which means if we have to back track on what a product can do or its cost then we can't pass the costs onto the client, we have to absorb them or risk being sued. Thanks for highlighting the challenges Ubiquiti present to MSPs.

[Niocowboy]

Wow, this is unbelievable. I can't wrap my head around the fact that they've actually gone ahead with this, especially since I advocated for my boss to implement electronic locks for our facility's entry. He used to rely on a physical metal key to access the property. And now, you're telling me that with the addition of more users, we're going to incur monthly costs beyond the first 5 users? Given that we typically have anywhere from 15 to 25 staff members on-site, this is going to be a problem. How am I supposed to break this news to him? Your observation is spot on.

I've been gradually introducing the 👺UniFi product line to our organization, starting from access points to UDM, Pro, and more. This decision feels like a major setback. It's embarrassing and I'm at a loss on how to approach this conversation. We definitely need to find a better solution.

[cee]

**Also this "fast fashion" IT is really destructive for the environment!** Like we have 1 life.. we have 1 earth too!
I hope that lobbyists will stand up to lobby really really hard for enivornmental software-hardware lifespan laws for the EU, US and as an conditional framework for Asian import.
Also with phones it is totally out of bounds.
Glad that ubiqiti are listening to your channel!

[vpconroy]

Interesting video. As an integrator, I've installed hundreds of UI APs, switches, cameras, controllers and some UISP products for my customers over the last 5-6 years. Overall, I still really like the product especially the quality of the hardware and software. And with the exception of hard drives in the CloudKey Gen2, hardly ever any hardware failures (had to replace almost every hard drive in the UCKG2 within 2-3 years). What concerns me now is that Ubiquiti seems to be losing focus by getting into VoIP (wont even consider this a serious product), building access control, EV charging stations (really?) and who knows what else in the pipleline. The Unifi Protect product is a great solution for 2-20 4k cameras but they have only hinted at how they plan to expand the capacity beyond that. I wish they would focus on improving these core products AND improve their communications to customers and their support model. It's virtually impossible to talk to anyone from Ubiquiti and get a picture of where they are going with any certainty.

[timsmith]

I completely agree with your points. I currently will only sell and supply Ubiquiti products that i consider their "Core" product base. (Wireless Kit, Switches etc) I am reluctant to supply Cameras or Door Access kit etc because ii fear the lifespan wont last and i will be going back to clients explaining that the product i sold them is end of life or they need to change it etc. Its a shame because i love their products but some kit i will only use internally.

[UAi]

I liked unifi, very easy to use and great features. I was not aware of these changes to shipped products. This is simply unacceptable.

[niikon]

Going from 50 free users to just 5 and charging 5$ for each single user is more than scummy, holy sh*it.

[mhos]

You made great points. How is one supposed to propose a product/service if you're not sure that said product or service will be around in 24 months. I feel companies are getting too comfortable with Darth Vader deals where the customer has to pray that the deal won't be altered any further.

[tx]

This is very frustrating. I’ve invested in equipment and now I’m worried it’s all going to the trash.

[firstwolfplus]

I thought I’d regret going into TP-Link Omada for my homelab network set up over Ubi but it’s been absolutely fantastic so far. Cheap APs, selfhostable controller software, absolutely amazing functionality (auto bandsteering now FINALLY works on my network great for IOT).

Really excited to see new challengers in the non-enterprise enthusiast home network market.

[thedude]

As a home user I love my network setup and my 4 cameras. I like the simplicity, nearly everything is POE, and the USG was so easy to setup dual wan for a verizion LTE backup. I love that I setup everything myself and can walk into my residential bunker and not even have a noticable loss of internet while my phone transfers to the bunker AP. I'm really lost on some of the new product lines. EV charging, whats the point of a new flashy $1000 charger? Smart power strips, why? These are already sold at target. Ive used a TP link smart outlets to reset routers in other homes, cost was like $30. Telephones? I dont even bother setting up new office phones for new employees. I could see use for the connect display for confrence rooms, but again there are already solutions. Also I'm not a networking expert, but would it kill unifi to have some sort of demostrations? Like I get the whole lets not include real instructions with the product because for most people its a waste of paper, but on the website they could offer some more support in the proconsumer catagory.

[cwfeldmann]

Thank you for making this video. I'm certainly going to hold off on my church's implementation of Unifi Access now. Thank goodness we've only tested it with one door.

[clipvue]

Company's do this, example is starlink. Went from no limit to a set limit