The BRAINS of my Smart Home! (Network Rack Update + Unifi)

Your home network may be the most important piece of your smart home. In this video I'll share all of the updates that I've made to my network rack over the past two years.

I have switched to Unifi for all of my networking needs. We'll compare Unif to other mesh wifi systems that you may want to use for your smart home. I'll also give you a full tour of everything else I'm currently using in my network rack.

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Products in my Network Rack:

Other Mesh Wifi Systems in the Video:

NOTE: This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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▶ HomeKit 101 Playlist: Getting Started

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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
1:05 Why Unifi?
3:08 What I'm Using (Unifi)
4:35 Unifi vs. Other Mesh Wifi Systems
5:30 Channel Member Shout Out!
6:20 My Wifi Setup (for smart home)
7:32 Should You Use Unifi?
8:33 Controller For HomeKit - Sponsor
9:50 Network Rack Tour
14:05 Final Thoughts

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#HomeKit #SmartHome #Networking

[ReinoutSchotman]

The brilliance of Unifi is that you can endlessly expand it (and give them your money). By now my fully smart home runs on a ridiculously over the top Unifi setup and in the same management console I also manage my daughter’s setup and that of my parents (yes, multi-site!). In total I’m managing 21 Unifi devices by my last count.

I made the switch to Unifi a month before the outbreak of Covid-19 and I have never regretted it!

[Jupiterne]

Shane, welcome to the Unifi family! I don't think it can be stressed enough how important a solid network is the backbone of any smart home. Especially if you are using Apple products which rely so much on WiFi. I too have recently gone down the Home Assistant rabbit hole and it is just as frustrating and exhilarating as when I started with HomeKit and Unifi!

[SimonLYW]

All of us: “I’m buying it to future proof”
2 years later
All of us: “I’m buying it to future proof”

[Dr_Cole]

I like the conversation where you note that you could have gone with a different slightly different setup for 1/2 the price, but you know, color lights on the new switch. Whereas I totally agree, there’s a lot of confidence that the wife is not going to watch this video!

[rtorcato]

Ubiquity was started by a former apple employee. So it’s easy to see in the packaging, style and even some of the product names. You need to make a video on vlans and cameras for your home devices. Btw the stock of ubiquity has doubled this year 🎉

[howardzhao]

Another great video. Thanks! I have been on the fence to re-do all my network infrastructure, your video pushed me over the edge. Last week, I went with UDM SE and couple of U6 Pro AP (since I don’t have any WiFi 7 devices anytime soon, not even any 6E devices😂). The setup will serve me for few years before any possible upgrade. The results couldn’t be any better!

[EdgarsHomeTech]

Awesome video, Shane! I can’t wait to upgrade my Wi-Fi setup as well. Having a proper Wi-Fi configuration is crucial for a reliable smart home.

[keiththomas_tech]

Shaney Mac Shanerson! You went ALL IN! Now get some SSDs in that UDM ... Fav quote "... we're talking about routers here..." 😂😂😂

[masterlockist]

Ubiquiti FTW ! The rack looks sick 🔥 also so excited for Protect 5.0 for the ONVIF support

[chrischambers]

Great content. I have run Unifi for years, and I find it one of the best investments I've ever made. It is so nice to integrate the cameras into it, affordable and integrate into Apple HomeKit VERY well with Home Assistant! Well done!

[NewHomeTech]

Great video and love the importance of making sure your network is solid like the foundation of your home.

Been using Unifi in my new house for the past year and half. Another cool thing you can do is assign your device to your APs to prevent them from hopping to another that might be further away.

Plus HomeBridge has some great plugins like the Smart Pro PDU (you will need the Smart PDU of course) in which you can control individual POE ports on your switch and power cycle any device hooked up to it.

[BillMcNamara-cr]

I started my Unifi journey last year and am glad I did. Homekit has been rock solid since my move. One downside is that it's addicting and costly.

[rb]

Nice looking setup you did go for top of the line UniFi equipment. As a new user I went with the USG Max, USW Lite 8 PoE switch, and U6 LR. I think the USG Max is more than enough for most home users. I must say for a new user and one that knows very little about networking it's a little to a lot over whelming to setup. One big problem is all the videos you watch can be a few months old and due to an update things have been changed. Now the hunt begins to find where did it move to are it got renamed etc. At least your setup is up to date with OS 4.06 and Network 8.4.62 it looks like mine. Would love to see you do a video on your setup process networks, vlans, security rules, etc. You do a great job with your videos and make smart home products easy to setup. Thanks!!

[JeffFromMichigan]

Great video Shane. Thanks for sharing your current setup! 👍

[michaelsleen]

Been using UniFi for my home networking and security cameras for years, and very happy. However, I would hesitate to move to UniFi Protect cameras. While they are good, I don’t think the price to quality ratio is justified. Just posted a video last week on my UniFi Protect camera setup if helpful. Thanks for sharing your rack update!

[makeitworktech]

Clean!! Did the same upgrade to UniFi, and am loving it! I love how I can turn my 5ghz network on and off as necessary for those IoT devices that don't play well with 5ghz.

[nonenone]

Finally you got a decent router, instead of suggesting some of those other routers. Unify makes a great home version for people as well $300, instead of those consumer versions that cost as much or more and don’t offer half the functionality

[Rob]

The new addiction has only just begun for you Shane!

[anothertallgamer]

Could you make a video going over the creation of your IoT network?

[kencee]

Great video would you do a video on your setup of the VLAN