UniFi Dream Wall Full Review and Setup

The UniFi Dream Wall was just released! The Dream Wall is an all-in-one firewall, access point, switch, and video surveillance system in a completely different form factor. In this video, I unbox and install the UniFi Dream Wall and discuss its pros and cons.
Dream Wall: store.ui.com/c...
#unifi #dreamwall #networking #tech #ubiquiti #router #wifi #wifi6
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[@ParkerTyler]

The design actually makes a ton of sense to me. My parents run a bed and breakfast and the low voltage installer brough all of the ethernet cables in through a hole in the ceiling. So having the switch ports coming out of the top would make hooking it in super easy.

[@YaGr-ip3ub]

Yeah Same in our House! It would fit perfect

[@lthemanl]

Couldn’t you just mount a UDM Pro (or similar 1U form factor device) up against the wall, with the main Ethernet cables pointing up?

[@ii7317]

@@lthemanl together with the PoE switch? Unlikely.

[@lthemanl]

@@ii7317 Dream Machine SE has a PoE switch built in.

[@ii7317]

@@lthemanl Yes, but if you need a bit more ports? I know it's a theoretical question but there are applications for the wall as well.

[@drivingpsyche]

This is perfect for all-in-one solution for townhouse/small house wiring. I've seen many new constructions which a small wall panel in some closet or basement with all wires tucked in, and this unit would perfectly fit in such places. Also MANY owners do not want bulky wall mount racks which are ugly.

[@FrostyDog9186]

And that scenario is exactly why I'm thinking of buying one. My townhouse is small and twenty years old...As a result, it doesn't have any obvious place to put a rack, and is wired such that everything needs to be routed through the attic. There's a power outlet (on a dedicated 15A circuit, no less) in the master closet that used to be used for a security system that would make the perfect spot to tuck this bad boy away...Then either just run cables up through the ceiling or into a flush mounted patch panel.

[@NJRoadfan]

That would be my use case as well. Problem is how hot is this device going to run in a closet without any ventilation? Nobody is going to want to mount something like this on their living room wall.

[@FrostyDog9186]

@@NJRoadfan well, in my case it’ll be fine-it’s a walk in closet with an AC duct already in it, but you’re absolutely right that heat could be an issue in a smaller space and that I will absolutely fail the wife test.

[@CrankyOldNerd]

and, rack mounted things seem to have an extra 0 on the price for them for the same thing that isn't. which for a SOHO kinda sucks.

[@PiecesAcoustic]

I think the split outlet design makes perfect sense: Most medium businesses or small offices have a false ceiling that runs all the wiring to the entire space. Plug in power and the modem from a coax box on the bottom of a wall. Why use a patch box when you can just plug in all the Ethernet cables from the ceiling to their respecting ports. Just use tidy white cables and the cable branch looks clean and awesome!

[@andy_byrd]

Reviewer completely missed the purpose of this product. If you can't imagine how this could be used then why even review it?

[@xcalybur75]

This design makes a lot of sense to my small businesses, especially for companies in strip malls. They have little space for a rack and the cables coming from the top make sense also. You could route the cables straight up and into a drop ceiling or bring them through a hold just above the dream wall and cover it up with a conduit. My problem with this device is that everything is all in one. If something fails what do you do? Get a whole new dream wall? Also, Ubiquiti's router functions are simple at best. They need to beef them up to be competitive.

[@andmicbro1]

Yeah, aesthetics aside, failure is a concern. I've had a few switches (none from UniFi yet) go bad, and needed to be replaced. But if you go all-in-one like this? Seems like a bad idea. But I could see it being useful for some SOHO installations where you don't need a ton of stuff, maybe a couple of APs, cameras, and running out into another dedicated switch for any other devices.

[@Ronaldo-nj9pi]

@@andmicbro1 The Cisco all in one office in a box solution with router, asa and voice built-in also had me concerned. Those were terrible. I would worry about putting all my eggs in one basket.

[@RaeWilliams]

Love the design with the ports. It actually fits quite well with all the the cables coming into the mechanical room from all over the house thru the ceiling of the mechanical room, this is spot on.

[@DillonB407]

I think this is a great option for people with limited space and can be a lot cleaner looking if someone can't hide a rack away. I do agree WAN ports on the bottom and switches on the top is a little odd choice though. I would be interested in seeing all the ports on one side but designing the mount so that the unit can mounted either up or down. The screen could easily be set up to rotate for whatever direction and the cover could be designed to clip in either way if you don't want your Ubiquiti logo upside down.

[@blamb2119]

i actually am on team like the design. I had our electrician run everything down to our utility closet. the top design makes it super easy to then run the wires anyway i want, including straight down from the ceiling. for me, it eliminates the need for a rack, which is awesome. then if i need more ports, i can add the much much smaller switches in the rooms instead of running more home runs down to the closet

[@MrMolchester]

In the uk, most new-build housing has a cupboard/closet with the main consumer unit/breaker panel and pre-wired ethernet faceplates. Many homes are being built with solar PV now so the inverter and breaker for it is often there too. This product makes sense to me for install into somewhere like that. Home users don't want or need a server rack, but may want multi-AP Wi-Fi with wired backhaul and PoE cameras etc.

[@cosmoanderson6376]

As I moved into my new house I noticed the “smart panel” they installed matches up pretty perfectly to the dream wall cabling wise. Depending on the dimensions if this could mount inside of the panel this would be the best home option. I opted for the traditional rack/dream machine SE though Edit: I just measured the panel and it would fit inside perfectly. I’m confident this is what ubiquiti was trying to accomplish.

[@JRansom02]

Yeah, it seemed very much inspired by those panels. The only concern I'd have with installing it inside one is heat. I figured they would design a mount that could allow it to install over top of the panels, then have the cables route straight through the back, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

[@MikeWagoner]

As an MSP for small businesses I see this useful. Many times their cables aren't done all pretty and put into a patch bay. Just terminated wires coming down from the ceiling. Even if they were, I'd just mount this right under a wall mount 1 U and use 1 ft cords. And below this would be the cable modem or whatever from the ISP. My changes would be a battery in place of the 2nd power supply and a harddrive slot for the camera's.

[@ioiocs]

exactly! I'm not sure why he doesn't like the design.. i have personally NEVER had the wan cable coming from above my equipment nor a patch panel below my equipment... if i put my equipment above the patch panel my clients should fire me.

[@JRansom02]

Yup, if it's in an area that needs to be more "presentable", then I'd run some raceway from the ceiling down to the patch. You could always swap the 1Us for direct wall mount patch panels as well if space was super critical. Also, based off their 11 month old video, it states that they are suppose to have a 6000mAh battery. Idk if that's still true, or they opted for the extra psu instead.

[@alfish1]

I totally agree. If you've already invested in a nice rack, this is not the device you want. However, if you were doing new construction, you could probably make this look pretty good on a basement wall. I think the higher price is a potential barrier to adoption here as well.

[@alfish1]

@Silver Joystix Thanks! Hahaha.

[@HellGoodDoogz]

Yeh i agree, there's way too many people trying to give an intentionally opposing opinion. This is an incredibly niche product and always will be. As soon as any company goes against an actual ISO standard... it's already going to be considered niche... no ifs, ands or buts. Your comment was easily the most level headed response. I can imagine if any company was to create a "new" standard, Ubiquiti is probably the right company to try... but again... too niche of a product without mass adoption means size changes too dramatically, no consistency, especially when tech changes so rapidly! I can't imagine the average household wanting a UDM Wall "standard" size hole in their new house or business in 5 or 10 years time.... next unit will be way smaller and probably much more powerful. Some might be happy with this awkward design and make it look amazing... but it will only be as long as that unit is supported and also assuming their needs stay relatively modest for the near future. Most people looking to buy a house are probably going to be like... what the hell is that awkward design built IN TO my basement wall... (Thus the need for standards). I want to love this unit, i like the concept, but it really only targets new users i think. The market will determine its success.

[@PWingert1966]

It seems to be for environments with primarily Poe Devices attached and a typical business would have those but a residential might only have one or two cameras so it's not clear that the price is justified.

[@spartan5280]

I think this is perfect for small business. Most networking closets i have seen have all the network cables coming from the ceiling. So having those cables go right into the Dream Wall would be perfect.

[@aednichols]

I think the community will invent some nice install methods over time. Especially if wire routing starts being done with UDW in mind.

[@mikelovesbacon]

Switch at the top and WAN/power at the bottom makes perfect sense. In most homes, power outlets and external telecoms ports are usually on a low level not far above the skirting boards. If structured data cabling is installed it's usually run through ceilings, not under the floor.

[@rogejedib333]

I think it would be great for a restaurant or retail. Every small business I have seen does not use patch panels, so that would not be an issue. The slim profile would allow the unit to be placed in a secure hallway. Built-in support for Unifi access may make that an easy upsell. I would love to see an integrated battery so an external UPS is not needed or better storage for cameras. Overall, I don't think this will have as wide of an appeal as the rackmount products, but I believe it has definite applications.

[@anthonyrogers1256]

I like it for certain use cases, a house with everything coming to a smart panel, or some small businesses that dont already have a rack. I work for an ISP and we have a lot of small businesses with no rack, minimal space in their "telco" rooms and often a bunch of cables just poking through a hole in the ceiling. I will definitely be trying out given the correct circumstances. What I really dislike, is the lack of DC power. I use DC power where ever possible, which mostly means I am using Edge gear instead of Unifi in those cases. I would love to see all of their products become more standardized and have AC / DC options.

[@chublez]

While it's also not for me personally. I think you may be to deep into the profession to see who it is for. Wan in from bottom makes perfect sense as you're likely going to have a cable modem plugged in down there somewhere. Lan out the top...if you're going to wire up your single family dwelling the attic is going to be the easiest route and it's up. So you end up with a device(probably on the back wall of a closet) with power and WAN in the bottom and Lan out the top to the attic without taking up the entire closet. I know and you know this is sub optimal for cooling stuffing gear in a closet but most people don't care they're going to do it and they have other stuff they want in that closet not just a rack. This is perfect for that Prosumer that wants a good network solution but not a rack imho.

[@mwolrich]

yep, and in 6 months when they all start failing, due to heat buildup/no air circulation, Ubiquity will End-Of-Life these devices, as it will be too costly to replace all of the failed units…

[@PWingert1966]

In my house the network closet has a hole with a collar sleeve where all my network cables come out of. Having the ports on the top makes perfect sense in that scenario which is the intended design. Power outlets are typically at floor level and the WAN equipment supplied by the ISP are typically wall mounted lower as well at tabletop height. So, this set-up makes sense forthis scenario.

[@MrRovingshoe]

A lot of new housing in Florida put all the network and Cable TV into a wall mounted enclosure. I think this will be ideal to mount within this enclosure - it least that is my plan.

[@JamfSlayer]

The 8-bit guy absolutely needs this device for his studio network wall 😂

[@bobp4036]

Ports on top are perfect for my single family home install. I ran all the cables in the attic and have them coming through a port in the wall near the ceiling.

[@Peter-kn8py]

Perfect for new construction homes. Mounts into the utility/mechanical room with cables coming in from the top. They will have PoE access points and doorbell, maybe even a few security cameras. Power from the bottom makes sense too in this scenario, it'll be plugged into a standard outlet near it.

[@ryoukosan11]

Like others have said already, you're right that this is probably not for your customers. This form factor makes a lot of sense to me for a home user setting up a smart home or a small business, such as a mall presence or a bed and breakfast where you might not have the space to set up a proper network stack nor anticipate heavy network traffic.

[@hugevibez]

The use case for this thing seems to me is not just on a wall, but specifically the place your fusebox and other utilities come inside the house. Internet comes in from the bottom and the ports up top easily access the cable runs through your walls. The POE ports are mostly for IOT stuff and access points, which you can run from there as well, and the 10 gig goes to your home network switch located somewhere else. I actually really like this form factor for home use, though I personally prefer a different firewall than ubiquiti's.

[@mike237548andMrToast]

Love my dream wall (EA).. I did mount it on the back of my home rack tho so it kind of defeats the real intention of the product but it’s nice to have everything in one unit.. I use this in a residential environment for network & access applications. It powers the access hubs with POE++ so instead of a dream machine SE & 24port POE+ switch this has you covered & even has the second PSU so you don’t need a UPS-RPS. For a commercial environment I didn’t go this route but for residential it’s convenient. I agree a 2U unit would be cool tho & I also agree the cabling doesn’t look the best when setup.. I have it mounted on the back of a rack as I said so the cables all snake upwards and into the rack and then out the bottom and into the wall through a faceplate. My only real concern about this setup is if anything fails (other than psu) it all fails so I think having a spare is a necessity.. now having to buy two.. @$1000/each you’d prob be better with the traditional UniFi setup (dream machine se etc)

[@edrew9975]

In a home, or small business setting, it makes a ton of sense. In a larger enterprise setting, it would definitely have some issues. Honestly, if the main unit had a couple more SFP ports on top, and be a 48 Port instead of a 24, and Ubiquiti could come out with a version of this, to work in tandem with the main unit, basically a more aesthetically pleasing, wall-mounted POE Switch (No Built in UDM), I could see it being used in a medium-to almost enterprise level applications. Personally, I have 3 sites all linked in with Fiber in those massive 19” Wall mounted Boxes, so this would really clean things up.

[@ValexNihilist]

The switch and power/wan placements make sense to me. A lot of small businesses (in my area anyway) have their data going up to a conduit that goes outside and/or cables going up into the attic, while at the same time having the modem and power a few feet off the ground.

[@marksapollo]

I was only searching for new videos on this yesterday as it was announced months ago. Looking forward to your review.

[@OftenAsked]

I love the form factor, it'll go great on my garage wall. Power and Fiber already come in at ground level - structured cabling coming down from the ceiling and I'm sure it won't be long for someone to manufacture a low-profile downward facing patch panel. I wish the regular UDW had come with at least 4 ports of 2.5GigE though - so hopefully we'll see an evolution that includes that.

[@davidmcken]

You can just mount a vertical rackmount and face it down vs up, my question is why not just use the rackmount for everything at that point though?

[@OftenAsked]

@@davidmcken That's exactly what I have at the moment with a UDM Pro, it works for me because everything else looks cobbled together as well. If I was installing it for a client though? "Cobbled Together" doesn't exactly scream professional.

[@joelguay4452]

the switch up top makes sense, often you will have Lan networking going trough a suspended ceiling setup.

[@brentonholbrook6928]

I would like to see a version with a larger switch, especially with a medium to large home or medium sized business. I personally want to install several PoE cameras, plus a PoE doorbell. That exhausts the available ports quickly for me. If I need to purchase another stand alone switch to support all my PoE devices, I might as well just go old school and build a rack.

[@ChrisRider]

I liked your idea of a 2U UDM device. My UDM Pro still works ok and no immediate plans (and honestly, no real need) to replace. So, maybe in a few years, the Super 2U UDM Pro will be something to consider. I do not think my wife would like the Dream Wall anywhere in the house - she'd say it was ugly. My rack for my homelab is in the basement close to the furnace - out of the way and rarely seen by anyone. If I had a condo or limited space (and not using a rack), I could see using the Dream Wall. Since it gets warm, guessing a closet might not be the best place for this device.

[@blackknight467]

Honestly, this would be much better if they had just made it a bit bigger and more modular. Have the center part of the device be basically a power hub and a place where you can slide in basically a flattened out UDM/UDR/UDM-PRO based on your needs. Then you can have a vertical 1U rack slot at the top and a vertical 1U rack slot at the bottom that plug into the central power hub for easy cord management. This way you get all the benefits of the form factor but all the customizability you want for your deployment. Add in some extra cable management channels inside with some cut outs in the back to route / run cables discretely and you are golden.

[@TheCerealHobbyist]

This is perfect for my home. My LV cabinet where all of my Cat6 terminates is out of room for switches/FW/Cloudkey. Consolidating to a switch with enough PoE and mounting it essentially over the old cabinet was perfect. I have no way to cleanly do a rack (cables come in behind a door swing) and it would not pass the aesthetic committee (my wife). This was a perfect solution. Especially since it can do 2.5Gbps WAN and the only other option for that is rack mounted. I was able to cleanly go to my 110 block in the old LV cabinet it covers and bring the cables down from the top.

[@CheapSushi]

I really love the aesthetic, design and functionality of this thing. I think I'm going to make a computer case like this as well.

[@davidc2072]

Most structured cabling panels I've seen for newer homes have conduit from the outside wall coming in from the bottom, and an exit conduit that goes to upper floors at the top. So this is perfect for that setup.

[@brianpeppel7155]

My initial thought was it might fit inside those weird structured media boxes they often use in new construction. I haven't measured but it looks huge in your video.

[@robschultz9262]

This setup is exactly what I'm looking for from a home user. To get the POE ports to support my WIFI and cameras I had previously needed multiple switches and only able to use a few of them due to unit power demands, this single unit, covers that need. I do wish they would added hard disk bays to cover off the camera recording storage but maybe that will be in a future version.

[@evlnte]

I'd love it at around $699, no more than $800. It is a great all-in-one solution to connect to a 2gig fiber internet router in the garage or hallway closet as well as terminate whole bunch of home POE cameras and ethernet for the entire home. Not many non-tech people want a rack with a UDM, Switch, NVR and so on. This is simple, clean solution.

[@weston3303]

its like they took the routing setup of an electrical panel and made an all-in-one home solution. I really dig it, tbh and the price seems reasonable given it essentially combines a udm pro, switch with all PoE levels, SFP+ ports, a firewall, etc. if they could fix thermals it'd be even better. for home installs this thing is awesome. businesses not so much.

[@AdventureSMBW]

The design of this is almost perfect for me and my high tech but small office.

[@lordsetarurare]

This fills a need that several of my clients have in that they don't have a lot of space and the few places they can put a network stack can't reasonably fit a traditional rack. The Low profile nature is great for that but I agree the cables out the top are not great. I'd like the comb replaced with 2 or 3 holes that can be used to neatly bundle the cables as well as some knockouts for running in wall.

[@nicksunny]

I like the idea for my home. I have very limited space and I myself come up with a DIY dreamwall a year before Unifi did this. Right now Ironically I move to a wall mounted rack (9U) to move my stuff and I combine my DIN rail mounted heating controller into the rack to a 3U DIN rack mount. So my actual network gear takes up 6U. I would need the redundant power as well but there is no space left but I also plan to simplify my setup with a UDM SE and probably a switch that would replace my current USG + SW8-60 + SW8-150 + CK2 plus setup. To be honest if this will be available in Europe I might gonna switch to it because for my specific use it seems to deliver all what I have now in a very low profile form factor.

[@jeffschmidt7099]

In my world I support small offices where IT equipment was less than an after thought. I goninto these offices and I usually find equipment stacked on a shelf or on the floor of a coat closet. Absolutely no room for a 19" rack. The structured Ethernet is literally store bought Ethernet cables run above ceiling tiles and dropped down into the closet to connect to a switch placed precariously on the floral leaning against the wall next to a pair of boots. The dream wall would solve this situation perfectly! It could mount on the side of the closet, Ethernet connections can come down from the ceiling cleanly into the top and the power plugs into the receptacle that's located near the floor.

[@TheBennyDee]

I quite like it. What I wanted to know is how loud it is. Any measurements?

[@JohnFromTheInternet.]

At first when i saw the Dream wall, i gotta admit i was pretty hyped, and really thought about using it for my new house setup... But after thinking it through, i kept circling back to the UDM-Pro SE with a switch and an NVR.. The main reason for that is: 1: it will look weird at the top when i start plugging in cables from around the house... 2: i will still need an additional switch to actually have enough. 3: I also wanna use the protect part, so will most likely get an NVR for that... So overall, i will end up buying rack mounted hardware anyways... so might aswell go with a UDM Pro SE, where i can also switch fans if they become too loud.. Another thing that caught my eye in your video is the heat coming from that thing... OOOF, that is a lot in idle state... can't imagine actually using it... And the case looks pretty damn shut, doesn't look easy to install better fans at all. Cool idea, but doesn't really work great in a real world scenario i think...

[@JDTreadwell]

I think a power user's home network would be a good fit. I have all of my gear wall mounted in my bedroom closet and this would actually make a lot of sense in there. I'm not redesigning anything at this point, but if this lasts and gets some upgrades I may consider it down the line. The Switchport placement is a little disappointing, but it could be made to work Either bring the cables straight in and end them with RJ45 or use a flush mount patch panel like I am using now. Some creating cable management could also be used to keep it looking neat. But for sure its a solution that either fits a niche or has to be planned for before you run any cables into your demark.

[@MushangasMachinimaMovies]

Not sure about any of our clients, most of them already have a 19-inch rack of some sorts. But I am definitely interested in this thing for my parents' home once they're done remodeling it. This thing would probably fit great in the attic or fusebox, depending on where we decide to run all the ethernet cables to. If anything, if they made a version of this without the inbuilt WiFi AP, that'd be even better!

[@SalvoDan]

Rack mount hardware is great for larger businesses and larger homes with extra IT/AV equipment. Most modern homes in our area are built with a wall-mounted cabinet for housing the Fibre NTD, with various Ethernet ports and power. They are usually located in the garage. The UDW is the perfect complement for this, it can mount in the wall adjacent to, or mounted on the front of the wall-mounted cabinet and have everything enclosed in one or two units.

[@DiyintheGhetto]

I would love to see a tear down of this unit. I know many others would love it too. Edit: One thing I notice the Power cord, SFP port cord and network cord that is running inside the same channel to come out the end there is no strain releaf or tie down to secure it. Incase a kid, someone or something yanks on it.

[@PWingert1966]

It suggests that this would be in a locked telco room but a tiedown would be appreciated.

[@wmcomprev]

I'll agree that the PSUs should each have their own power cord. That would allow each PSU to be plugged into a different power source, such as 2 different UPS units. For anyone that didn't want or need that, then plug both into the same unit. As currently designed, are both PSUs energized or does the internal fail over send AC power to only 1 PSU at a time?

We have this with cameras. It's awesome and great for a big church setup. Apps are easy and network guy liked it.

[@peternap82]

Great review. About the design, I think the idea is that power and ISP router (kabel, fiber) comes from the ground. In a small office in the most cases the network cables come from the top/cieling so it makes sense because you dont need a patch panel, the Dream Wall is the literly all-in-one. Furthermore in small offices there is almost no space for a 19 inch half of full size rack and this devce can as you showed be mounted. The price is high but compare it with costs like a 19 inch rack half/full size, a patch panel with now a days exspensive keystones + some small materials, so you would easily spend another 500 to 1000 dollar + the price of a regular Dream Machine. It has potential but it needs some design improvements.

[@joshcamp]

I'll be installing this in my new home build in April. I plan on extending the structured cabinet the builder is installing via the built-in patch panel into the wall behind the cabinet and penetrating just over the top of the dream wall with a flush stub grommet. The cables will be bundled together and split just above the switch entry. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[@prhawkeye]

For those that have no real place to put an entire network rack, like in a place that doesn’t have basements, this could go on the inside of those “smart panels”. Then you don’t even really know it’s there, or if it’s going into a closet that doesn’t have the space for a rack. There are plenty of really good uses for this, however the price point for consumer product is pretty rough. Nice product, might be a bit high.

[@M_Gargantua]

That layout with the top/bottom cables seems optimized for a medium sized north American residential home's utility inlet. You've got your ONT, your breaker box, a dedicated outlet, and then all your homeruns throughout the construction go in to the top. Most of those installs will never have a patch panel, the LV electrician will just run and terminate the cables directly. If you want to break it out to a (probably rackmount) switch and a patch panel, that's what your SFP+ port is for. But that gives you some great options for ceiling APs and room keystones on the initial install. I'm just starting to see 2G fiber starting to gain traction as a residential service so the 2.5G WAN port makes sense. I like the future proofing with the 10G SFP+ WAN port too.

[@th0m]

I never even realized flipper zero is basically bang on one inch thick lol. Thanks for that and the run down of the DW. Cool that they're trying something different at the very least

[@christhomas7774]

Lots of new houses have all rooms networked, multiple APs scattered throughout and a network cabinet in the master bedroom closet or laundry room. Lots of times this network closet is built into the wall. The best thing for this product is for Ubiquity to partner with home builders like HR Horton, Toll Brothers, etc and put this in the network closets of newly built homes. With the switch ports at top, this product is perfect for these new homes where the network cables are coming from the ceiling into the network closet.

[@Joe-sg6kq]

Many new homes have a structured wiring cabinet. I could see this device taking the place of that wiring cabinet or staged side by side in a retrofit situation. I do think it this unit would be great in a new construction situation where the space and wiring was planned out and all the cable runs pulled into the right place.

[@Flash2171]

I see a modified version of this (removable doors like you mentioned) being perfect for a home network, small business, or small remote office. I would personally run a Netgate \ PfSense firewall in front of it, but a new home build is in my future, and this is on the list of considerations. I will have a dedicated room in the house with enough room for a full-size rack for future proofing, but I may opt to put this product in that room initially.

[@prn00]

I think the design is genius. Spot on for kind of customer they are targeting.

[@TheSpanishmuscle]

Glad to see you still throwing the packaging 😂

[@aretoo5426]

We run several remote offices around the US and these would be great in a storage room mounted close to the ceiling replacing the small office rack. Cables come out and go through a brush plate to cameras, computers, phones, access points, doorbells, and card readers. The mounting looks really cool too. I could also see this for a technical home install. ***Cooling would be a concern.

[@alfish1]

Speaking of hardware, is this basically the same CPU and guts as the UDM-SE?

[@RalphNoordanus]

The location of the Switch ports are perfect on the top, Imagine that you put the dream wall into a utility cupboard. Here where I live, all the pipes come from the ceiling going to all the rooms network wall socket. And my internet connection DSl/Fiber/Cable comes out of the ground. So it makes perfectly sens that the power and WAN ports are feed from the bottom and the network cables going to all the rooms is located at the top. Perfect I must say!

[@rfitzgerald2004]

Having worked in a lot of larger homes (I work for an ISP) I see a great market for this with the more wealthy customers in larger houses. Many of the ones I regularly work in have full home automation setups and in most cases the data cabling goes up the wall, usually in trunking, and into the roof space for distribution for other areas. Similarly, often the power is located near to the device and WAN services enter the house from an underground duct into a comms closet. I would say this device would fit well into 70% of the larger homes that I deal with and offer a real nice integrated solution. I would love to see an option to switch out PSU2, which I really don't see a benefit of having given the target market for this device, and instead have a battery backup or UPS module to go into the second slot. With that, it would be an incredibly useful and unique device

[@rfitzgerald2004]

I see that this would be mounted with permanent wiring installed (without a patch panel)

[@MatthewLiegey]

Makes sense with a drop ceiling like many smb's have. This thing will be in an office or storage room with clutter all around. I see the usage case for this, but it's generally limited to new build scenarios in my mind.

[@Mathieu_C]

The design makes sens for people in Canada. New houses are coming with a inwall cabinet. 16inches wide and 4-5 feet long. All the Ethernet cable are coming from the top of the rack in the wall.

[@ehcs0]

a good installation doesn't need a patch panel if you cant terminate a cable either don't do it at all or have someone else do it. this will work really well in most of the smaller setups I've done. run wires strait down from the ceiling individually or thru covered cable tracks, painted to wall color and you'll never see them. over all nice unit design if you know what your doing.

[@guineapigs2998]

Can the wan sfp port be used as a lan port (like how you can configure in the udm pro)?

[@Lustypublishing]

This is a great product! For a small office this is a perfect product. Trunking deals with the minuscule cable routing.

[@alsinclaire]

This is perfect for my home. All the network cables in my home come in through the ceiling of my basement utility room, and I can can add in mesh PoE WAPs for the remainder of the house and other accessories. I just wish half of the ports were also 2.5 instead of GBe, as I am fortunate to have 2.5Gb service.

[@tillmannfischer]

I can actually see this work in some more heavy geared home deployments. Cables coming in from the top does kind of work there. But then, the cost and especially the expensive POE++ and Wifi parts don’t make any sense in that environment. If this thing cost half as much, didn’t have Wifi and less POE to make up for that (perhaps even drop the secondary PSU to bring down size), this would be actually feasible for home deployments.

[@UXDiogenes]

Seems like you choose this or the UDM Pro SE depending on your space and cabling situation, so it makes a ton of sense to me. It’s perfect for some tight city business situations I’ve seen where the cabling terminates in tight closet or corner spaces, or an area that’s high up on a wall closer to the ceiling.

[@correykeen2956]

I like the idea, but I agree about the cables coming out of the top being an eyesore and hard to route. Having them come out of the bottom makes much more sense.

[@garethbraid937]

It seems you'd really want to run cabling specifically for this device. Don't know what you do when the unit dies a few months after UI has discontinued it though. I'd be more interested in a 'lite' version which is basically just a satellite switch that can be added to an existing Unifi setup. (For a second level in an existing house/building)

[@gregdurrans]

I love this, it is exactly what I’m looking for. I’m surprised you don’t like the design. It is far more appropriate to a domestic or clean office environment. The outputs from the switch is not a big issue.

[@akingsley]

I think the design makes a lot of sense to me. I live in Europe and don’t have much space. I have a new build and all the cat6 cables run into the ceiling of a very small electrical closet. I’ve got no space for racks. Mounts this to the wall, run all the cables from the ceiling into it. And run my fiber to the home internet straight into it. Nice clean all in one solution.

[@bellagiosampler]

It does make sense as most people would probably mount it in a basement. Cables coming out from the top would make it easier if you are trying to go up to the first or second floor.

[@aalberto4961]

I just found out about this now. I wonder if I had earlier but I just had my whole home network upgraded. Last week I had an electrician install Cat8 cables all over my whole house. I have them connected to 5X 8 port netgear 10Gbe switches. They are managed by 2X ASUS AXE 16000 wifi routers in mesh mode with 10Gbe backhaul. Finally the electrician installed 7 4K Reolink IP cameras powered by PoE switches and I setup the non stop recording to my synology NAS.

[@mullvaden83]

Holy shit it is HUGE! I wasnt expecting it beeing that big from the pictures. XD

[@nenadbogar1496]

this is great for a home. love it. and considering all it has in there, it's cheaper from buying everything separately

[@dropshotking1212]

honestly i understand it and like it. Im a techy and about to start my own WISP. So having this would save space and time configuring a new rack. it looks good and will do the job. My beef though is the heat...

[@Razor2048]

They should have given it 2 hard drive bays for NVR capabilities, that would have improved the value to make the $1000 not seem massively overpriced. If they gave it 2 hard drive bays, it could be a true all in one unit for a small business, e.g., a restaurant, bed and breakfast, or other small setup where the 1 unit can handle a few cameras, a few APs, and probably a secondary switch for a few PCs in an office.

[@smithydll]

Looks like someone forgot to tell marketing that the feature was removed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJuzZI1jptOSgsk

[@k.hussain360]

I think it is a thing of networking beauty and targeted especially for the home user not business. In my opinion the design is pretty clever, I'm based in the UK and it's common for power and the internet connection line into the property to be closer to the ground, often the ground floor is a solid concrete base, so the easiest way to run Ethernet cables to various rooms will be to go into the wall (not always easy) thread the cable up to the ceiling and then take the cable to the required location. Cameron Gray has done a few videos on doing a home network in the UK and it will give you a good visual example of what I've just described.

[@acemanyellow13]

Network cables on top and power on the bottom. This one is absolutely perfect for me. (if i could buy one)

[@cbremer83]

If all you need is internet through the home/business, I guess this would work. Maybe have a few switches spread about as needed. Maybe a few cameras. But anything more than that a rack setup is going to be far better and more flexible, I would think.

[@cbremer83]

@Steve Sherman and most of those won't be spending $1000 for their router/wifi setups. I doubt the typical retail customer has changed much from 2010 when I last worked in that environment. Most people did not want to spend much more than about $100 then. I am not saying nobody would by this, but it is a far cry from a typical home user and only a specific group of power/enthusiast customers.

[@rosnow]

I definitely see the merit of this direction. I wish the UDR was a wall mountable slab like this rather than a cylinder. My use case is at home or at a weekend house, I definitely do not need or want a 19” rack. In a business a rack makes sense. In home, not really. These go in a closet, all my other stuff is mounted to a wall. The rack has a really big footprint for a few devices. I think your point about Ethernet cabling is 100% correct. An outboard wall mount switch with builtin cable management makes sense to me. I don’t get the $999 price point except for very high end homes. I think the UDR / UDM SE pricing is as much as I could justify.

[@LordGooben]

This was a neat concept but I agree with Chris on this, the only thing that I could think that this would possible come in handy is a residental home, spouse doesn't want a rack and she wants it in the closet. The patch panel would be an issue and not look good. I would see this as you have the dream wall, lower and near the top were the drops were you would have a patch panel and run patches. But even then I don't know. Not to mention if that fails welp out of luck. I would be concered about the heat too.

[@RobLescaille]

Agreed. I think the home pro user was the target customer here, not businesses.

[@WesselLemmer]

Not to sound like a fan boy but it makes sense. I've spent the last decade installing various sorts of hardware with a focus on aesthetics. A rack is going to look like a rack, point over and out. Something like the udm base or dream router is actually very difficult to install with neat cable management. Hiding everything for this dream wall is a minor hurdle and it looks pretty good on a wall from where I'm sitting.

[@Its-Just-Zip]

This was nearly a perfect device for somebody like me who has an older home with an in-wall network panel nearly because it doesn't quite fit over that panel properly and it's also not IP weather rated as far as I can find which is important because in a lot of homes built like mine is the network service panel is in the same room with the washer and the dryer. So if one of those things goes bad, I need to make sure that any equipment I have in there is properly weatherproofed

[@ari-mcbrown]

I'm considering to suggest this thing to a friend of mine, his house is all wired up, and all cables end up in the utility closet FROM THE TOP. The redundant PSU is overkill, I appreciatie the modulairity though, I'd rather see the second bay as built in UPS option. This would also tackle some security issues if power to the building gets cut-off for some reason. I can clearly see that this solution is perfect for SMB solutions where they just don't want to prepare a lot of space for 19" solutions.

[@arlannotness]

This design would have been a perfect solution for my install/retrofit in a coat closet that now doubles as my network closet. It could have saved me issues I had installing a structured media box into my 80’s home. The price feels like a large increased ask over the SE/Pro for such a limited gain for a home user. I think it has a strong position for a home network when someone wants to avoid having to locate real estate for rack mounted hardware. But once again the price will cause it to be easily set aside for the average user. The market needs devices like this. I think this one just missed the mark a bit. I definitely agree with your temp concerns as well. Extremely few hone spaces will have the cooling found in a commercial network room. They are going to need to improve that as most home users will have significantly less than ideal installation options with little to no external air circulation.

[@skyemac8]

With cables going to the attic up the wall this design works. Especially in a closet.

[@speedysmithy]

Welcome to marketing! Good honest review thanks

[@kerryl1528]

Yep, another classic case of designers not talking to the engineering dept.!

[@kevinwhite9919]

while i see how this would work in a lot of instances where the cabling generally goes up into the ceiling for distribution... i hate having to have the ports facing upwards. dirt, drywall dust, and everything else that might come raining down through the hole in the cieling will drop right into those holes, and maybe even something metallic, which can short pins... it's just a mess. i always aim network ports down or at least horizontal, for that reason. so, not a huge fan of the form factor here.

[@matthiashartmann4652]

Honestly. i would have instantly bought this 3 years ago instead of my udm pro. It has ports, but no poe, so I needed an 8 port lite for that. Additionally due to size restrictions I wasn’t able to install a standard 19 inch rack. So I needed to look for a vertical mountable one. Now I still have the cables but a much chunkier piece of metal on the wall that was overall in costs not so much cheaper. Adding all the poe ports this easily makes up the difference. So for regular houses, this is amazing. Though I get the point with the patch panel.

[@Photoshopuzr]

Hey Chris, how are you running the cameras for this unit? are you using a cloudkey or are you using the UNVR? the SD card is no way good enough for a months' worth of footage? though I would ask.

[@oliverpoate4865]

I think that this would be a really great product for new build houses, where you want an all in one consumer grade device. However, I would like to see one of the power supplies removed in favour of a 3.5" HDD bay that could be used for Unifi Protect storage and also to reduce the size of the unit. I also think that a cut out above the ethernet ports for cables to come straight out of a wall is a must. I don't see this product being useful for retrofits, but definitely has potential for new builds/major refurbs.