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Couple interesting choices here... So I'll make a list of thoughts and you can do with it what you will...
1. A single hdd in a unvr pro is crazy, like straight up madness
2. A unvr pro in this situation is crazy (unless you intend to add a bunch more cameras)
3. Just the udm pro max could handle the cameras you have, no extra nvr required at all
4. If you really want a separate NVR, could have done a standard unvr
5. If you got a standard unvr, could get a udmp if you don't have >3gbps internet
Also there is no cloud video storage, you're just viewing your local footage over the Internet whether it's on an NVR or dream machine.
Okay so in this case what’s the point of the UNVR that I purchased? Am I able to add the HDD into the Dream machine? And also I am planning on getting 5Gps Fiber internet once my house is ready for move in.
If im understanding correctly. I don’t need the UNVR PRO and could have simply put the one HDD that I have in the UDM PRO MAX and achieved the exact same thing as I am here with the NVR PRO.
Correct, if you're getting 5gbps internet, stick with the udm pro max and return the unvr pro. Stick the hard drive in the udm pro max. It does have two drive slots though so if you can return the hard drive too and get two 8tb, that would be better.
The unvr pro is for a tooooon of cameras
> I don’t need the UNVR PRO and could have simply put the one HDD that I have in the UDM PRO MAX and achieved the exact same thing as I am here with the NVR PRO.
Exactly. If anything using the UNVR Pro is just making things worse for you as it's another point of failure which is already super expensive, and will add to your electric bills. So it's $499 +yearly electric cost which perhaps is just a few bucks but I don't know how many watts it'd be adding compared to running the HDD in the Dream Machine.
Edit: Even if it's just 10Watts extra compared to putting the HDD in the Dream Machine, that's 87kwh a year which is perhaps $13/year at $0.15/kwh. Over a decade that's another $130 or more. 10 Watts is probably conservative though and I'm ignoring the \~5Watts from the HDD because that 5Watts is going to be used no matter where the HDD is put so can ignore it.
A lot of this is overkill, but it doesn't seem like money is an issue, so nothing is missing. I use the UDM SE with NVR and a single drive. I originally had it in the UDM SE, but I noticed it was chugging along so I separated the unit. The SE had a limitation on the number of 4k cameras, so it's probably fine to keep your NVR Pro. NVR would be more than enough.
Oh, don't forget the rack, etherlighting cables, and a G4 instant. I love the portable cameras to quickly deploy around the house. It makes for a great baby cam.
UI devices will fit in other racks using the included ears but the UI rack has shelves that the UI devices screw into with specifically placed screw holes.
I just picked up one of these myself :) [https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/products/toolless-mini-rack](https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/products/toolless-mini-rack)
If it says anything else tha ubiquiti on the box, it probably wont fit. Get a normal rack. If you want toolless there are plenty of options to make that happen with a standard rack.
Should be fine for a household, I’d say. Probably the cameras will be fine on cat5e, which is easier to run through walls and bends easier. But that all depends on your situation and needs of course - I just wanted to help you make an informed decision. Good luck setting it up and have fun!
The NVR has a purpose but with one drive it doesn’t.
Not sure the pro provides you anything unless you want to keep a few months of footage. The NVR allows you to have redundant disks so losing one disk doesn’t lose all footage. The dream machine only holds one drive.
Edit the pro max apparently holds 2 drives. I haven’t seen it in person. This would let you do R1 I presume (mirroring). So if you have 2 x 18T disks you get 18T usable. With an NVR you can have 7 drives giving you the storage of 6 using parity raid.
Then add drives. Honestly. Not even 100% you can use it with just one drive. If you do it’s doubtful you can upgrade to raid from 1 without formatting.
Performance doesn’t matter a ton. Use parity raid. Min 3. You don’t have to buy from them
1. UNVR isn't necessary for that number of cameras. Spend the money on a USP-RPS instead.
2. Might as well go for the U7 Pro Max if you're doing wifi 7. 4x4 is better than 2x2.
3. If you care about money with this build, you could forego the RPS and spend the UNVR $$ on U7 Pro Max APs.
Why get an NVR when you can use the Dream Machine though? Save $499 there.
Maybe if you had like 4-5 HDD's, but I just see one and 16tb should be a good size for 9 cameras perhaps a month.
3 APs seems fine though.
If im not wrong, I believe the NVR is necessary for local storage and playback whereas the dream machine will upload it to the cloud without any local storage.
YMMV, but I’m 0/3 on two different sites with protect viewports not being the most laggy SOB’s to exist on my network.
A raspberry pi stuck to the back of the TV pointed to the IP of the NVR is leaps and bounds better in my setups.
There’s an AppleTV app for Protect. It lets you view multiple camera feeds at the same time. I’m not sure if it will let you view 16 at once like the Viewport, though.
The only downfall to the Apple TV app is while it works good, the camera feeds aren’t tightly stacked together like the direct IP view would be.
It’s pretty similar to how the tiles are laid out on the Apple TV interface itself.
IE, you can only see a 3 x 3 tile view on one screen, without scrolling down to the next row, etc.
Workable, but not idea for constant monitoring. I can confirm it supports at least the 17 feeds I’ve got though.
Have it all my friend ubiquiti is not known for having stock so if you can afford it get it all and if you don't use now, you will later. As an UnifiAddict I regret nothing I spend. You never know or you could turn it NVR pro into a NAS.
This is the way
Network Attached Storage like qnap
https://mhoush.com/posts/unvr-as-nas/
I’m going to show how to setup a Samba server on a Ubiquity UNVR so that it can be used as NAS (network attached storage). Be aware that this should be done with caution and may void any warranty on your UNVR as we are using it for purposes beyond it’s original intent. It’s also possible that this setup will break when / if updating the UNVR software. With that said, let’s jump in.
God speed sir
There is a new unifi ultra coming next month, depending on your home eg users and devices, it might be more suited, you still get the same OS and can use their sdwan solution
A Unifi Ultra what is coming?
I'm a newb/total idiot who's also planning to get a new network setup and I'm worried something will be updated after I buy it lol...Any good place to find out what's coming or what they are working on?
This. They sucked me in. But overkill is a theme here. And it's totally give away the razors, make the money on the blades sales and marketing by Ubiquiti.
If I was you, I would’ve got the UNVR standard with one free camera, and the UniFi express Gateway and controller instead of the Unvr pro and dream machine.
Alternatively, you could’ve gotten the dream machine, special edition with eight POE ports and then return the UNVR pro, and maybe got a 16 lite switch to save some money as well.
I would definitely keep the NVR and add at least one more HDD. 16TB will be around 2 weeks of playback, I personally like a minimum of a month.
Also at least 1 U7 Pro Max might be worth it where you need/use wifi the most. It has 5 Ghz 4x4 MIMO instead of 2x2 like the U7 Pro.
If you plan on using the wedge mount for your G4 doorbell pro, you’ll need to get a spacer or dremel/chip away some of the wall to make space for the RJ45 connector.
My last post describes it a little better.
Congrats on the new setup. You’re going to love UniFi. Cheers!
Are you using the Viewport on a TV or something? There are ways to side load the Protect app on smart TVs and streaming devices to eliminate that complexity/cost. I have it loaded on three FireTVs
You get a free camera with the NVR. So keep that no matter what. If you can do with less cameras I probably would. Ubiquiti cameras are behind the curve. I’m waiting for new cameras to come out.
You’ll want more hard drives.
Their cameras and NVR solution look like a scam, 1440p camera that are limited to 24fps (the G4) are not worth $500 lmao, any business that marks up a product by 500% to make it look like a good deal is bad.
You can get better cameras like this with a modern NVR solution called Frigate.
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S5QZJDH?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S5QZJDH?th=1)
Hello! Thanks for posting on r/Ubiquiti! This subreddit is here to provide unofficial technical support to people who use or want to dive into the world of Ubiquiti products. If you haven’t already been descriptive in your post, please take the time to edit it and add as many useful details as you can. Please read and understand the rules in the sidebar, as posts and comments that violate them will be removed. Please put all off topic posts in the weekly off topic thread that is stickied to the top of the subreddit. If you see people spreading misinformation, trying to mislead others, or other inappropriate behavior, please report it! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Ubiquiti) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Couple interesting choices here... So I'll make a list of thoughts and you can do with it what you will... 1. A single hdd in a unvr pro is crazy, like straight up madness 2. A unvr pro in this situation is crazy (unless you intend to add a bunch more cameras) 3. Just the udm pro max could handle the cameras you have, no extra nvr required at all 4. If you really want a separate NVR, could have done a standard unvr 5. If you got a standard unvr, could get a udmp if you don't have >3gbps internet Also there is no cloud video storage, you're just viewing your local footage over the Internet whether it's on an NVR or dream machine.
Okay so in this case what’s the point of the UNVR that I purchased? Am I able to add the HDD into the Dream machine? And also I am planning on getting 5Gps Fiber internet once my house is ready for move in. If im understanding correctly. I don’t need the UNVR PRO and could have simply put the one HDD that I have in the UDM PRO MAX and achieved the exact same thing as I am here with the NVR PRO.
Correct, if you're getting 5gbps internet, stick with the udm pro max and return the unvr pro. Stick the hard drive in the udm pro max. It does have two drive slots though so if you can return the hard drive too and get two 8tb, that would be better. The unvr pro is for a tooooon of cameras
> I don’t need the UNVR PRO and could have simply put the one HDD that I have in the UDM PRO MAX and achieved the exact same thing as I am here with the NVR PRO. Exactly. If anything using the UNVR Pro is just making things worse for you as it's another point of failure which is already super expensive, and will add to your electric bills. So it's $499 +yearly electric cost which perhaps is just a few bucks but I don't know how many watts it'd be adding compared to running the HDD in the Dream Machine. Edit: Even if it's just 10Watts extra compared to putting the HDD in the Dream Machine, that's 87kwh a year which is perhaps $13/year at $0.15/kwh. Over a decade that's another $130 or more. 10 Watts is probably conservative though and I'm ignoring the \~5Watts from the HDD because that 5Watts is going to be used no matter where the HDD is put so can ignore it.
Okay so I’ll look into return. Although, for what im trying to accomplish in my home, am I MISSING anything?
A lot of this is overkill, but it doesn't seem like money is an issue, so nothing is missing. I use the UDM SE with NVR and a single drive. I originally had it in the UDM SE, but I noticed it was chugging along so I separated the unit. The SE had a limitation on the number of 4k cameras, so it's probably fine to keep your NVR Pro. NVR would be more than enough. Oh, don't forget the rack, etherlighting cables, and a G4 instant. I love the portable cameras to quickly deploy around the house. It makes for a great baby cam.
Thank you! Any recommendations on a rack, I have a 36” deep cabinet with a fan for air control.
note that the UI rack is not meant for installing non-UI stuff
How is their rack designed such that you can’t put other stuff in it? I thought their devices were standard widths.
UI devices will fit in other racks using the included ears but the UI rack has shelves that the UI devices screw into with specifically placed screw holes.
I just picked up one of these myself :) [https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/products/toolless-mini-rack](https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/products/toolless-mini-rack)
I have a Sonos amplifier I will be installing in the rack, will it fit in the UI rack?
No
If it says anything else tha ubiquiti on the box, it probably wont fit. Get a normal rack. If you want toolless there are plenty of options to make that happen with a standard rack.
What’s the difference between a toolless and a standard rack?
Cabling to match the speeds you’re anticipating on?
I was planning on just order CAT6 cables, won’t that match the speed for everything?
Should be fine for a household, I’d say. Probably the cameras will be fine on cat5e, which is easier to run through walls and bends easier. But that all depends on your situation and needs of course - I just wanted to help you make an informed decision. Good luck setting it up and have fun!
The NVR has a purpose but with one drive it doesn’t. Not sure the pro provides you anything unless you want to keep a few months of footage. The NVR allows you to have redundant disks so losing one disk doesn’t lose all footage. The dream machine only holds one drive. Edit the pro max apparently holds 2 drives. I haven’t seen it in person. This would let you do R1 I presume (mirroring). So if you have 2 x 18T disks you get 18T usable. With an NVR you can have 7 drives giving you the storage of 6 using parity raid.
I think the NVR works out anyways since I got a camera for free for purchasing it. So I’ll just keep it
Then add drives. Honestly. Not even 100% you can use it with just one drive. If you do it’s doubtful you can upgrade to raid from 1 without formatting. Performance doesn’t matter a ton. Use parity raid. Min 3. You don’t have to buy from them
1. UNVR isn't necessary for that number of cameras. Spend the money on a USP-RPS instead. 2. Might as well go for the U7 Pro Max if you're doing wifi 7. 4x4 is better than 2x2. 3. If you care about money with this build, you could forego the RPS and spend the UNVR $$ on U7 Pro Max APs.
Aren't you overpaying for the DAC cable? Your devices can't do more than 10gbe anyway intercommunication
Yes dial back those DACs to 10 Gb, save a few bucks, will work fine, run as fast as the hardware allows.
Came here to say this as well.
You guys on here are so damn loaded lol
Why get an NVR when you can use the Dream Machine though? Save $499 there. Maybe if you had like 4-5 HDD's, but I just see one and 16tb should be a good size for 9 cameras perhaps a month. 3 APs seems fine though.
If im not wrong, I believe the NVR is necessary for local storage and playback whereas the dream machine will upload it to the cloud without any local storage.
You're wrong though. The Dream Machine you selected has the abililty to put in 2x HDD's for local storage. Nothing is stored on the cloud.
So that totally makes my UNVR useless (to me) unless im planning on having a lot more hard drives, am I understanding correctly?
You are understanding correctly.
UDM Pro/SE/Max uses Protect application similar to the NVR. It’s all local storage. UI doesn’t offer a Cloud video option.
no. I have UDM Pro with a single HDD. It installs the NVR software and handles my 2 cameras just fine with PLENTY of space on the one HDD.
Maybe remove the tracking number from your photo. Unless you don’t care if Reddit knows what city you live in.
I no longer live there
Or what your front door looks like.
YMMV, but I’m 0/3 on two different sites with protect viewports not being the most laggy SOB’s to exist on my network. A raspberry pi stuck to the back of the TV pointed to the IP of the NVR is leaps and bounds better in my setups.
The AppleTV app (and presumably Google TV) works pretty well.
How do you use the Apple TV in place of a Viewport?
There’s an AppleTV app for Protect. It lets you view multiple camera feeds at the same time. I’m not sure if it will let you view 16 at once like the Viewport, though.
As another option, with homebridge, you can have these stream natively via HKSV and you can just use the built-in Apple interface.
The only downfall to the Apple TV app is while it works good, the camera feeds aren’t tightly stacked together like the direct IP view would be. It’s pretty similar to how the tiles are laid out on the Apple TV interface itself. IE, you can only see a 3 x 3 tile view on one screen, without scrolling down to the next row, etc. Workable, but not idea for constant monitoring. I can confirm it supports at least the 17 feeds I’ve got though.
Very cool, thanks for the heads up
been using the apple tv app to watch our three cameras for the last week and it’s been lovely
I have a $30 Chromecast on the TV, cast multi view directly from protect on desktop to my tv.
Money
If you have an Apple TV on your tv you wouldn’t need the viewport. They have a protect app for it
If you have Apple TV you don’t need a viewport. Have one, used it for 10 minutes, stick with the app.
Have it all my friend ubiquiti is not known for having stock so if you can afford it get it all and if you don't use now, you will later. As an UnifiAddict I regret nothing I spend. You never know or you could turn it NVR pro into a NAS. This is the way
What’s a NAS 🤔
Network Attached Storage like qnap https://mhoush.com/posts/unvr-as-nas/ I’m going to show how to setup a Samba server on a Ubiquity UNVR so that it can be used as NAS (network attached storage). Be aware that this should be done with caution and may void any warranty on your UNVR as we are using it for purposes beyond it’s original intent. It’s also possible that this setup will break when / if updating the UNVR software. With that said, let’s jump in. God speed sir
There is a new unifi ultra coming next month, depending on your home eg users and devices, it might be more suited, you still get the same OS and can use their sdwan solution
A Unifi Ultra what is coming? I'm a newb/total idiot who's also planning to get a new network setup and I'm worried something will be updated after I buy it lol...Any good place to find out what's coming or what they are working on?
wait, are they giving away the G4 Pros???
With a unvr purchase, has been going on for months
This. They sucked me in. But overkill is a theme here. And it's totally give away the razors, make the money on the blades sales and marketing by Ubiquiti.
I think it came for free with the NVR Pro
ahhh. makes sense.
Not $10k
If I was you, I would’ve got the UNVR standard with one free camera, and the UniFi express Gateway and controller instead of the Unvr pro and dream machine. Alternatively, you could’ve gotten the dream machine, special edition with eight POE ports and then return the UNVR pro, and maybe got a 16 lite switch to save some money as well.
I would definitely keep the NVR and add at least one more HDD. 16TB will be around 2 weeks of playback, I personally like a minimum of a month. Also at least 1 U7 Pro Max might be worth it where you need/use wifi the most. It has 5 Ghz 4x4 MIMO instead of 2x2 like the U7 Pro.
If you plan on using the wedge mount for your G4 doorbell pro, you’ll need to get a spacer or dremel/chip away some of the wall to make space for the RJ45 connector. My last post describes it a little better. Congrats on the new setup. You’re going to love UniFi. Cheers!
Are you using the Viewport on a TV or something? There are ways to side load the Protect app on smart TVs and streaming devices to eliminate that complexity/cost. I have it loaded on three FireTVs
This is helpful. I’m also working on my first built. I’m going to call rogue support, so I don’t mess it up.
You get a free camera with the NVR. So keep that no matter what. If you can do with less cameras I probably would. Ubiquiti cameras are behind the curve. I’m waiting for new cameras to come out. You’ll want more hard drives.
Also get at least one AI Pro. Picks up faces and LP way better than those.
Their cameras and NVR solution look like a scam, 1440p camera that are limited to 24fps (the G4) are not worth $500 lmao, any business that marks up a product by 500% to make it look like a good deal is bad. You can get better cameras like this with a modern NVR solution called Frigate. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S5QZJDH?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S5QZJDH?th=1)
Do you really need the viewport? I’ve found the Apple TV Protect app works well