It's not clear on Ubiquity's site, but if you are building out a Unify network (Unify series USG, Unify series Switch, Unify series Access Point), you need this! I bought all of these items initially without the Cloud Key. I thought that the Cloud Key was only needed if you wanted to remote manage your network. This is for my newly remodeled home and once setup, it didn't care about remote management so I initially did not buy it. Wrong. Yes, there is a free config app that you can download that does what this can do, but then you need to run it on your own computer. While I work and manage in the technology field, I don't want to go home to a rack of servers or dedicated/VM controllers just to occasionally config my house system. BTW, even if you do that, you cannot use Ubiquity's cloud platform to manage it unless you pay or you VPN into your own. When you're in your 40's you loose interest in doing such "money saving" time wasters. For under $100, this is a Linux PC on a stick. If you have a POE switch, you're done. This bad boy is not only the centralized setup for all of your Unify gear, you can download the free Unify app and manage everything remotely on your phone or PC-for free. Centralized Unify setup, no monthly fees, essentially no power draw, stupid easy to use and setup, under $100 = no brainier. If you're on the fence, get it.
I decided to install a new wifi in my house. I ordered the Ubiquiti Gateway, 3 access points and the cloud key. I kept my existing switch. I received the gateway and the access points first and I could not wait until I received the cloud key. So I downloaded the software and installed everything. I had a little issue with the mac privacy settings, but after that issue was resolved, set up was a breeze.
So when I received the cloud key, I did not know how to switch everything from the software management to the cloud key. I watched a video on Youtube and it was worthless. I messed up the entire network and after 3 hours had gone full circle. So let me save you a bunch of time. It should take 10 minutes tops. Open your software and create a backup of the settings. Follow the directions for setting up the cloud key as a new device. Once that is done, go into the settings and restore the backup you made of the software settings and you are done. It is that easy.
Purchased this to compliment my Unifi network at home
* Easy to setup and gets adopted very easily with the Unifi controller software
* Lots of great options built in and they are adding more all the time
***Newest version of hardware no longer as the VOIP outlet and it is now a WAN2/LAN2 port
* Feels nice and heavy and is very well made and will last a long time
* Very happy with this purchase and highly recommend
This firewall is a little challenging to set up (it is a managed device), but once set up it works flawlessly. Right out of the box it has all service ports stealthed, and the only thing that would make it less of a target is if it did not respond to external pings (it does). This is more of a style issue than a bug, and it can be turned off. I am exceedingly pleased to the point where I am recommending these to my clients, and the unit I tested has replaced a custom built firewall that was independently rated one of the best security appliances for under $5000.00.
Picked up one of these after my 5-port PoE EdgeRouter got rained on through a window - don't ask how ;) Installation of this unit was painless, though I had to tweak a few settings through the command line - as the UniFi management interface didn't let me do all I needed (adding an openvpn vpn client and key). This unit wants to be managed through UniFi, and enables Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) on my network. I have two Ubiquiti access points (UAP-AC v2, and UAP-AC-Pro) which provide great coverage in the house. I've been missing some features in the UniFi interface, but after adding this USG in, I had no more issues, and I'm pretty happy with how it functions. No issues with overheating (the 5-port PoE switch got pretty hot, so I had to elevate it and add a small fan), but this one is fine by itself and no added ventilation to keep it cool.
Feature Product
- 3 Gigabit Ethernet ports, CLI management for advanced users
- 1 million packets per second for 64-byte packets
- 3 Gbps total line rate for packets 512 bytes or larger
- Integrated and managed with UniFi Controller v4.x
- Secure off-site management and monitoring, Silent, fanless operation
Description
The Unifi Security Gateway extends the Unifi Enterprise System to provide cost-effective, reliable routing and advanced security for your network.
Integration with UniFi Controller: Bundled at no extra charge, the UniFi Controller software conducts device discovery, provisioning, and management of the UniFi Security Gateway and other UniFi devices through a single, centralized interface.
Powerful Firewall Performance: The UniFi Security Gateway offers advanced firewall policies to protect your network and its data.
Convenient VLAN Support: The UniFi Security Gateway can create virtual network segments for security and network traffic management.
So first off, you have to know what this product is. It’s basically Ubiquiti’s EdgeRouter that is being developed on the fly to create an incredible ecosystem with complimentary products like UniFi AP’s and switches. It IS a router... but as far as a router goes, the refinements are coming, but not there yet. For example, I need to be able to setup site to site VPN’s using a FQDN as opposed to a static IP. It’s not possible yet. Site to site static IP, no problem.
That all being said, I simply love this device. Configuarable to dual WAN, supports DNS, the UniFi controller software is simply amazing. As long as UniFi continues to roll out updates and listening to their customers, this little box will be simply amazing, especially considering the cost. The UniFi controller is what makes these products. Kudos, Ubiquiti!
Update: 4/1/18 so the controller software has been updated and now correctly displays the status of manually created end point VPN tunnels. This was a frustrating issue that had finally been resolved.
I must say that this equipment is the best network equipment that I have ever used. I own 3 pharmacies and they connect to my house which acts as the hub for the 3 locations to communicate between each other. VPN tunnels connect all 3 locations to the central server at my house. It is imperative that the tunnels are dependable. I have used Sonicwalls, linksys, Cisco, and Netgear routers all of which cost 3-4 times this unit, and it blows them away. I have not had a single VPN flake out over 6 months.
The single unified controller manages the adoption of all UniFi devices, as well as the deployment of things like firmware updates. I literally lay in bed with my iPhone and initiate rolling firmware upgrades across 4 locations without any issues. Amazing.
It’s a bit of a learning curve, and the software is scrambling to keep up with the equipment’s community’s requests, but they are working on developing and rolling out all of the requested functionality. It’s like watching a product evolve in real time, yet enjoying the incredible reliability of their EdgeRouter line.
For $100, buy a USG and an AP, and dive into the UniFi ecosystem. You owe it to yourself.
And no, I am not getting paid for this review. It’s simply the best equipment I’ve ever used.
Excellent for SOHO or someone that wants more features than consumer grade WiFi. This is not an out of the box set-up, I highly recommend you have some sort of background before purchasing (which that is the target demographic anyway)
I am using this with a cloud controller I am hosting free with AWS and haven't had that many issues. Ubiquiti is constantly advancing and rolling out new features which you need to stay on top of and update. Once you have the controller setup, updating the USG or any other UniFi products is as simple as a click.
Worth the extra time and little frustration setting up to have the extra features and ability to expand. I am happy I went with the USG instead of the edgeMax especially since the USG has the "edgeOS" software if you ssh into the device so you can do everything an edge router can through the CLI
If you have no Ubiquiti experience, or can't google your problems, don't even buy this. ABSOLUTELY. DO. NOT.
If you are patient, comfortable with troubleshooting, reading forums to resolve problems, maybe using a little linux command line, and are already running Ubiquiti's UniFi software on a server; then yes, you should absolutely buy this. Why don't you own it already?
The UniFi software makes setup a breeze, if you realize that the USG's default IP address is 192.168.1.1, and set your server to a static IP in the 192.168.1.xxx range. I could have saved about 5 hours of set up time if I had bothered to realize this when installing on a 192.168.0.xxx network. The second one that I installed took about 5 minutes. You'll only need to SSH into the device if you run into problems, which if you're like me, you have created yourself by not following instructions.
It took a long time to connect to the internet when first setup via DHCP. I almost gave up trying. At the end, instead of following the quick guide, I followed the recommendation from other people to first adopt the device in the Ubiquiti Controller before connecting the WAN port, and I was finally connected to the internet. So I wish a better documentation to save customer, special first timer, some headache.
Things were working pretty ok after the device was connected to the internet. I have a gigabit internet, and I was getting around 900Mbps, which is pretty decent (I was also using the Ubiquiti 60W 8 port switch). I was also able to update the firmware via the controller through internet for both devices. It was pretty easy to do.
However, after about 2 days, the USG suddenly stop working. The blue LED is gone, and the WAN and LAN ports' are gone as well. The console port's LED starts to flashing with constant intervals. I can't reset the device via the controller since the device is not responding to any request from the controller. And I don't have a console cable to connect to the console port. So the only thing left to try is doing the hard reset by holding the reset bottom for >10s, but the device doesn't respond to the reset. I think the device is somehow got bricked.
I'm quite disappointed since I did a lot of research and finally spent more money to choose USG over the others for it's quality. I've just requested a RMA, and I will update the review after I use the replacement. For now, one start is the most I will give for a product that fails to live up with its reputation.
Update: I've received the replacement, and things are SFSG. The only thing that I'm not happy about is the DPI feature's impact on the throughput. I'm not getting the full potential of my gigabit internet speed. With my old Netgear router, I get 920-940 Mbps but only 900Mbps MAX with USG. Some time the speed will reduce to 500Mbps depends on how many packets were lost during the inspection process. When the DPI feature is off, I get the full speed. You can find a lot of threads online about this issue, and some old firmware seems to take care of it. But I don't want to downgrade the firmware, so I'm going to run it without the DPI until it's fixed by future firmware releases.
For now, a 4 start review is what it should deserve.
Update: After updating the Firmware version 4.3.49 for the USG, and UniFi 5.5.20 for the controller, the DPI has been working very well. I hardly notice any performance decrease (Take a look at the 2 pictures taken before and after DPI enabled). So glad to see this feature got fixed.
I have been using Unifi products for about 3 years now and just have started using these things for about 6 months and absolutely love them. We have been using Meraki MX devices but for clients that do not need all of the features that a Meraki has they work great.
The picture attached is one of our small office installs with a 16 port Unifi switch along with an AC Lite on the ceiling.
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