Catching Up With Ubiquiti: UniFi OS 3.0 and Beyond
Originally Posted: April 24th, 2023
While I’ve been living offline for the past few months, Ubiquiti have been busy. They have released a lot of software and some new hardware. A lot of the updates are positive, but minor. The biggest story has been the saga of UniFi OS version 3.0 and all the changes surrounding it. It’s a story that requires some perspective.
I’ve been following Ubiquiti for many years, and it’s easy for me to get lost in the daily news. This is my attempt to step back up and reflect on UniFi OS 3.0, the Dream Wall, and Ubiquiti’s march towards integration.
Software Changes and Release Schedule
UniFi OS 3.0 and Network 7.3
The release of UniFi OS 3.0 was drawn out and slightly controversial, due to it being released only on newer hardware (UDW, UDR, UDM-SE) at first. UDM and UDM-Pro owners were upset they had to wait, and were missing out on a lot of long-promised features. They were stuck on UniFi OS 1.x while the UDR and UDM-SE moved to 2.x and 3.x. There were technical reasons for this, but they often got lost in the discussion.
From what I’ve read, the technical reason was the underlying structure of UniFi OS 1.x and how it containerized its services, making a clean migration from 1.x to 2.x difficult. This only applied to the UDM and UDM-Pro, and not the UDR, UDM-SE, or UDW which all launched with UniFi OS 2.0 or higher. Ubiquiti said they didn’t want the migration from 1.x to 2.x/3.x to require a full restore or new setup. This took time to get right and test, but the delay inspired paranoia for some owners of UDM and UDM-Pros, who thought they were going to be stuck on the older software. This wouldn’t have been the first time, after all.
After the first early access releases of 3.0 were announced, it seemed every few days there was another discussion about where the release was for UDMs, or someone complaining that it wasn’t out yet. I believe Ubiquiti did the right thing and that the majority of users were happy to see them taking their time to get it right, but it was a lot of unnecessary noise.
UniFi Software Timeline
For context, here is a chronological look at the timeline of official UniFi software releases. I broke them up into two charts to make them a little easier to read. The first one covers 2019-2021, and the introduction of the Dream Machines and the UXG-Pro. The 2nd is 2022 to April 2023, where we are now with the UDR, UDM-SE, and UDW.
There are a lot of stories within these releases, including the sunsetting of the 1st generation Cloud Key, the USG crawling forward, the release/rebranding to UniFi OS, and 3 major versions of the UniFi Network Application. With all the changes and new products, Ubiquiti maintained a fairly consistent pace of major official releases every few months.
Timeline of official UniFi OS, firmware and UniFi Network Application software releases from 2019 to 2021. Early access and other releases are not included.
Looking back, 2021 was an interesting transition year. By December 2021, the UXG-Pro was released, finally allowing for a standalone router option to replace a USG or USG-Pro without tying management to a UniFi OS Console. Even more interesting is 2022 to now, where we see more UniFi OS Consoles introduced, and inconsistent versioning starting to emerge.
Some notes on 2022 to April 2023:
The 1st generation Cloud Key is dropped, due to 1.1.19 from 2021 being the last software update. UniFi Network 7.3 dropped support for it.
The UDM-SE, UDR and UDW are introduced
At the time of posting this, UniFi Network 7.4 and UniFi OS 3 for the Dream Machine and Dream Machine Pro are in beta
Timeline of official UniFi OS, firmware and UniFi Network Application software releases from 2022 to April 2023. Early access and other releases are not included.
Another way to look back is to focus on the hardware and when it was introduced:
Cloud Key and UniFi OS Console Hardware Releases
2015: Cloud Key (UC-CK)
2018: Cloud Key Gen2 (UCK-G2)
2018: Cloud Key Gen2 Plus (UCK-G2-Plus)
2019: Dream Machine (UDM)
2019: Dream Machine Pro (UDM-Pro)
2022: Dream Machine Special Edition (UDM-SE)
2022: Dream Router (UDR)
2023: Dream Wall (UDW)
And here’s the key timeline of software versions at launch, as well as major version changes:
UniFi OS Software Releases
2019: UniFi Dream Machine (UDM) and UniFi Dream Machine Pro (UDM-Pro) released with 1.x firmware
2020: UDM and UDM-Pro firmware versions 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8 are released
2021: Software rebranded as UniFi OS, with the Dream Machines becoming “UniFi OS Consoles” running the “UniFi Network application”
May 2021: UniFi OS 2.1.11 released for 2nd generation Cloud Keys
July 2021: UniFi OS 1.10.0 released for UDM and UDM-Pro
January 2022: UDM-SE launches with UniFi OS 2.3
March 2022: UniFi OS 1.11.4 released for UDM and UDM-Pro
April 2022: UDR launches with UniFi OS 2.4
November 2022: UDR and UDM-SE move to UniFi OS 3.0
February 2023: UDM and UDM-Pro move to UniFi OS 2.4
March 2023: UniFi Dream Wall (UDW) released with UniFi OS 3.0
April 2023: UDM and UDM-Pro updates to UniFi OS 3.0 are still in beta
I am not a software developer, and I don’t have any insight into Ubiquiti’s process or strategy, but the outrage felt overblown. Ubiquiti’s reputation for moving fast, breaking things, overpromising, and underdelivering is well discussed and earned. Part of that boils down to their business model and their desire to keep R&D costs lean and teams distributed. They make money from selling hardware, not from charging for software or licensing.
UDM and UDM-Pro owners did have a right to be upset, but now that the Dream Machine’s update to UniFi OS 3.0 is in beta, we can say the fears of abandonment were unfounded this time. What we should care about are the results, so let's focus on what UniFi OS 3.0 brings on the feature side.
Focusing on Features
Now that UniFi OS 3.0 has been out for a while and should be released for the UDM and UDM-Pro soon, we can focus on the substance of the release and UniFi Network 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4. There is a lot to cover and a lot to be happy about. Ubiquiti delivered a lot of long-requested features, including
Wireguard VPN server and OpenVPN client support
VPN client routing, including routing multiple clients
Ad-blocking via blocking common ad serving domains
Local DNS records for clients
Better logging, including admin activity, cloud connection, storage events, and trigger logs
Improved traffic route and traffic rules, including support for OpenVPN
Global network and switch settings, matching the global AP settings introduced in Network 7.1
Improved dashboard, internet health and improved Wi-Fi statistics
UniFi OS Application page redesign and other UI and UX improvements such as bulk updating of devices.
For reference, some of the big features in UniFi OS 2.x and Network 7 were:
Distributed load balancing (2.5.17 on UDM-Pro)
Traffic Routes, an easier way to configure firewall rules and policies
Redesigned UniFi OS settings (2.4.x) and improved software management
Teleport VPN support
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) support
Improved hard drive and SSD logging and support, including ability to reformat and see SSD lifespan
That is far from a complete list of updates and fixes, but hopefully that gives you an idea of the scope of the software releases over the past year or two. If you ignore the version numbers, there are several features to be excited about, and a lot of additional features are delivered for free. Someone like me, who purchased a UDM in 2019 for $299, is continuing to get security updates and major feature additions. With other manufacturers, this equipment could have stayed with the features it launched with, or I could have a recurring payment for software support. This is one of the key trade-offs you make when choosing to install a UniFi network.
VPN, Load Balancing, and Ad Blocking
The most exciting feature to me is expanded and improved VPN support. As a Wireguard fan, it’s great to see official support coming to UniFi. Wireguard is better than L2TP in many ways, as it’s a more modern protocol with better performance. I’m glad I won’t have to try to manually install Wireguard any longer, at least on UniFi devices. For those with EdgeRouters, the standalone packages are still available to install and work quite well in my experience.
Another long-standing issue that has finally been dealt with is load balancing and parity between all models. Owners of the USG and USG-Pro were able to use custom configurations to get load-balancing how they preferred, while owners of UniFi OS Consoles were stuck with the built-in support. UniFi OS consoles varied, with some only offering failover: when one WAN goes down, use the other.
With UniFi OS 2.5 and now 3.0, all UniFi OS consoles have the option of weighted load balancing support, where you can utilize two WANs at the same time. This is paired with the newer Traffic Rules system, which lets you set preferences such as "all YouTube traffic uses WAN2" and other application- or host-level preferences. It’s not a perfect system, and it isn’t as deep or fully customizable as a network engineer may prefer, but it’s a good system for most people and a vast improvement over the USG JSON editing hacks we had to do in the past. I’m happy to see this rolled out to all models, and I’m looking forward to those features improving over time and being documented more thoroughly.
I am also optimistic about ad blocking, but as with a lot of UniFi features, it would be nice to have a bit more control over the granular details. Maybe that will come later, but that also isn’t really UniFi’s style.
With the launch of the Dream Machines, Ubiquiti dug itself into a feature hole by launching a new platform built on ARM processors and a custom flavor of Linux. It took a few years, and there is still lots of work to do, but UniFi OS 3.0 and Network Version 7 have UniFi in a good place. We still don’t have some requested features, such as multi-site support or allowing consoles to be managed by self-installed controllers, but those will probably never come.
For better or worse, Ubiquiti is integrating everything into one device and then trying to sell you additional hardware for related areas like security cameras, VoIP phones, and access control. As far as self-contained network appliances go, UniFi OS consoles are better than ever.
Other Recent Software Releases
Since we’re playing catch-up, there are some other software releases that are worth pointing out:
UniFi Access got a UI redesign and a lot of new features in UniFi Access 1.5.9
LTU 2.3.0 added 100 MHz channel support and CPE lock, the first release since v2.2.1 fixed the traffic shaping/looping issue
UFiber 4.4.9 fixed performance and PPPoE issues
UISP versions 1.5.7 , 1.6.5 , and 1.7.5 introduced a new numbering scheme and lot of UI polish. They also fixed a few critical bugs for traffic shaping, migrations, and PPPoE.
AmpliFi Alien 4.0.0 allowed older AmpliFi devices to use the AmpliFi Alien as their gateway, removing the prior restriction
Many CVEs were fixed on many products, and Ubiquiti has been better about documenting these and including them in release notes and security bulletins
EdgeRouters are still on v2.0.9-hotfix.6 🫠
Recent Hardware Releases
Over the past few months, some new hardware has also been released. This is a brief overview of what was announced and my first impressions.
Dream Wall
This is an odd one. For $999, you get a wall-mounted gateway that resembles a UDM-SE, with additional PoE, Ethernet ports, built-in Wi-Fi, and a touch screen. It’s another step in UniFi’s direction towards integrating everything into a single appliance. For those who don’t have a network closet and want to mount a relatively attractive appliance to their wall, this could be an interesting solution. Those looking for a new USG or something cost-effective to update their existing self-hosted or Cloud Key network will be left in the cold yet again.
I’m definitely not the target demographic, but I can see people with larger homes and budgets than me being interested in this. I’ll keep my biases aside and say that it’s an interesting take on how to design a home network, even if the price and size make it a nonstarter for many. For those with the right space and a thousand dollars to burn, the UDW can be a slick solution.
Wave 60 GHz
Besides the UISP wired hardware I covered in my UISP Switch review, the 60 GHz Wave radios are the most interesting products Ubiquiti has released for service providers. 60 GHz equipment is good for high-bandwidth point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transport over shorter distances, up to a few miles or kilometers. 2.4 and 5 GHz equipment, along with other common frequencies like 11 GHz and 24 GHz, make up the bulk of the market. 60 GHz 802.11ad or 802.11ay devices like Wave will definitely take over some of that.
The Wave AP and Wave Pro are exciting options for WISPs and other businesses that need to get a lot of bandwidth between two locations. I’m excited to see more 60 GHz equipment and hopefully 6 GHz equipment soon.
LTE Backup Professional
While Europe and other markets have had UniFi LTE backup hardware for a while, it has since come to the US. The LTE backup Professional and UniFi LTE are meant to be used as a second WAN connection, available when your main WAN goes down. They integrate with the UniFi Network software and the failover feature to (ideally) provide a seamless experience when there is an Internet outage.
The big flaws with these are the limited carrier support and expensive data plans. In the US, both are locked to AT&T and require an expensive metered cell plan costing $15 for 1 GB per month and $10 per GB after that. That makes it a nonstarter, and something like the MikroTik wAP would usually be the better bet due to its flexibility and support for other carriers and cell plans. If you don’t mind the cost and AT&T has good coverage in your area, UniFi LTE can be an OK solution. For everyone else, there’s MikroTik, Peplink, and other more flexible options.
UniFi Protect — New Cameras and AI
There have been many updates for UniFi Protect, both in hardware and software. The UniFi NVRs moved to UniFi OS 3.0, and gained some features like license plate detection and lower latency video. New camera models like the G5 Bullet, G5 Dome, G5 Flex, and AI Theta were released. Over the past few years, UniFi Protect has grown from a simple security camera and DVR system to now include doorbells, sensors, chimes, and various other accessories. MacTelecom Networks on YouTube has a lot of coverage about UniFi Protect if you’re interested in going deeper.
UniFi Talk ATA
UniFi Talk is a simple to use VoIP phone solution, and another add-on platform for UniFI networks. I haven’t spent much time learning about or using UniFi Talk so I can’t say much more than that, but it’s good to see them continuing to invest in the hardware and software for Talk for those that have bought into the solution. The new ATA (Talk Telephone Adapter) allows for up to two analog lines to be used with UniFi Talk, and allows for fax passthrough. It should allow more people to leverage Talk as a basic phone system, but I would still be hesitant to make a big investment in it, personally.
Unifi Connect and EV Charger
This one is another head-scratcher for me. I don’t fully understand what Connect is meant to be, but it’s yet another totally new line of products that include screens and accessories. As someone who is mostly interested in networking, this seems like a distraction, but Ubiquiti has made it clear they want to expand the UniFi brand to other areas.
The Connect line is still young and mostly in development, and there are other products in EA that can’t be fully discussed in public. It’s interesting, but yet another thing Ubiquiti is doing that isn’t for me. I’d be hesitant to invest in an unproven platform from a company with Ubiquiti’s track record of releasing and then abandoning products outside of their core business, but that is just me.
Early Access: Cloud Key Enterprise
This is a rack-mount version of the Cloud Key, meant for running 1,000s of UniFi devices in a centrally hosted controller. I’m not sure if the price, use case, and features line up for many people. I know that the need for managing thousands of UniFi devices exists; it’s just a small market. The market for people willing to spend $4999 for an appliance rather than hosting it themselves is probably even smaller.
Either way, the Cloud Key Enterprise is another sign that Ubiquiti is serious about scaling UniFi up to larger installations and competing with more entrenched professional network ecosystems that normally come with a license fee. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes.
UDM: How Far We’ve Come
While reflecting on recent releases, I thought about how far we’ve come since the initial releases of the UDM to where we are today. There has been a lot of development effort put into the software and firmware, and someone who spent $299 when the UDM was released got all of those software improvements for their purchase price. That’s refreshing and not common, and will hopefully continue for a few more years.
For fun, here are some screenshots I took in 2020 and some I took today, running the EA release of UniFi 3.0 on my UDM.
From 2020, with firmware version 1.5.6:
From April 2023, with the UniFi OS 3.0 beta:
Looking to the Future
I see a lot of bright spots in the current UniFi product lineup and some head scratchers as well. I question why Ubiquiti feels the need to get into EV charging, and I still don’t fully understand what Connect is or what their goals are there. It may be mFi 2.0, but it’s too early to know.
Ubiquiti’s business and the UniFi brand are now bigger than an individual's perspective. I have no need for most of what they produce, but I remain interested in what they have to offer. Following everything they do is a full-time job, but it’s fun for a networking nerd like me.
Despite some frustrations, Ubiquiti is producing products that aren’t matched by others. Most of these are matters of opinion. In my opinion, they contain better design, better features, a stronger community of users, and, shockingly, better stability and support than some alternatives. They market themselves as enterprise-grade, but UniFi never really has been. They exist in the gap between enterprise and consumer, and they’ve been a leader in that niche for nearly a decade now.
The closest direct competitor to UniFi is TP-Link Omada, which has a slower pace of releases and more frequently leaves equipment without updates for a long time. You’re lucky to get a few major releases, and after a year or two, you’re lucky to get any updates at all. Omada leads in value, and it is a good-enough solution for a lot of networks, but it can’t compete with UniFi’s breadth or pace. Aruba Instant On is another, but it requires the use of Aruba’s cloud controller and lacks the variety of hardware that Omada and UniFi offer. Most mesh systems don’t offer the depth of features that UniFi does, although ASUS might come closest.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing else out there quite like UniFi. That’s not to say Ubiquiti is perfect, but they do stand atop this kind of pro-sumer networking market. I’m looking forward to what’s next. I think it’ll just take one more redesign of the UI to get it right.
