Ubiquiti Cloud key confusion !

[joth]

12 hours ago, jav said:

I don't know about you, but I'm really glad to have dumped Unifi now.

 

I'd still choose Frigate over Unifi imo, especially if you have it set up already. I'm looking at these video entry systems from Grandstream. Grandstream's Wifi gear is also great and runs either cloud, hosted or embedded on a flying saucer depending on your preference.

Interesting. I only use unifi for internet, and have frigate for nvr (with an edge tpu)

but a customer has a full unifi Protect setup and it seems pretty decent (if you just accept the lock in). Scroll back and scrubbing through recordings in particular is really smooth compared to frigate.

Last week I integrated it to Loxone for him, so object detection or even doorbell fingerprint scanner/NFC send webhook calls to the mini server to trigger automations, and was pleasantly surprised how smooth that works. All local API, zero cloud dependency for this (aside for the setup, but that's just a convenience for federated cloud authentication, I believe the UDM local console could do it all if I had a direct login)

 

 

 

[Pocster]

32 minutes ago, joth said:

Scroll back and scrubbing through recordings in particular is really smooth compared to frigate.

Don’t know when you last updated frigate - but some months ago they improved this feature . It was pretty poor before ; a lot better now but not exactly blue iris 

[Pocster]

The problem with a bought in ecosystem is that ignoring price ( though their ip cameras are hideously expensive for what they are ) . There’s nothing stopping UniFi at a later date deciding ‘protect 2 ultra ‘ is not backward compatible. Then you are effectively either running hardware that will become unsupported or spend a packet replacing . I recall Sonos doing something similar - Sonos owners who had bought into their system were somewhat upset .

My view is to be largely manufacturer agnostic and also ‘current flavour ‘ free to choose I.e zigbee , z wave , matter , WiFi etc etc .

[Thorfun]

3 minutes ago, Pocster said:

I recall Sonos doing something similar - Sonos owners who had bought into their system were somewhat upset .

i'm one of those customers. Sonos quickly reverted the decision though and the old speakers can still be used with the newer ones afaik. we've only got old speakers though and probably won't ever upgrade them as i have the Loxone audio server waiting to be installed.

[Thorfun]

and yes i know i'm just moving to another locked in system with Loxone before you say anything but my decision has been made and i'm sticking with it. 🙄

[Pocster]

2 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

and yes i know i'm just moving to another locked in system with Loxone before you say anything but my decision has been made and i'm sticking with it. 🙄

I’m not knocking any locked in system or anyone that goes that route . Just not for me . Didn’t know Sonos reverted on that . So is all Sonos ( old and new ) able to work freely together ? . 
As an ex software engineer I appreciate fully backwards compatibility becomes more and more a pain .

[joth]

2 hours ago, Pocster said:

The problem with a bought in ecosystem is that ignoring price ( though their ip cameras are hideously expensive for what they are ) . There’s nothing stopping UniFi at a later date deciding ‘protect 2 ultra ‘ is not backward compatible. Then you are effectively either running hardware that will become unsupported or spend a packet replacing . I recall Sonos doing something similar - Sonos owners who had bought into their system were somewhat upset .

My view is to be largely manufacturer agnostic and also ‘current flavour ‘ free to choose I.e zigbee , z wave , matter , WiFi etc etc .

Yes, I'm in this camp.  However it's a bit more subtle.

5 years ago I bought top of the line cloud key and USG Pro (UDM precursor - pre Unifi OS/Protect even). I do get updates to the newest Unifi OS and Unifi Protect etc because this of course lets me buy the newest cameras.

However what I don't get is basic feature upgrades. Like I've been bitching about the lack of DNS name aliases and port-forwarding support on WAN failover since I got it. I recently found this (as well as Teleport) are all supported on the newer UDMs but never "back ported" to my old USG, even though I'm nominally running the exact same OS and Net controller versions as the new hardware, and no reason why old HW couldn't support it.  It's another form of enshitification, not really a vendor lock-in issue as good old planned obsolesce.

My next gateway/router is unlikely to be unifi even if I keep it for the Wifi.

 

 

[Pocster]

I had an original Logitech squeezebox player ( remember those ) . Loved it ! . Much later I heard about the raspberry pi version of this as Logitech had shut up shop on the player but had let Logitech media server be open source . Thought I would stick the original player on eBay and get maybe 20 quid for it . Actually sold it for more than I bought it for ! . So some people will buy the ‘obselete ‘ version so they can extend their eco system by delaying ‘upgrading’ .

[Thorfun]

3 hours ago, Pocster said:

Didn’t know Sonos reverted on that . So is all Sonos ( old and new ) able to work freely together ? . 

I can’t guarantee that as all my speakers are really old gen1. 

[Thorfun]

44 minutes ago, Pocster said:

I had an original Logitech squeezebox player ( remember those ) . Loved it ! . Much later I heard about the raspberry pi version of this as Logitech had shut up shop on the player but had let Logitech media server be open source . Thought I would stick the original player on eBay and get maybe 20 quid for it . Actually sold it for more than I bought it for ! . So some people will buy the ‘obselete ‘ version so they can extend their eco system by delaying ‘upgrading’ .

i think i've still got one in a box somewhere. might dig it out. maybe by now it'll be worth enough to pay off my mortgage! 🤣

[Thorfun]

actually, i'm getting confused (easily done!) it was a Slingbox i've got. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingbox

[Pocster]

27 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

actually, i'm getting confused (easily done!) it was a Slingbox i've got. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingbox

Nah you need a squeezebox to pay off your mortgage 🤣

[joth]

2 hours ago, Pocster said:

I had an original Logitech squeezebox player ( remember those ) . Loved it ! . Much later I heard about the raspberry pi version of this as Logitech had shut up shop on the player but had let Logitech media server be open source . Thought I would stick the original player on eBay and get maybe 20 quid for it . Actually sold it for more than I bought it for ! . So some people will buy the ‘obselete ‘ version so they can extend their eco system by delaying ‘upgrading’ .

Mines still going strong! (Complete with CO2 monitor atop, DIY upgraded with esp32 connectivity 🤓)

Christmas present 2006 ish I believe, before the Logitech buy out. Originally ran it from a Infrant ReadyNAS of similar vintage. 

 

Admittedly doesn't get so much use now, only because the LMS Spotify integration is rather spotty. (In name and in nature). Loxone audio server is more reliable.

(Ironically the old Loxone music server was built on LMS)

[Pocster]

Just now, joth said:

Mines still going strong! (Complete with CO2 monitor atop, DIY upgraded with esp32 connectivity 🤓)

Christmas present 2006 ish I believe, before the Logitech buy out. Originally ran it from a Infrant ReadyNAS of similar vintage. 

 

Admittedly doesn't get so much use now, only because the LMS Spotify integration is rather spotty. (In name and in nature). Loxone audio server is more reliable.

(Ironically the old Loxone music server was built on LMS)

Omg ! That’s worth billions of zillions !

[Dan F]

On 02/12/2024 at 17:29, Pocster said:

Apparently a UniFi express will solve my issues I.e cheapest option …

Actually, no.  Unfii express doesn't support "protect", it also has other limits I think.

 

If you don't want to spend big money on a "dream machine" or anything rack mounted, the fairly new "Could Gateway Max" is one of the best options currently.  https://techspecs.ui.com/unifi/unifi-cloud-gateways/ucg-max?s=uk

 

What existing ubiquiti kit to you already have though?

[Dan F]

On 02/12/2024 at 11:33, Thorfun said:

for me i have a Loxone doorbell/keypad so it should integrate nicely in to my Loxone system. just need a gate to fit it to now. 🤦‍♂️

Loxone intercom + nfc/keyboard is nice combo if you are using Loxone, costs a small fortune though, lot more than ubiquiti doorbell or even their intercom 😞 

 

On 02/12/2024 at 21:10, Pocster said:

Yeah I happened to come across grandstream but it’s an unfamiliar brand

Doorbird (https://www.doorbird.com/) is another well-known brand for intercoms worth looking at.

[Pocster]

7 hours ago, Dan F said:

Doorbird (https://www.doorbird.com/) is another well-known brand for intercoms worth looking at.

Tried doorbird . Camera is very poor . 

[SteamyTea]

Because of this thread, and never really having understood asymmetrical encryption, I have reread up on it.

I think I understand it a bit more than I did.

I still have not found a decent worked example i.e. the mathematical base of it.

[joth]

11 hours ago, Dan F said:

Actually, no.  Unfii express doesn't support "protect", it also has other limits I think.

 

If you don't want to spend big money on a "dream machine" or anything rack mounted, the fairly new "Could Gateway Max" is one of the best options currently.  https://techspecs.ui.com/unifi/unifi-cloud-gateways/ucg-max?s=uk

 

What existing ubiquiti kit to you already have though?

Wow a year has passed and I'm so out of date, I know the UDM but Express, Ultra and Max are all new to me.

 

Perversely, despite promising never to get more Unifi lock in, and thinking the electrical design of the unifi protect doorbell is awful, I found myself thinking of swapping my old Amcrest doorbelll for a unifi one, partly so I can get more experience integrating their gear. 

However, my nearly 5 year old cloudkey gen2 runs the unifi protect app, but the UCG-Ultra doesn't?? I really don't get their product range.

 

(I get the partner discount on Loxone pricing now, so that's also become a more realistic option for my own use at least!)

[Pocster]

23 minutes ago, joth said:

Wow a year has passed and I'm so out of date, I know the UDM but Express, Ultra and Max are all new to me.

 

Perversely, despite promising never to get more Unifi lock in, and thinking the electrical design of the unifi protect doorbell is awful, I found myself thinking of swapping my old Amcrest doorbelll for a unifi one, partly so I can get more experience integrating their gear. 

However, my nearly 5 year old cloudkey gen2 runs the unifi protect app, but the UCG-Ultra doesn't?? I really don't get their product range.

 

(I get the partner discount on Loxone pricing now, so that's also become a more realistic option for my own use at least!)

The UniFi ‘hubs’ confuse me . There’s always another one somewhere ! - it’s a very confusing system hub wise .

[Dan F]

 

4 minutes ago, Pocster said:

The UniFi ‘hubs’ confuse me . There’s always another one somewhere ! - it’s a very confusing system hub wise .

 

This is what you need: https://evanmccann.net/blog/ubiquiti/unifi-comparison-charts#fnr1

 

(it doesn't stay up to date for long ever though as they keep bring out new products)

 

 

Edited December 5 by Dan F

[Pocster]

1 minute ago, Dan F said:

 

 

This is what you need: https://evanmccann.net/blog/ubiquiti/unifi-comparison-charts#fnr1

 

(it doesn't stay up to date for long ever though as they keep bring out new products)

 

 

I do indeed !

But honestly how many gateway variations can they create !!!!

 

[Thorfun]

12 hours ago, Dan F said:

Loxone intercom + nfc/keyboard is nice combo if you are using Loxone, costs a small fortune though, lot more than ubiquiti doorbell or even their intercom 😞 

good job that cost all got absorbed into the big payment for the Loxone equipment quite early on in the build when i actually still had some money!

[joth]

On 03/12/2024 at 10:14, Pocster said:

Don’t know when you last updated frigate - but some months ago they improved this feature . It was pretty poor before ; a lot better now but not exactly blue iris 

Just had a look, I'm still running 0.13 looks like 0.14 had a full overhaul so yes worth me going through the upgrade process. (0.15 is in beta now too I see..)

https://github.com/blakeblackshear/frigate/discussions/11136

 

tldr Frigate evolving from a simple stateless video object recognition -> MQTT bridge, into a fully grown NVR to take on the incumbents. Nice.

 

 

[joth]

On 02/12/2024 at 12:20, Pocster said:

I do . Been having issues where it loses its pairing with the chime which of course renders it somewhat useless . They sent me another (v2) which I think is worse . I believe they changed the wireless frequency between models . What I really want is the UniFi g4 because the chime is poe like the unit so no proprietary wireless issues .

Persevering for now with reolink until I can find something else suitable  .

Have you got two-way audio setup with the reollink? I didn't know this was a thing. Apparently Reolink is the main (only?) device supporting it over open protocol (WebRTC, integration via go2rtc)

https://docs.frigate.video/configuration/camera_specific#reolink-doorbell

 

If your issue is reliability of their wireless chime maybe you can work around it using the visitor event in home assistant to chime a convention hardwired ding dong chime?

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/reolink/

 

 

For 76 squid their PoE doorbell looks great value. Just lacks the NFC/fingerprint tech vs unifi Protect