Components & Lessons

Device notes and rules of thumb from the 2026-10-08 design call. Product links go to the UniFi EU store. Prices are store prices on 2026-10-08: excl. VAT, including the memory surcharge where it applies.

PoE classes: what actually needs PoE++

• Cameras: PoE+ is enough for almost every UniFi camera. Jiri's own cameras are all PoE+.
• PoE++ is for downstream switches in places where you don't want a wall socket. The switch takes PoE++ in and gives out a PoE+ budget to its own ports. Each such switch uses one PoE++ port upstream.

Lesson learned

Don't reserve the PoE++ ports for cameras. One install planned port blocks like "sockets / cameras / PoE++ at the end", then found that PoE-powered switches in the room sockets needed those PoE++ ports, and the port plan broke.

PoE budget reality check, from Jiri's garage switch (Switch Ultra 60W): a camera plus an AP draw ~10 W, and a small camera plus two APs draw ~18 W. A 120 W budget is plenty for a whole house.

2.5 Gbit ports: when they matter

All new UniFi APs and switches now ship with 2.5G ports. In a home they only matter for:

• Aggregation. Several devices funnel through one downstream switch.
• Busy APs with many active clients.
• A NAS for heavy users. For example, someone who edits RAW video adds a network NAS. The UniFi NAS has an SSD cache, so it will actually saturate 2.5G.

A TV never needs more than 1 Gbit.

Keystone panel vs patch panel

Every cable from the house ends up in the rack. Each run (e.g. study → technical room) has a keystone at both ends. In the rack, the keystones clip into an empty keystone panel, which UniFi sells as a plain plastic blank: the 24-Port Blank Keystone Patch Panel (25 EUR). The matching Etherlighting patch cables cost 3.50 EUR each. A short patch cable then goes from the switch to each keystone.

• A classic patch panel has fixed sockets, and cables are punched into it in a non-standard way. Regrouping means rebuilding the panel.
• With keystones you just unclip them and move them around, e.g. to put all cameras in one block.
• Terminating runs as plugs straight into the switch also works. That is how the Dream Wall install at a friend's house was done. But a socket is easier to test against, and nobody does it that way in practice.

Cable modem (coax)

UniFi made a DOCSIS cable modem with coax on the back. It was out of stock on 2026-10-08 (no product page in the EU store) and isn't cheap. It matters for older Prague buildings, where the UPC coax network was extremely widespread. New builds won't need it. The ISP modems usually work once their Wi-Fi is turned off, and their built-in Wi-Fi is poor. Check whether the ISP accepts a customer-owned modem before buying one.

Cameras

Shortlist of models Jiri has used and found reliable:

Model	Notes
G6 180 (296 EUR)	Two sensors, a true 180° field of view. Good for mounting mid-wall instead of on a corner
G6 PTZ (395 EUR)	Remote pan/tilt/zoom. Automatically follows detected people and cars
G6 Instant (176 EUR)	Runs on Wi-Fi with a wall plug, or on cable with a PoE adapter
G6 Turret (197 EUR)	One of the cheapest in the newest generation. Face detection, which can trigger scripted actions. Manually aimed, no motor
G6 Dome (275 EUR)	Vandal-resistant

G6 cameras have an AI engine for faces and license plates. For a camera-only system there is the cheapest UniFi NVR, the NVR Instant (197 EUR):

• It works standalone, without a console.
• It has 7 GbE ports and an unmanaged 6-port PoE switch (40 W budget) with an internal PSU, so it can't do VLANs.
• The store spec gives 15.4 W per port, which is plain 802.3af PoE, not the PoE+ said on the call. A G6 Turret (12.5 W max) fits.
• It mounts on a DIN rail.
• It is ideal for a cottage. Jiri would have bought it for the cottage if he hadn't already started with Reolink there.

UniFi also sells an NVR + disk + camera kit.

Storage sizing (UniFi calculator): 2× 2K cameras on 1 TB ≈ 9 days. Don't go below that. The case to plan for is a burglary discovered after coming back from a holiday.

Door access

• Top doorbell: Reader G6 Entry (247 EUR). Touch Pass (cards in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet), face unlock.
• Cheaper doorbell: Touch Pass, but no face unlock. The exact model wasn't identified. Candidates are the G4 Doorbell Pro (297 EUR, sold out on 2026-10-08) and the Doorbell Lite (98 EUR). Check Touch Pass support before quoting either.
• Door Hub Mini (109 EUR) goes between the switch and the doorbell, and is required for door access. It has I/O for an exit button, the lock (it both signals and powers it) and a door contact sensor.
• Locks: fail-secure strike lock (80 EUR), magnetic lock (135 EUR). These are aimed at offices, so they may not suit homes. Any other actuator also works.

Latency: the wired Door Hub → lock path fires within milliseconds of a Touch Pass. A Touch Pass → webhook → automation path takes 1.5–2 s, which you notice while standing at the door. Not optimised yet.

Wi-Fi APs

• Default to Wi-Fi 7. The template uses one ceiling AP (U7 Lite, 98 EUR), one wall AP (U7 Pro Wall, 203 EUR) and one outdoor AP. For outdoors, the Swiss Army Knife (75 EUR) was sold out on 2026-10-08; the U7 Outdoor (203 EUR) is the alternative.
• On 2026-10-08 the 4-stream Wi-Fi 7 U7 Lite (98 EUR) cost the same as the 4-stream Wi-Fi 6 U6+, and less than the 6-stream U6 Pro (159 EUR). 4 spatial streams (MIMO) is plenty for a home. More streams only raise the total capacity the AP can serve to its clients.
• Lesson from a two-storey house: one Dream Wall plus one AP upstairs was not enough. The Dream Wall's antennas are weak and it points into the garage. Plan one proper AP per floor.

Switch lineup notes

• Flex (98 EUR): 5 ports, 1 in and 4 out. Can be powered with PoE++.
• Flex Mini (25 EUR): powered by PoE or USB-C, but gives no PoE out.
• Some cheap 8-port models need PoE++ in or a separately sold PSU adapter. Include the adapter in the price. The Switch Ultra is 99 EUR bare and 142 EUR as the 60W bundle.
• Check the Switch Ultra's PoE budget by input: 16 W on PoE+ in, 42 W on PoE++ in or the 60 W adapter, 202 W with the 210 W adapter. Powering it from a gateway's PoE+ port leaves almost nothing for cameras and APs. See the budget build.
• Switch Lite 8 PoE (109 EUR): 4 PoE ports and 4 without, and its own PSU.
• Switch Flex 2.5G PoE (197 EUR): 8× 2.5 GbE PoE++ and a 10G RJ45/SFP+ combo uplink. It is powered by PoE++ in or an adapter.
• Several 8-port models mount on DIN rails, and one has an SFP port. The 8-port range has many near-identical models, so compare carefully.
• An unmanaged switch means no wired VLANs. That is fine if VLANs are only needed on Wi-Fi (e.g. IoT SSID), but cameras then can't sit on a separate wired VLAN.