Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Key Gen2 Plus (UCK-G2-PLUS), Single,dual band

I have been using UniFi Wireless Access Points for my customers for years. They are great for business level wireless deployments (as well as home), easy to manage and deploy, and have a lot of the features of enterprise setups without the cost or monthly fees. The CloudKey G2+ is how I manage most of my deployments.I use one of these for my home deployment of 5 WAPs, 6 cameras and 3 UniFi Talk phones as well, and it has been rock solid.The CloudKey can manage a few of UniFi's product lines, including: Wireless (Network), Cameras (Protect), Phones (Talk), Access Control (Access), Multimedia Displays (Connect) and Deployment Visualization (Innerspace). There is a lot to be said about all of these technologies, but I will focus on the CloudKey for this review.The CloudKey is a small, simple to install management and storage device. It comes with all of the software you need installed and can be provisioned easily via a web browser or a cell phone app using Bluetooth. Once provisioned and added UniFi Site Manager, web based management is possible from anywhere and free! Overall it is a great little device and will continue to be my preferred management method for my UniFi deployments, but because there is a hard drive in them and a lithium-ion battery, I put them on a 5 year replacement schedule for my deployments.PROS:Small, inexpensive and simple to deployIntuit screen for a quick glance to see WAP and Camera status1TB HDD included (replaceable) for NVR storage and backupsLithium-ion battery for safe shut down in case of power failureFree management from anywhere via web browser or cell phone appAutomated Cloud backupsConfigurable notifications (via UniFi Site Manager) for all applicationsCONS:Lithium-ion battery is not user replaceableHDD is replaceable, but is a spinning drive with a limited lifetime.No power supply included (These are PoE powered but can also be powered via USB-C with a QC 2.0/3.0 adapter)

I was running The free software NVR (network video recorder) from Ubiquity to test my G3 Micro camera. Since this did such a good job, I decided to pick up this box instead of leaving a computer running 24/7.First surprise: It doesn't come with a power adapter. Fortunately, I had a POE switch to use in the right location.Second surprise: It uses the Unifi Protect app rather than Unify Video I was using previously.The apps are a bit different. Unifi Video was a little more intuitive and has some different features than Unify Protect. For example, Protect allows geofencing but Video has more control over recording and motion detection.There are a lot of features that can talk nicely to other Ubiquity Unifi products like routers, switches, and access points. Unfortunately it doesn't communicate with the Ubiquity Amplifi products like the mesh router I have. It also won't talk to non-Ubiquity cameras which is a shame because I would change over my EagleEye Networks system if Protect would use the cameras. It would be a large investment for me to replace all of my existing cameras.However, with all it's faults, this system beats the heck out of the consumer cameras I tried. The apps have a much shorter buffering time and better quality video. I had trouble with other cameras systems just stopping notifications and require a reboot to start them again. In addition, I had problems with app updates breaking things badly. For example, one update on IOS wouldn't let the app connect anymore (but the Android update worked fine).Pros: Great video, good notificationsCons: Takes a bit of effort to configure it properly. For example, I needed to replace the web server certificate with one that the browsers see as secure. This took some hunting on the internet to figure out how to do it via ssh to copy the certificate over, and run a script to install and restart the services.

Stop hosting your network software on a dedicated machine, get a cloud key and you'll be happy with your investment.It is my own fault really, I've been hosting my software on a standard workstation that has no battery backup and wasn't using a server grade operating system so everytime the power goes out I get locked out lol.The cloud key has a small battery to power down after power loss and can be accessed from anywhere on any device in your network instead of being forced to use just one machine and if it has never powered down.It does have the option to install additional software which includes unifi protect preinstalled but isnt needed if you dont have the cameras that cost an arm and a leg.Uses standard 2.5" hard disk, can install whatever you want in that bay when it comes to storage for the optional cctv software.Overall, the device makes the unifi equipment more user friendly for the average Joe like myself and I encourage you to get one for your unifi network because it just makes your life easier!