UniFi Protect, explained: building your first camera system
UniFi Protect is the part of the catalog people switch ecosystems for. The pitch is simple: your cameras record to hardware in your own house, the app is free, and there is no monthly fee — ever. The trade is that you provide the recorder. Here's what a system actually consists of.
The three parts
- Cameras. All PoE — they get power and data from one Ethernet cable. No batteries to babysit, no WiFi dropouts on the evidence.
- A recorder. Either a gateway with storage built in, or a dedicated NVR. This runs the Protect software and holds the footage.
- A PoE switch to power the cameras — unless your gateway has PoE ports, in which case it might be optional.
Picking the recorder
Up to roughly half a dozen cameras, record straight to your gateway: the Cloud Gateway Max ($349) has NVR storage in a shelf-sized box, and the Dream Machine SE ($625) adds a drive bay plus PoE ports — for a small system it can be the recorder and the switch.
Past that, give footage its own box: the UNVR ($375) takes four drives and handles up to 18 4K cameras (or 60 full-HD) with around 30 days of retention. It's the right answer the moment cameras become a project instead of a feature.
Sizing retention
Resolution and camera count eat storage; retention is what's left. A handful of 2K cameras on a single drive will hold weeks of footage comfortably. Stack up 4K cameras and the same drive holds days. The honest rule: decide how many days you need to look back — insurance claims and package disputes rarely need more than two weeks — and let that pick your drive size, not the other way around.
The PoE math
Cameras draw modest power individually, but they add up, and unlike APs they draw it 24/7. Count them against your switch's PoE budget with the PoE calculator — a Lite 8 PoE ($135) runs a typical starter set with room to spare.
A starter system, priced
| Part | Pick | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Recorder + router | Cloud Gateway Max | $349 |
| PoE switch | Lite 8 PoE | $135 |
| 2 outdoor cameras | G5 Bullet × 2 | $318 |
| Doorbell | G4 Doorbell Pro PoE Kit | $475 |
That's a four-camera, no-subscription system for about $1,275 — roughly two years of what a cloud camera service charges for inferior footage you don't control.
Which cameras to pick for which spot is its own question — we sorted the lineup in G5 or G6?. And if the property has angles a brochure can't solve, send us a plan — camera placement is half of what we do all day.
Prices current at publication. Browse Cameras & NVRs.