this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2026
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Unifi Protect - Wife Approval Factor? +HA integration (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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Without getting into too many revealing details, my wife and I have a handful of Ring cameras that we are looking to replace, especially with the bullshit they've been trying to pull lately. They are used often, indoor and outdoor.

Last year, I tried rolling my own replacement with a standalone Frigate machine and the HA integration, but that ended up falling flat on it's face. I am not looking to troubleshoot that setup - that ship has sailed. Moving on.

Enter Unifi Protect. I'm already familiar with Unifi, my network has been running fantastically on the OG ~~trash can~~ UDM since it came out, plus a U7 Lite AP for extra coverage in our tall-ish 3-story duplex. The place is wired with Cat5, but since we rent, some areas will have to be handled with wifi-only units - the G4 instant looks suitable for this.

Questions:

  1. Ring has a very "wife-friendly" interface. How does the Unifi Protect UI fare in comparison?
  2. I'm looking at the NVR Instant to handle about 6x FHD cameras. Would a 1TB WD Purple be suitable for that?
  3. Motion detection - How is Unifi Protect with this compared to Ring? Better, worse, or equivalent? How flexible is it?
  4. (less important) I'm reasonably certain I can set up a doorbell replacement via HA, zigbee button, and a G4 Instant. No Cat5 to the front door unfortunately, just the usual pair of wires to the wall-mounted ringer inside. POE is not an option here. Viable? Or should I do something else?
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[โ€“] NameTaken@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Outside ring a unifi ecosystem is going to be your next best bet. I have four cameras (poe) and the G4 doorbell (wireless). I run protect with a sata SSD drive on the cloudkey gen2+. Everything just pretty much works. I have not tried to use other brand cameras though. The experience is pretty consistent with other unifi gear. From my wifes perspective she has never complained and weve had it for 2 years now. It easy to navigate and always works.

Only thing id note though is you probably want some kind of SSD for the camera storage. A harddrive is probably better long term but without an SSD the video takes longer to load and scrubbing video can get painful. ie your wife will get annoyed. Itll work with an hdd but its just noticeably less snappy.

[โ€“] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 months ago

Only thing id note though is you probably want some kind of SSD for the camera storage.

Good idea.