UniFi · Hardware
Every camera, access point and intercom runs on one cable each — power and data together. The switch is where they all come home.
Power over Ethernet means no power point behind any camera, no plugpack on any access point, no electrician callback for every device. One Cat6 run per device, terminated at the rack.
It also means control. A managed UniFi switch lets us restart a frozen camera from the office, see exactly what every port is drawing, and prioritise the traffic that matters — a video call over a software update, every time.
On a recent four-bedroom install, a single Pro Max 24 PoE ran four access points, eight cameras, the intercom, its viewer and the wired data points — with ports spare for whatever comes next. That's the sizing philosophy: room to grow, on day one.
Count every device — APs, cameras, intercom, viewer, TVs, desks — then add roughly a third again. Homes never get less connected. A 24-port switch on a 16-device home is correct, not extravagant.
Every powered device draws from the switch's total PoE budget. Cheap installs run the budget to the edge and fall over when a PTZ camera spins up in winter. We size with real headroom.
The switch-to-gateway link carries everything, so it gets 10G SFP+ where the system warrants it — camera-heavy homes, multi-gig internet, commercial floors. Cheap insurance against tomorrow.
Model specifics change fast — current range and specs on ui.com. The design principles above don't. Pricing sits inside the network backbone bracket in the cost guide.
Tell us what's connecting — we'll size the switching, the PoE budget and the backbone in one pass.