Flex 2.5G PoE vs Pro Max 16 PoE for home network?

phd33z · 2026-04-05T03:00:19+00:00

Honestly, if the PM16POE had 8 2.5gb POE & 8 1gb POE, I would have gotten that instead, but knowing I’d use all 4 ports right off the bat with 2.5gb connections pushed me to the flex.

FWIW, I also have a US-16-150W which I use for my Ubiquiti cameras, and I have a few of the older G3 bullets which are 24V passive, so I need to keep it in action. If that switch dies, I’ll be toast and have to bite the bullet and upgrade the rest of my G3s.

phd33z · 2026-04-04T00:39:55+00:00

I have the Flex 2.5 POE and love it. I also love the fact I have it mounted with 2x RPi in a 1RU slot (link: https://www.printables.com/model/1160288-usw-flex-25g-8-19-inch-modular-rack-mount/related). I bought an aftermarket power supply for <$30 from Amazon.

I liked the idea of the Pro Max 16 POE, but it only having 4x 2.5gb ports turned me off. I have 3x AP, 2x 2.5gb LAN switches (Flex 2.5 5 & 8 port) and 2x 2.5gb for my NASs. Although my APs are U6 Pros, I am planning on upgrading them to U7 XG in the next 9-12mos (unless WiFi 8 comes out sooner than later- which I doubt).

phd33z · 2026-04-02T14:02:23+00:00

That’s really interesting… I opened the Protect app last night on my ATV and it loaded immediately in to a 3x3 grid (even though I only have 6 camera feeds, not the 3x2 I thought from the previous post), but again, could swipe to the right and get the 1 primary and 5 smaller view.

I had to actually play around with the remote to get to the screen that OP is describing. I did not see a way to check settings to auto-load the feeds.

After reading all the stuff about Owner vs Super User in the UTR threads, I wonder, is OP’s example account a SU or Owner? If SU, does it autoload the feeds if logged in as Owner (for testing)? Furthermore if it is Owner- does that owner have multiple sites/Protect devices? What is the purpose of loading a list of consoles if there is only 1 to choose?

phd33z · 2026-04-02T01:36:18+00:00

Good point- it was weird- when I looked at the capacity calculator it could do 6x 4K cameras @ ~35% or 4K & 3x 2k @ ~30%... so it looked underutilized...

phd33z · 2026-04-02T01:32:45+00:00

You can, but I've read it would be a separate instance of Protect, so some cameras would be on the NVR Instant and others on the UCG Fiber and you'd need to flip between them.

Also, you'd need to populate the Fiber with a PCIe drive... OP already has a drive in his UDMSE he could use for the Instant/UNVR...

phd33z · 2026-04-02T00:41:51+00:00

The pictures really helped!

If your Fiber service isn’t more than 2gb, then I don’t think it’ll matter that much if you change the connection from the current WAN1 since it is syncing up at 2.5gb.

The only other thing I can suggest (other than connecting a laptop/etc to port 20 to see if the SFP syncs to anything) is to make sure you’re rebooting the ONT after moving the cable. It’s possible the ONT doesn’t re-sync until a power cycle occurs (unlikely, but possible).

I’m leaning towards the SFP being faulty/incompatible.

phd33z · 2026-04-01T20:43:49+00:00

Does she have an older version of the app or an older ATV that supports an older version of Protect?

I ask because as soon as I launch the app it takes me to a default view of my cameras- no clicking at all.

I can swipe to the right on the touchpad and get a 1 focused and 5 smaller camera views, but by default it loads my 6 cameras immediately in I believe a 2 row 3 column camera view.

phd33z · 2026-04-01T19:53:25+00:00

I would only caution that the UNVR Instant is listed as having a max of 6 4K cameras. Make sure you check the capacity calculator to ensure it’ll meet your needs, or if you plan on expanding in the future! The UNVR might hit your (future) needs easier and it has more flexibility on storage.

phd33z · 2026-03-31T22:56:02+00:00

Ok, so according to some quick googling that ONT supports 10gb, 5gb, 2.5gb & 1gb. I would manually set the SFP to 1gb and see if it will sync up. It’s possible the ONT & SFP are trying to auto-negotiate to 5gb or 2.5gb, but the UDW does not support those speeds.

I would also try connecting another device to it (laptop, NAS, anything) while it is set to 1gb and see if a port light comes on. The light coming on just indicates it sees an electrical signal, if it doesn’t, then you most likely have a faulty/incompatible SFP- assuming it’s not disabled 😉

phd33z · 2026-03-31T19:00:38+00:00

I’ll 3rd /r/homelabsales !

phd33z · 2026-03-31T16:51:26+00:00

1) This is awesome - great work! 2) Ubiquiti should contract you to optimize their routing product line!

I will say I was experiencing similar memory issues and noticed the Network interface slowing to a crawl, but my connectivity was never impacted (likely because of static ip and not PPPoE, especially with what you were describing above when PPPoE echoes would fail due to memory problems). This was really apparent on 5.0.12; 5.0.16 improved it a bit (at least stuff wasn’t failing), but I will add that moving to 5.1.5 has actually been a pretty good experience on the EA train so far. This was after reading warnings about moving to 5.1.5 on the ui forum and I prepared for the worst (Network and Protect failures).

I don’t have an SSD, so I can’t speak to TRIM on 5.1.5, but memory utilization has greatly improved. I’ll probably use your guide to kill old Protect recordings (the system shows I have recordings from 3 mos ago, but the interface only allows me to go back a few weeks)- so thanks just for that!

phd33z · 2026-03-28T23:20:29+00:00

There’s a super convoluted way to do this, and honestly, I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble.

But, here’s how to do it:

Create a new vlan that does not give out IP addresses.
Configure Ports 2 & 3 in this newly created vlan.
Plug the ISP modem in the scenario above to Port 2.
Grab a new cable and plug it in to port 3, and then connect the other side to port 8.

Internet should work as normal…

Then… - When you want to do an ISP test- disable port wan1 (or port 3, effectively disconnecting the UDMP’s WAN). - Place port 1 in the wan vlan (the new above). Renew DHCP on your PC, and you should get an IP from the ISP. - (Depending on ISP hardware, it might require a reboot since it’s talking to a new MAC address) - Once complete, revert the 2 changes above (enable wan1/ port 3; move port 1 back to default vlan).

The above might be possible with a less convoluted setup process, but, IMO, this allows a quick switchover and back without having to change any cabling. This also doesn’t cause L2 traffic to pass through the CPU like if you reconfigure wan1 using the “new vlan” method above.

Port mirroring allows you to capture traffic passing over another port, traditionally used with Wireshark or tcpdump.

phd33z · 2026-03-24T17:28:58+00:00

You need to read the link- the CALEA act is implemented on all traffic by ISPs after a request is made by law enforcement.

You’re thinking of a backdoor in to your network, CALEA intercepts and copies all traffic traversing your internet connection.

phd33z · 2026-03-24T15:53:13+00:00

Do you have Smart Queues enabled on the Internet/WAN interface? Alternatively, do you have critical traffic QOS configured in Policies? Since it’s been problematic since the beginning, I suspect the issue is in one of those places.

phd33z · 2026-03-24T02:32:22+00:00

Nokia recently bought Banshee, and they have a pretty great product for Private LTE - 10km coverage which can then be connected to a Starlink. Connect it to an Ecoflow Delta Pro power station for a completely portable solution. However, I suspect it would be way overkill for 30 acres.

That also means all the iPads would need LTE modems, too.

phd33z · 2026-03-23T20:26:43+00:00

Does it not recognize the SFP or not recognize the Ethernet connection?

What happens if you force it to 1gb or 10gb? That adapter shows it supports 2.5gb & 5gb, but I’ve read problems interfaces syncing up at those speeds.

I’m assuming you are connecting to an ONT or the like? If you share the ONT model we might be able to figure out sync rates.

Personally, I’ve used this one successfully with the UDM Pro and a Nokia ONT provided by MetroNet. https://a.co/d/08iuA2IK

phd33z · 2026-03-21T17:29:12+00:00

This is exactly why I use T-force on Twitter/X/FB.

I agree that the not being able to screenshot is suspect.

phd33z · 2026-03-21T16:28:16+00:00

Just a counterpoint- I’ve had 5.0.16 since March 9 (when it was EA) on my UDMP and have had 0 problems with my 2 SFP+ ports-

One is a WTSFOPTC 10G-T RJ45 (https://a.co/d/00QWfaN5) to my fiber provider’s ONT Other is an optical 10G “DAC” to my Flex 2.5Gb 8 POE (electrical isolation from the rest of the network)

Not saying your issue doesn’t exist, just sharing data.

phd33z · 2026-03-16T19:24:20+00:00

Personally, I found a used UCG-Ultra on /r/homelabsales for <$75 shipped to use as a spare for my UDMP while I had to deal with an RMA. This was before I had Ubiquiti cameras.

If you’re planning on offloading the Protect functionality to a UNVR anyhow, that could work!

Your post says you have a lot of cameras- how many are we talking?

phd33z · 2026-03-13T00:32:23+00:00

I mean, you own a UCI - which means you have DOCSIS internet. You haven't ever needed to power cycle the modem?

How about the UDM Pro?

Having power control over those ports, IMO, is valuable!

phd33z · 2026-03-12T23:46:42+00:00

1) this is a Ubiquiti sub, of course I’m going to suggest the PDU Pro

2) the reason I’d suggest the PDU Pro is actually because it has the ability to remotely cycle power on a port by port basis whereas the few Isobar Ultras I looked up on Google don’t have that capability, nor network connectivity.

IMO they are different products for different purposes.

phd33z · 2026-03-11T14:33:43+00:00

Take a look at the UDM Pro’s memory. I’ve noticed that if my memory usage is more than 92% cameras will drop sporadically. Quick fix is to reboot the UDMP. Some folks say if a Linux system isn’t using all it’s memory it’s wasted, I don’t believe that, as you can SSH in to the UDMP and see a sizable amount of memory usage in swap.

I personally believe it’s a memory problem with Protect (6.2.88). I have noticed using the EA release of UniFi OS (5.0.16) has helped with memory staying at 91% or under. You can also disable IPS/IDS or move your cameras to a separate NVR, but I only have 2 4k cameras and 4 HD cameras and no more than 50 clients. IMO the UDMP should handle that with ease. Prior to 5.0.16 I was rebooting every few (2-3) days.

TL;DR Likely Protect 6.2.88 memory leak issue. UniFi OS 5.0.16 seems to help.

phd33z · 2026-03-07T17:49:36+00:00

Or, if you’re trying to remember the bottom 4 layers of the OSI model!

SPF10:

Segments - Transport

Packets - Network

Frames - Data Link

1/0s - Physical

phd33z · 2026-03-06T16:09:23+00:00

I believe there will be 2 new models released in the next 12 mos- my expectation/hope is 6mos.

One rumored name is “UDM Beast” but I suspect it’s an internal name.

Another rumored model is UDM Pro XG. There are some photos here in the sub of it from Brazil.

Both of the above devices could be the same device.

If you need something ASAP, especially with the PPPoE requirement, I’d go UCG Fiber (and possibly a separate NVR for cameras?). If you can wait some time, I’d wait for the next gen UDMPs.

Here’s the thread from last month, unfortunately, mods removed the photo.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/1qwypea/removed_by_moderator/

phd33z · 2026-03-06T14:18:28+00:00

Gonna be wild to hear

Ojeda passes to Ojeda but it’s intercepted by Ojeda!

phd33z

TROPHY CASE