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Comment by spankalee | Hacker News Reader

This page is a bit confusing if you don't already know the terms...

What exactly is "A complete UniFi networking stack" anyway? Is UniFi some protocol that extends WiFi?

Exactly, I only understood that it's basically a WiFi router by reading this thread. I guess I am not their target buyer... still, would appreciate more clarity.

Unifi AP for wifi, Unifi switches, Unifi security gateway of some kind, Unifi point to point for terrestrial wireless to share with another set of Unifi gear in a barn/shed/whatever down the road. All managed by UNMS.

OK, as an engineer with decades of experience, I give up. What is "Unify AP for WiFi"?

Unifi is just their name for this series of products that all work together with their (free) controller. So you buy an AP, a switch, a router, all from the Unifi line of products and they all get setup from a single controller and work together pretty effortlessly

I see, thanks. So basically a suite of networking hardware solutions? What I found the most confusing is that they sort of differentiate UniFi from WiFi. E.g. "Instant WiFi for retail POS" - yes, like any other WiFi router? Or is this box going to connect to a global mesh that's called UniFi?..

For the "Instant WIFI for retail POS" it could be describing a meshed wifi solution, where it then acts as a wireless backhaul and bridges to the LAN port you can connect to the POS system that doesn't have wifi built in.

A wifi Access Point, unify branded?

Do the Unifi APs and other Unifi hardware still need a docker image or software installed that includes mongodb I think it was to manage devices?

Most of their stuff can be set up without needing a Unifi Controller, but for configuring wifi and gathering stats the software is used. They make a device called a Cloud Key that has the controller built in that can then be used to manage the Unifi gear from the cloud. UNMS is used for more Terrestrial wireless ISP stuff but the switches and point to points can be added to UNMS or the Controller.

All their dedicated hardware like APs do but the device in the link (as well as pretty much all their new gateway products - the "Dream" series) have a controller built-in

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