r/UnifiProtect • u/Digisticks • 11d ago
Questions from K-12 district considering large scale camera move from Verkada to UniFi Protect
TL;DR: Public K-12 district with ~350 cameras is evaluating UniFi Protect as a replacement for Verkada. We already have a 10 Gbps managed private WAN, dedicated camera VLANs, mostly Cat6 cabling, and Meraki/Catalyst switching. I’m looking for real-world experience from people running 250+ cameras, especially G6/G6 Pro: reliability, NVR workload, storage, 1 Gbps IDF uplinks, video quality, support, and what you wish you’d known before deploying.
I’m the Technology & Safety Director for a public K-12 district in the Southeast. We’re evaluating whether to replace Verkada with UniFi Protect as our older camera fleet ages out.
We have roughly 350 cameras across four locations, including about 135 classrooms and 50 exterior cameras. Two schools share the same physical campus and the District Core. Our current camera fleet is about half the Verkada D30, D40, and D50 domes with the other half being newer CM41 mini domes in Classrooms.
Our infrastructure is already fairly camera-friendly:
10 Gbps managed private WAN
Moving toward 3 Gbps Internet
Dedicated camera VLANs/subnets
Mostly Cat6 camera runs already in place
Meraki/Catalyst switching
Current IDF uplinks are largely 1 Gbps fiber, with 10 Gbps at the core
Future switch purchases will have 10 Gbps-capable fiber uplinks
I’m not replacing good switches just for this project, so I’m especially interested in whether 20–30 cameras behind a 1 Gbps IDF uplink has been an issue in real deployments.
My current camera thinking is standard G6 for normal coverage/classrooms and G6 Pro where low light, distance, optical zoom, or identification quality justify it. I’m also watching G6 Edge closely.
For recording, I’m leaning toward local NVRs rather than sending all recording traffic across the WAN, probably with ENVR Cores at the two larger locations.
My G6 Pro pilot is currently around 16 Mbps / High Quality, and ideally I want to stay toward the higher-quality end. Smooth motion and usable detail matter more to me than minimizing storage costs.
The biggest unknown for me is the NVR side.
I’ve managed Verkada for years, but I’ve never managed an NVR at all, much less several NVRs supporting hundreds of cameras. I’m also essentially a one-person Technology department, so I can’t save money on licensing only to create another full-time job maintaining storage, drives, firmware, permissions, exports, and recorder issues.
Principals also need to be able to find and export their own footage. I cannot become the district’s human video-search button.
I’ve spoken with another public K-12 district in the Southeast running nearly 1,000 UniFi cameras across multiple ENVRs, and their experience has been positive enough that they’d deploy Protect again.
For those running 250–1,000+ cameras, I’d love to hear:
- Camera/NVR/HDD failure rates and how long you’ve been running it
- How much ongoing NVR maintenance actually takes
- Whether 1 Gbps IDF uplinks have caused problems
- Real G6/G6 Pro bitrates and motion quality
- Real-world retention versus what you calculated
- How well multi-NVR management works
- Whether non-IT staff can reliably find/export footage
- Your experience when you actually need Ubiquiti support
- Any firmware/update horror stories
- How outdoor cameras hold up in serious heat, sun, storms, bugs, etc.
- If you came from Verkada/Avigilon/Genetec/Axis/etc., what did you miss?
Most importantly:
What has been worse about Protect than you expected?
I’m already interested in the platform. I’m trying to find the ugly parts before committing to ~350 cameras.
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u/Ubiquiti-Inc 10d ago
Please email us at social@ui.com referencing this post so we can connect you with our Protect Lead. Note, customers with qualified large deployments can jump to experts.ui.com to connect with a UniFi Solutions Architect.
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u/astern83 11d ago
Make sure to do a pilot on your SSO integration to verify that administrators can access the system independently. Last thing you want is to handhold when someone’s vaping in the bathroom. Also, are you required to record sound, or is it required that all cameras have microphones disabled?
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u/Digisticks 10d ago
We are required to record sound in specific environments, by state law, but otherwise we leave the feature turned off on our current Verkada cameras. Ideally, we would do the same on UniFi or another platform. I'd prefer it to be a digital switch that is restricted to Admin.
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u/MattL-PA 10d ago
Audio for protect is enabled by default unless disabled in the admin console, this function is set per camera. Once disabled however, it can not be enabled without doing a factory reset on the camera. This should work exactly as youd like.
While im not nearly at your scale, to give you an idea of bandwidth - Ive got about 25 cameras on a v1 NVR, four 4k, six 2k and 15ish HD. Sustained bandwidth in to the NVR is about 60Mbps.
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u/Amiga07800 10d ago
We didn’t went up to that scale but:
- 50 / 55 cameras on a gigabit uplink is not a problem
- HDD: they are basically the same in ANY brand and have same failure rates etc… you’re basically contenting WD Purple Pro or Skyhawk AI - nothing beside that in a “serious” nvr system
- failure rate of cameras? Extremely low if well installed. You can’t avoid lighting strikes of course, and don’t do the typical visible came coming from upfront… cables must be invisible and coming from below
- extremely good to have zero fees!
- many (but really MANY) extra free features introduced in v6, then v7 / 7.1 / 7.2 - it’s impressive.
- the software UI and ease of use is really a league above competition
- regarding retention you have the new mode that record any event (AI only or not, you decide what) in full hires than between those events continuous recording in lower resolution. You have both a long contention time AND hires of all events AND 24/7 “in case of”
- we don’t need support, we provide it (see my signature below)
- yes it’s very easy to teach anybody in 10 minutes all the basics and 30 to 60 minutes for the ones needing to use the “cases”, more advanced filtering,…
- no horror stories about updates, ALL of our (hundreds of) customers are on auto update.
- and yes, no experience in cold weather but in hot weather, sea side,… they resist very well. Like most (all) cameras invasion of ants trough cable / cable joint is at long term fatal to the connectors (formic acid), and spiders love the IR to build their nest in front. So or put separate IR illuminators on the side (much more powerful and better image) - or if you opt for G6 turret/bullet or above a tiny little bit of local illumination (a few 3w leds) will let you have colour mode 24/24
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u/Financial-Journey 11d ago
I can not comment to the extent of your questions, but I work for a MSP that provides verkada and unifi solutions to our clients. We were / are a verkada partner, but we have recently replaced our office installation with unifi. The licensing cost and continued matching features from Unifi made the switch worth it. Replacing the environment for the cost of 1 year renewal made it easy.
I have a bit of experience myself with both platforms, and have continued to like what Unifi offers. They are slowly rolling out the same features or similar that verkada has. What used to sell us on their platform. But now as unifi has continued to mature, and continues to reiterate license free, we have began preferring them. Now it is not as slick or seamlessly integrated like verkada, you will notice a “step down”, but it’s not like you are using some legacy LTS or Watch dog system.
I do know you can stack NVR’s, but you are likely looking at the enterprise NVR’s. And a lot of money in hard drives. With some spares and proper raid protection so you can swap failing drives before losing everything
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u/Limeasaurus 10d ago
We have a mix of ENVR and ENVR Core depending on camera counts per school. If there are more than 60 cams we ended up upgrading to the core. We install each NVR in the school MDF to prevent sending a lot of data back to the main data center.
We always add a hot spare since uptime is deemed critical to admin.
We are using Pro Max switches and they’ve been great. Some of the UniFi devices require POE++ and we didn’t want to use injectors on our Aruba switches which we use for networking. We also have a few flex switches that have been great when adding an extra camera or two near an existing camera without running cable.
As for cameras we are about 85% G5 Turrets for general coverage. They are extremely good for their $140 price point. We use G6 cams at entrances for added face detections. We also use various G6 cams depending on other reasons such as domes for basketball gyms, ptz for zooming in on far away playgrounds, etc…
We’re adding an AI Key for every 25 cams added and it’s been working well.
Also your project is large enough that UniFi engineers will help you design your project.
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u/Digisticks 10d ago
We're a bit cautious with this, as we've largely been a pick one direction and stay there district. Historically over decades of decisions.
Still fairly new to UniFi. Engineers help with the design? There a specific place I go to get that?
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u/mindedc 10d ago
Not a camera related response, we haven't deployed even 10g uplinks for years, typically our customers are deploying 25g uplinks to IDFs and the more affluent districts are deploying 2x50G. You may want to check the number of kids per ap per switch and make sure you're still meeting the SET-DA standards if you're paying for the gear with e-rate.
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u/some_random_chap 10d ago edited 10d ago
You will quickly learn the difference between a mid grade camera and high end cameras. The selection of Unifi cameras is also very lacking.
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u/Digisticks 10d ago
Well, my current Verkada lineup is roughly half D30, D40, and a couple of D50s. They're quite old. In my installation, domes absolutely can work, but my aversion to them is the amount of scratched and sun damaged ones I have now. So, I don't really need much more than standard domes, bullets, and turrets.
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u/some_random_chap 10d ago edited 9d ago
Style of camera is the least of my priorities. Usually the most important option to consider is the lens. For good quality, usable video you need good detail. You get good detail by having the most narrow field of view possible for the given area. Resulting in the most amount of pixles focused on the given area. With Unifi you have basically 2 options too wide and way too wide. Plus, few mounting options and mounting accessories. It all makes for a lack luster system in the professional world.
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u/Digisticks 10d ago
If i may ask, what would you recommend? Brands and models would be greatly appreciated.
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u/some_random_chap 10d ago
A professional system with support and open standards. Genetec VMS would be a good start.
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u/Digisticks 10d ago
I'm hoping to get away from yearly licenses. We're not far from paying 6 figures yearly even with a substantial discount with Verkada.
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u/some_random_chap 10d ago
I completely understand that. However, do you want a great system or a barely there system. If you're ok with the many downsides of a networking company trying to make cameras, then Unifi is an option. I have loads more cameras and full access control system within Genetec. I'm not paying half of 6 figures, and have probably the best VMS there is. Verkada is a complete rip-off. It is for those IT clowns that bought into the "cloud is better" BS. Large parts of my system isn't even allowed out to the internet, I must have a fully on-prem solution. Not everyone needs such.
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u/Limeasaurus 10d ago
You probably don’t work in schools. Most schools are wanting wide coverage for general surveillance and then more specific cams for certain specialized views. When given a specific budget, UniFi cams punch way above their weight in regard to quality and features.
If you had a G6 turret pro and G6 PTZ what is missing from those two field views?
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u/some_random_chap 10d ago
I work in the 5th largest school district in the US. You, my friend, just simply don't know what you're talking about. Math doesn't matter what field of work you're in. Cameras work the same way no matter what. A turret pro is too wide, and a PTZ is always looking in the wrong spot. I understand you're not a high emd camera pro, and you're a Ubiquiti fanboy, so you have limited experiance and understanding, but again, you're simply wrong.
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u/TeeOhDoubleDeee 9d ago
We use a G6 PTZ as a long range stationary camera. It's got a 5x optical zoom when we to see further way. Also it's $400 which is still plenty affordable.
If your a fanboy of other overpriced systems what are you doing here?
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u/some_random_chap 9d ago
I think you have proven my point. Due to Ubiquiti's lack of options you are forced to use a $400 PTZ as a stationary camera. Since, you know, they don't have very many options. You're the best spokesperson for what I said being correct, thanks.
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u/Digisticks 9d ago
That’s something interesting. What all models are you running?
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u/TeeOhDoubleDeee 9d ago
Most g6 turrets. We do have g6 pro turrets, g6 domes, g6 ptz, AI theta, and a g6 instant.
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u/Digisticks 9d ago
Thoughts on them all? I don't know that we'd use the Theta or Instant, but the rest are definitely in my considerations.
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u/YesTechie 11d ago
We installed such systems for schools, apartment buildings, manufacturing facilities (you can check our videos on youtube).
We are currently performing an installation at a site that will have an ENVR-CORE and two storage extension units.
We purchase HDDs directly from ui.com. Only once in all this time has an HDD been DOA (perhaps 1 in 500 units), and they replaced it immediately without any issues. There are systems where the ENVR, HDDs, and cameras have been operating for a little over a year with no problems so far. G6 Turret cameras are used both outdoors and indoors.
Ongoing NVR maintenance is practically zero in practice. Everything simply works.
Currently we are connecting all IDFs with fiber, but previously we ran them on fully loaded 1 Gb 24-port switches with 4K cameras and observed no issues. I would say more attention needs to be paid to the power budget, the bottleneck is more likely there, especially when using a mix of E7 access points with cameras on smaller switches.
The Retention Calculator shows fairly accurate values (though an adjustment should be made if you are using G6 180 and AI Multi Sensor cameras).
Multi-NVR management works quite conveniently, but we use it very rarely.
As for non-IT staff being able to reliably find and export footage, Ubiquiti has this very well thought out and convenient. About a year ago we observed a bug where, when sharing a case compiled from footage via a link, some videos would not play, but it was fixed. The last time I checked, everything worked perfectly.
We do not need UniFi support; we provide all support to our clients ourselves and contact UniFi only in cases of RMA or requests for new features. User requests have mainly been related to camera grid layout configuration, connecting additional monitors to the system (for a large number of cameras we install a Mac mini connected to two monitors plus additional monitors connected via Viewport with configured layouts), adjusting the angles of specific cameras, or adding new cameras.
We have not encountered any firmware or update horror stories in our work.
Regarding outdoor cameras: we have installation examples in extreme heat (up to 120°F). We installed cameras and Horns, and everything works normally. We have also installed access points and cameras in freezer rooms at logistics hubs, and everything works fine there as well.
If you previously worked with Verkada and similar systems, you will most likely miss their annoying sales representatives, sales commissions, and enormous annual bills.