Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Key (UC-CK),White

The cloud key is the central part of the Ubiquiti Unifi managed network system. Ubiquiti offers a cloud version of the Cloud Key, but I guess I'm old school and want to keep my management mostly in-house. I have used this with 2 clients.One was a couple of unifi switches and half a dozen access points spread across 2 networks connected via VPN. Setup was easy after actually reading instructions and watching a few YouTube videos.The next client was a 2 building wifi infrastructure setup. It had 24 unifi AC Pro access points, a 5 16 port unifi PoE switches and a 24 port unifi switch spread across 2 3 story buildings adjacent to each other. Setup was super easy after the first one and each access point was configured within minutes of setup.The cloud key is brilliant. It's PoE powered (or optionally via a AC adapter) and has a microSD slot which came with a card (for backups). The web interface and remote access capability facilitate management off-site. Device discovery works great and makes deployment so quick and easy. Monitoring lets you ID problems and overloaded access points. It's been a great troubleshooting tool. The cloud key is the management beating heart of a unifi network.One thing to be aware of: make a backup of your cloud key!!! I found that on 2 occasions cloud keys required a reset and restore after nasty power failures. It doesn't take a long time, so do and It could save your proverbial bacon. Oh yes, when you make changes make another backup.Going from more old-school network management to the beautifully integrated Unifi system was a bit of an adjustment and learning curve. Once I "got it" it's my first choice for installation with more than a couple of access points.

DISCLAIMER: Ubiquiti sent me a Cloud Key free of charge if I agreed to write a review.I’ve been using the Cloud Key for a few days now. My impression of it so far is very positive. As expected from the UniFi line, it pairs nicely with my Unifi Security Gateway, PoE+ switch, and AP PRO. As of this writing (07-09-2016) my only minor issue with the Cloud Key is the lack of advanced options in the controller UI, though that is more of the controller firmware than the Cloud Key itself. Most of the advanced options are already available in the controller beta firmware so I’m confident Ubiquiti will really flesh out the capabilities of the Cloud Key and their whole UniFi line.For those that don’t know, the Cloud Key is a small SoC (system-on-chip) that can run the UniFi controller software. It’s a GREAT alternative for those that don’t have a server racked or don’t really have a need for one. For those that do, just run the UniFi controller on the server. The GUI runs smooth, provides a lot of nice stats for your LAN/WAN, and makes basic management of your other UniFi devices a breeze. It even comes with a MicroSD card for those that are comfortable with the CLI and would like to save configs/other miscellaneous things to it. Speaking of which, if you are familiar with Linux you will feel at home on the CLI since almost all of the UniFi devices are running a Debian derivative (at least from what I can tell).TL;DR – Do I recommend the Cloud Key? If you don’t have a server racked, 100% without question. It’s a great little tool for the price (<$100). I’ve had no issues with the device and it’s made this network engineer very happy. I love when things are simple, cheap (in price, not quality), and just work.

For $80, The Unifi Cloud Key (UCK) is one of the easiest ways for a Managed IT Service Provider to effectively and efficiently monitor a remote network - or the IT Professional who wants to have eyes on their home network at all times. My company has been deploying Ubiquiti Unifi network equipment for the past year or so. Not all customers run full blown servers and IT systems onsite at their locations so installing the software based controller isn't really an option. This controller picks up the slack and some.First thing to note, when configuring it, is that it picks up a DHCP address, so if you're adjusting the LAN IP scheme of your Unifi network from 192.168.1.1/24, change the USG's IP FIRST, then connect the UCK which will pull DHCP on the new scope from the USG. Then, you'll navigate to https://<UCK IP>:8443/manage, run through the set up, go to settings/network/LAN and changed the default IP scheme again. Adopt the USG and that's about it.We've been using UCK's since version 4.8 and they're now on 5.5.20 and Ubiquiti has made some great strides and improvements. With each firmware/controller version update come more features. We really like that the UCKs come included with MicroSD cards and an automatic backup feature - We go in and downloadthis gives us the peace of mind knowing that if anything happens, short of a fire, we'll have the ability to restore the controller quickly.That said, once you configure your Unifi network equipment, you do NOT need a controller for the network equipment to continue to operate. Each individual piece of equipment will retain its settings even if it loses connectivity with the 'cloud', unlike some other brands.