esanto1

Fair but you pay a premium for their devices already so is extra $ for remote access really necessary? Unifi devices are lower priced and have the capability fee free. are Araknis devices priced similarly to Pakedge?

Yep. Waiting to see if they’ll merge Pakedge and Araknis and consolidate support (ovrc or BakPak). I’m hoping they change 4sight to maybe a tiered model. For people just using it for network/device monitoring it should be free and if it’s used for video with the doorbell or intercom, then have a small fee. preferably I’d like it to be all free but if not, this would be good.

I do have TP-Link Kasa plugs already that control some lamps but I don’t have lamps in the rooms where I’d like the lights when I’m out. Sure, it may not be difficult to move lamps but would like control over the mains lights. My wife and kids are notorious for leaving lights on too so having the ability to remotely switch them off is a bonus. I did look at other alarm options like SimpliSafe but don’t want to have to install new contacts/reed switches. My house already has reed switches everywhere so I’d prefer to just leverage what I have.

No audio. Happy with Sonos/Spotify. thanks

I bit the bullet bought my first pakedge device and replaced one of my Unifi room switches with a pakedge one as my wife didn’t like the front facing ports of old switch. Nice switch and have it POE powered too. Configuration is straightforward but not as easy as with Unifi. one gripe I do have is that an end user can’t even update the firmware themselves! I have a good relationship with my dealer and he emailed it to me but I think that’s a bit of a pain. I thought that since you could configure the device yourself you could also do basic functions like update the firmware. Otherwise it’s been a few weeks now and the switch has been stable. At this stage I don’t think I’ll replace any more devices. Am waiting to see what happens with the whole C4/SnapAV merger.

Hi, im still considering C4 but only for security - alarm integration and maybe a few lights (<6) for some level of “mockupancy”. Alarm would be a Ness M1 Gold. No touch screens as my wife and I always carry our phones around. I do have cctv installed but won’t be integrating that as I don’t see much value add in doing so. I have a quote from my dealer which includes an EA3 but wondering if an EA1 could do this. interested in people’s feedback. thanks

@BraydonH thanks for your reply. Great insight. Sounds like you’re a dealer? Does Pakedge have a way for customers to monitor their networks remotely like the Unifi app? I am a tinkerer myself with a network background. I’ve got all Unifi gear (USG, AP HD’s, switches) and multiple vlans setup both on my main and room switches, fw rules, IPS/IDS, etc. My normal av dealer will setup C4 for me next year so I’m just investigating whether it’s worthwhile leaving Unifi for Pakedge. I really do like the ease of managing a Unifi network and especially like the IPS/IDS functionality. I like that fact that it notifies me when it detects malware/ransomware signatures in my network. From what I’ve read, the RK-1 doesn’t have IPS/IDS capabilities. I am intrigued by the whole ‘zones’ concept as an easy way to do vlans. At this point, I’m thinking I may stay with Unifi for my main network devices and just use Pakedge switches in the rooms. I like that the ports are rear facing so not visible. Unfortunately, I’ll lose visibility of that switch and connected devices but... Definitely, the price for Pakedge is steep. The RK-1 is $1000 AUD! The Unifi usg pro for comparison is about $460 AUD.

I have a Unifi network and see similar speeds but it’s because I have IPS/IDS enabled on my USG. I suspect for me there is also some inter vlan routing issue as I can get 500mb+ on my Management vlan but less on my user vlan i use AP HD’s

Does the RK1 have IPS/IDS capability or only a firewall? From what I’ve read, it only has a fw. I really like the IPS functionality of the Unifi USG so want to use that. Do you think I could connect an RK1 to a Unifi USG? Searching the Internet, vlans in Pakedge gear doesn’t look popular. Most put all the gear in one big subnet. Is this due to dealers lacking expertise in setting up and supporting vlans/zones? My local C4 dealer only sells unmanaged switches but I have rooms with devices in multiple vlans so want the separation. Or do they just do zones on an RK1 and the unmanaged switches just belong to one vlan each for simplicity?

Does Pakedge have a centralised dashboard like Unifi has to provide a view of all managed network devices or is that only in BakPak? if I go down the route of replacing my gear, I’d be looking at an RK as a main router, unmanaged switches in the rooms and one or two wireless routers. Also want one managed switch because in one room I have devices on different vlans.

Are you sure? I did a test and when playing music through the Spotify app on my phone, I do experience dropouts. When playing music from the Sonos app instead, it’s fine. That being the case, I assumed the first was streaming from my phone whereas the second was streaming from Sonos. Doesn’t that sound right?

End users/customers can’t use Bakpak? I would have though that if you configured it yourself you could use all the features? What other features aren’t available to end users?

Great to hear! Do you have a dealer that also has access?

I’m an end user, not a dealer. Can I self manage the newly work myself or at least have access alongside my dealer? I come from a network background so know what I’m doing and have been managing my Unifi network for years now. Unifi has a great USG (Security Gateway) that offers IPS/IDS, firewall, DPI etc. Do Pakedge have a security device as well? Edit: A bit more investigation and it looks like it will be able to self manage a Pakedge network myself

Hi All, Looking for user feedback on Pakedge network devices. Haven’t found much online. Current using Unifi but at a point where I want to either upgrade my Unifi gear or move to something else like Pakedge. What functionality will I lose? Does Pakedge offer ssm like Unifi? Does it have IPS/IDS capabilities? Thanks