Replacing My ISP Router with a UniFi Cloud Gateway Max

4 days ago

The user upgraded to full fibre internet and wanted to replace their ISP router with a UniFi Cloud Gateway Max for additional network features, expecting a quick setup.
Initial attempts failed because the Cloud Gateway requires an internet connection for configuration, which was lost after unplugging the ISP router, making it impossible to enter ISP credentials or restore a config backup.
After reconnecting the old setup, they discovered that config backup file formats between the Cloud Key (.unifi) and Cloud Gateway (.unf) were incompatible, requiring manual reconfiguration of access points, SSIDs, and DHCP settings.
The process took about three hours instead of the anticipated 10 minutes, highlighting frustrations with UniFi's ecosystem lock-in and complex setup requirements despite the hardware being reliable and feature-rich once configured.

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