Ubiquiti News
Ubiquiti has announced UniFi Network 11, a major controller release built around deeper visibility, smarter routing and a first pass at smart-home device awareness. The headline change is a rebuilt telemetry engine that Ubiquiti says delivers over 30% better scalability, which flows through to real-time traffic data and historical network insight.
Alongside that, UniFi gateways pick up expanded VLAN capacity, new SD-WAN policy controls and WiFi WAN, which lets a supported model use an existing wireless network — including a phone hotspot — as a primary or backup uplink.
There is also a genuinely new direction here: UniFi can now sit alongside your existing Matter controller and surface Matter and Thread devices inside the same topology view as your IP clients.
The telemetry work is the foundation of the release. Better scalability is the stated benefit for growing networks, but the user-facing payoff is Live Traffic Flows for every client connected to a UniFi Gateway, rather than aggregated counters after the fact.
Ubiquiti has also added Time Machine Topology, which lets you step back through how the network looked at earlier points in time. For anyone who has tried to work out when a device moved ports or when a rogue client appeared, that is a practical troubleshooting aid.
Gateway capabilities get a solid lift. VLAN capacity has been expanded for more complex segmentation, and Routing Policies have been simplified through Network Lists, which can now pull from an external URL so firewall rules and VPN resources stay current without manual edits.
WiFi WAN is the attention-grabber. On supported models, any available wireless network can be pressed into service as a WAN link, which is a neat option for temporary sites or as a stopgap when the fixed service drops.
On the multi-site side, new SD-WAN policies allow custom failover behaviour and application-based routing, applied consistently across sites from one place.
Cybersecure Enhanced continues to receive daily Proofpoint threat signature updates, and those detections now come with AI-assisted explanations covering scope, risk and impact, plus recommended actions. For small teams without a security analyst on staff, clearer triage information is worth more than another raw alert count.
The Matter integration works by entering a pairing code so UniFi can observe the device alongside your existing Matter controller. From there you get battery level, firmware version, signal strength and a view of how each device is connected.
This is one of the more substantial UniFi Network releases we have seen in a while, and the telemetry rework is the part that matters most. Visibility improvements are easy to undersell in a release note, but live per-client flow data and historical topology are the sorts of features that save real hours when something breaks.
For prosumers running a home or small office setup, the standouts are WiFi WAN and the Matter work. Hotspot failover is a sensible safety net for anyone on a single fixed service, and the Matter observability finally gives UniFi something useful to say about the growing pile of smart devices sitting on your wireless coverage. Worth noting it complements rather than replaces your existing Matter controller.
Integrators and SMB IT get the most from the SD-WAN policy controls and Network Lists with external URL support. Application-based routing and custom failover across multiple sites, managed consistently, removes a lot of per-site fiddling — and dynamically updating lists means fewer stale firewall rules.
A note of realism: the Matter and Thread features are early, and custom device icons are a nice touch rather than a reason to upgrade. As always with a point-zero release, we would let it settle on a non-critical site first, particularly if you are running larger stacks of switches and access points where a controller issue is disruptive. Ubiquiti has not detailed which gateway models support WiFi WAN beyond saying it applies to supported hardware, so check your own kit before planning around it.
If you are already reviewing the wider UniFi ecosystem, this release strengthens the argument for consolidating management rather than running parallel tools.
Read the full announcement at blog.ui.com.
UniFi Network 11 introduces a re-engineered telemetry engine with more than 30% better scalability, Live Traffic Flows for every client behind a UniFi Gateway, and Time Machine Topology for viewing historical network changes. It also adds WiFi WAN, expanded VLAN capacity, advanced SD-WAN failover and application routing policies, AI-assisted threat explanations, and Matter device awareness. Custom device icons can now be created from the mobile app camera or uploaded through a browser.
WiFi WAN allows a supported UniFi Gateway to use an existing wireless network as a WAN connection, including a phone hotspot, either as the primary link or as backup. It is aimed at keeping connectivity alive when a fixed service is unavailable or at sites without a permanent circuit. Ubiquiti states the feature applies to supported models, so it is worth confirming your specific gateway before relying on it.
No. UniFi Network 11 is described as working alongside an existing Matter controller rather than replacing it. You enter a Matter pairing code to bring a device into UniFi for observability, which includes battery level, firmware version, signal strength and how the device connects to the Matter network.
Yes. UniFi Network 11 can display IP and Thread devices together in a single UniFi Topology view for the first time. Custom alerts can be set for critical devices on either network type, and Ubiquiti positions the unified view as a troubleshooting aid for connectivity problems.
Ubiquiti has not stated any pricing for UniFi Network 11 in its announcement. UniFi Network is the controller software for UniFi gateways and consoles, and the announcement focuses on the new features rather than any licensing or cost change. Some capabilities, such as AI-assisted threat explanations, are tied to Cybersecure Enhanced.
UniFi Network 11 adds SD-WAN policies that give administrators control over custom failover behaviour and application-based routing across multiple UniFi sites. The aim is to improve resilience while directing specific application traffic down the intended path. Policies can be applied consistently across sites from central management.
Ubiquiti's announcement of UniFi Network 11 does not specify regional availability dates, and UniFi Network is distributed as software for UniFi gateways and consoles rather than as a separately sold product. Australian users should check the release channel in their own UniFi console to see whether the update has reached their hardware.
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