Creating a Unifi Lab Network on your existing network

Transcription

1 Creating a Unifi Lab Network on your existing network This tutorial will outline how to add a Unifi USG-3 and Unifi Switch 8 to your existing network to create a separate subnet. This tutorial assumes you already have a router connected to the internet with a gateway address of The tutorial is also geared toward someone with some knowledge of IT, but is a novice to setting up a network. Design Below is a diagram of our design. My current network resides on subnet /24. My goal is to add my Unifi network on /24.

2 Figure 1 Adding a Unifi Router to you existing network References Requirements You will need the following for this tutorial: UniFi Security Gateway 3P UniFi Switch 8 Unifi Cloud Key (optional) Extra Laptop or PC For the Unifi controller software Unifi Controller Cloud Key The Unifi line of switches and routers require some software to configure and maintain the hardware, called the Unifi Controller. The software is free and it supports both Windows and Linux. You also have the option to install the Unifi Cloud Key. The Unifi Cloud Key is a small plug-n-play appliance running Linux with the Unifi Controller already preinstalled. The Unifi Cloud Key also provides seamless integration with Unifi s Hybrid cloud solution. The Unifi Cloud Key is not required for this tutoral, as you can install the Controller on a PC. However, I will cover both options. Figure 2 Unifi Cloud Key

3 See Figure 3 for a typical Cloud Key Installation: See Figure 4 for a typical network with the Unifi Video Controller install on a PC Figure 3 Network with Cloud Key Installed

4 Figure 4 Network with Video Controller installed on a PC About the USG-3P The Unifi Security Gateway 3P (USG-3) has 2 physical LAN ports called LAN 1 & LAN 2. These can be configured via the Unifi Controller.

5 Configuring the USG-3 Router At the time of this writing, there were 2 version of the USG. The models where identical, but the front panel had different labels. Figure 5 Newer USG-3 Front Panel One version has labels; Console, WAN1, LAN1 & LAN2/WAN2 (Figure 5). The older version shown in Figure 6 has Console, WAN, LAN & VOIP. From what I can tell, these ports are identical, but are just labeled differently. VOIP is considered LAN2. Figure 6 Older USG-3 Front Panel When you first get your USG gateway router, it is configured with an IP For me, this is would conflict with my current network. My Verizon Router s IP address is In order to configure your USG router, do not connect the USG to your existing network. Connect the USGs LAN 1 port directly to your PC. Make sure Wifi is disabled. You do not want to be connected to your network while configuring the USG s IP address.

6 Figure 7 Connect the PC to LAN 1 From the factory, the USG-3 has the eth1 configured to /24. As mentioned, this will conflict with our current network. We are going to change it /24. Connect USG-3 LAN 1 port directly connected to your PC Using a terminal program, SSH into The default credentials are: Username: ubnt Password: ubnt In the SSH session, run the following commands (for a USG-3, on a USG Pro replace eth1 with eth0) 1 : configure set interfaces ethernet eth1 address /24 delete interfaces ethernet eth1 address /24 commit After committing your changes, you will lose connection to the USG. Allow a few minutes for the USG to configure. 1 Reference:

7 Installing the Video Controller or Cloud Key PC Install (Options 1) Depending on your PC s OS, install the Unifi Controller software. Reference This PC will be connected to your lab network and will host the Unifi Video Controller Server. Cloud Key Installation (Option 2) If you are installing the Unifi Cloud Key, you will need to make sure you re the Cloud Key is on the /24 subnet. The easiest way to do this is to connect the Unifi Switch-8 to LAN 1 and connect the Cloud Key and PC to the Switch. To install the Cloud Key, see Note, if you are unable to find the IP address of your cloud key, run arp a from a CLI or CMD. Set up the Network Figure 8 Finding the Cloud Key on your Network Running the Controller from your PC Your PC should be connected to /24 and should obtain an address in this subnet. If your IP address doesn t start with xxxx then restart your PC to obtain an IP address.

8 Once you obtain an IP address and confirm you are on the correct subnet, your PC will need have a static IP in the subnet. This will make it easier to find the Unifi Controller. This process will vary depending in your OS. I am using LINUX and have set my IP to: Address: NetMask Gateway: DNS: Figure 9 Static IP address of the PC Start the Controller (PC) If you installed the Unifi Controller on a Windows PC, you may need to start the Controller:

9 Figure 10 Starting the Unifi Controller in Windows My IP address for our Unifi Controller is You can access the Controller to set it up by going to Running the Controller from the Cloud Key My IP address for the Cloud Key is Navigate to the Cloud Key and click CONFIGURE:

10 Click Configuration: Set your Network Settings to Static and save:

11 Address: NetMask Gateway: Primary DNS: Secondary DNS: Start the Controller by clicking Maintenance > START UNIFI Set up the Controller Open your PC that is connected to the USG-3 and navigate to If you are using a cloud yet, open a PC and connect to and click MANAG or navigate to to access the Unifi Controller.

12 Follow the steps to set up the Unifi Controller. Click on the Settings Icon on the bottom left menu: Click Networks Select Edit next to the LAN entry Change your Gateway/Subnet to /24 and click update DHCP Range:

13 Click Save To return to our devices, click the devices icon on the left

14 Navigate back to the Controller and click devices. You should see the USG waiting for adoption. If you don t, you may need to reboot your PC and/or USG, Now click adopt to adopt the USG. This may take a few minutes. Once the USG has been adopted, it s still not connected to the internet. We are going to assign the USG router a static IP of WAN to Connect the WAN port to your Network. Allow a minute or 2 to allow your USG to connect to the primary network. Your USG should obtain an IP address from you Internet router. Since my Verizon router s range is /24, it assigned the USG an address of To check you USG s IP address, select the USG and the properties window should appear on the right:

15 In order for our USG to be able to connect to the internet, we need to configure the WAN. Under Configuration>General: Enter an Alias and click Save Click WAN and set enter the following:

16 Click Queue Changes, and then Apply Changes. You USG will start to update (Provision). It may take a couple of minutes. After your USG has finished updating, you will see the status in the devices menu as Connected: Click the Dashboard icon on the left. You should be able to connect to the internet:

17 Great, we are now connected to the internet. Now we need route traffic to the USG from our router. This step is going to be different depending on your primary router. I am uses a Verizon Quantum Gateway Router. You are going to need to create a route entry in the router s Route Table:

18 Depending on your router, you may need to do a reboot. Port Forwarding (Optional) With the route configured on our primary router, all we have left is to tell the USG where to forward the traffic coming in on This step is optional. You should be able to access xxx from anywhere on your network. From time to time, I was unable to access a device from xxx to xxx. I am still investigating these issues. If this is the case, then you can easily set up a Port Forwarding rule. We are going to make 2 Port Forward entries. 1 to allow us to ssh into the USG and the other to access the Unifi Controller from anywhere in our network. Under Configuration>Port Forward Click Create and Create 2 entries. Note, we will use port 2222 for ssh and forward to port 22.

19 Click Queue Changes and then Apply Changes. Under Manage Device>Force Provision> click Provision. This may take a few minutes to update.

20 Once your USG has a connected status, you should be able to access the controller at Navigate to from your main network and also ssh in. To login into ssh use a program like Putty or Tera Term:

21 Click ok. Enter the credentials Username: ubnt Password: same as your unifi controller password

22 Install the Unifi Switch 8 With our lab network set up, this step is rather easy. Connect your LAN 1 from the USG to a port on the Switch 8. Connect your PC to the switch.

23 Adopting the Switch Navigate to or You should see the switch under devices. Click Adopt. This may take a few minutes to provision.

24 Configuring LAN2 In this Example, I ve changed my LAN1 to /24. We are going to create a new LAN on LAN 2 for /24. Your USG-3 comes with to physical LAN ports. Configuring the second LAN (LAN 2) is simple. Click Settings>Networks>CREATE NEW NETWORK

25 Set your settings as seen below:

26 Leave VLAN blank as we don t need tagging on LAN 2. Click Save. Allow a minute or 2 to allow the USG to provision. Connect a device to the LAN2 port on the USG. In this example, I connected a Raspberry Pi and a Server to LAN 2 and a Cloud Key is connected to LAN 1:

27 That s it!