Update 9/9/2020 – Updated comparison chart. Added external modem power feature as difference between UXG-Pro and UDM Pro. Also added wishing feature of “gateway mode”.
For some of Ubiquiti fans, this has been a long waited product. There are certainly people who were very excited about this product as it had quickly sold out from the early access store though it looks like many EA products sells out quickly.
However, there was a bit of surprise to community for its price. UXG-Pro’s spec has been available for awhile on the official forum, which looked trimmed down version of UDM-Pro. Also UXG Pro stands for UniFi NeXt Gen Gateway. So many were expecting this to be priced below UDM-Pro and perhaps similar to its predecessor USG-Pro-4. However, to the everyone’s surprise, UXG-Pro is priced significantly higher than USG-Pro-4 and UDM-Pro.
I have created above comparison chart. From the spec, UXG-Pro has less memory and LAN ports than UDM Pro. Counterintuitively, the lack of built-in controller could be a benefit to those who prefers controller unit being separate from the gateway unit. Technically speaking, I do not think there is anything that prevents from UDM Pro to act as stand alone gateway i.e. disable built in controller function, but this is not something UniFi currently allows and with the release of UXG-Pro, I believe such feature may be further restricted on UDM Pro in order to separate the two models.
So besides software induced feature restriction on UDM Pro, what else explain the added $120 cost on UXG Pro? The extended/additional hardware features I see on UXG-Pro is a built in Smart Power outlet for External Modem, which can be purchased as a separate add-on for $19 and use with UDM-Pro, which in fact the setup I do have.
So I am not sure where the $120-$19 = $100 difference coming from. One thing to note is that for UXG-Pro to function as UDM Pro, one still needs to purchase a controller unit. So we are looking for additional ~$200. After seeing UXG Pro spec, I believe UDM or UDM Pro remains the top choice for home users/prosumers.
Although I certainly wish Ubiquiti will give a choice to user by creating a “gateway mode” to UDM Pro/UDM Base where UDM lines can be turned into a gateway/router i.e. UXG Pro equivalent. For the majority of home users including myself such feature is unlikely to be utilized at least for awhile, but imagine someday new, more powerful feature rich UniFi Controller device Cloud Key # comes out, we can purchase the new controller unit and make UDM to just gateway. The modularity and scalability are one of the major attraction of UniFi line when compared to typical consumer graded gears.