Every business we look after has the same quiet dependency: the single line coming in from the internet provider. When it goes down, the debit machine stops, the phones stop if they are VoIP, the cloud point-of-sale stops, and everyone stands around. In Norfolk and Haldimand that line is often a long run of rural cable or fibre with a lot of trees and weather between it and the nearest node.
Ubiquiti's answer is a small device called UniFi 5G Backup. It has been out for a few months now and we have had enough hands-on time to say where it fits and where it does not.
What it is
UniFi 5G Backup is a cellular modem about the size of a phone, powered by a single PoE cable. It holds a nano-SIM and an eSIM, has two built-in antennas, and ships with a desktop stand plus wall and window mounts. Ubiquiti lists it at US$99.
The part that matters is how it attaches. It does not need a spare WAN port on your gateway. You plug it into any PoE port on a UniFi switch, adopt it in the Network application like an access point, and the gateway treats it as a backup internet connection. Ubiquiti's help centre describes this as the LAN-connected mode, and it is the one we use: the modem can sit in a window with good signal while the gateway stays in the closet.
The radio is 5G RedCap, a lighter class of 5G aimed at exactly this kind of device, with LTE fallback. Ubiquiti rates the bands for North America and the device carries an Industry Canada (IC) certification. You need UniFi Network 10.4.57 or later on the gateway to adopt it.
What failover actually looks like
When the main line drops, the gateway notices, routes traffic out through the modem, and routes it back when the line returns. Independent testing we have read reports a gap of a few seconds on the switch, which matches what we see. A phone call in progress may hiccup; a card transaction will simply go through on the next try.
Do not expect your normal speeds. RedCap tops out far below a fibre connection and real-world results depend entirely on signal at your building. In the review linked below, the tester saw 30 to 85 Mbps down. That is plenty for payment terminals, email, VoIP and a cloud POS. It is not enough to keep a dozen people streaming and backing up to the cloud, and you should not want it to be, because cellular data is metered.
UniFi Network 10 lets you choose which networks and clients are allowed to use the backup. This is the feature that makes the product sensible for a small shop: let the POS VLAN and the phones fail over, leave the guest Wi-Fi and the staff televisions off it.
Data plans in Canada
This is the part to read carefully. Ubiquiti sells its own bundled data plan through Site Manager, but the company's announcement is explicit that this is a United States offering. In Canada you bring your own SIM from a Canadian carrier. The device is unlocked, so an IoT or data-only plan from any of the national carriers or their flanker brands will work, and these are inexpensive compared to a second wired line.
Whatever plan you use, set a usage cap in the Network application. Ubiquiti's own best-practices article warns that the backup devices will keep buying data unless a limit is configured. A cap that covers a day or two of essential traffic is the right size; an uncapped plan on a line that is quietly carrying backups at 3 a.m. is how people get surprising bills.
Things to watch out for
Placement matters more than the spec sheet. Cellular signal inside a steel-roofed building or a block-walled back room can be close to nothing. The window mount exists for a reason. We test signal with a phone on the same carrier before we commit to a location, and we run the PoE cable to wherever the signal is, not wherever is convenient.
The operating range is 0 to 40 °C and there is no weatherproof rating. This is an indoor device. It goes on the inside of the window, not on the outside wall.
It is powered by the switch. If the outage that took your internet also took your hydro, the modem is down with everything else. That is an argument for a small UPS on the network closet, which we recommend regardless.
Finally, it is a backup. If your primary line fails several times a month, the fix is a better primary line, or a second wired provider where one is available. Cellular failover buys you an afternoon, not a permanent second connection.
What we recommend
For a retail counter, a farm office, a clinic or a trades shop that loses money every time the internet drops, the combination of a UniFi gateway, a PoE switch, a 5G Backup and a cheap data-only SIM is the lowest-cost resilience we have seen. The hardware is a hundred dollars and the plan is a few dollars a month. For a home office it is harder to justify unless you work on call.
If you already run UniFi, adding it is an hour's work: mount it where the signal is, pull a cable, adopt it, restrict which networks can use it, and set the data cap. Then unplug the main line and confirm the POS still works before you trust it.
RelayPoint designs, installs and manages UniFi networks across Norfolk, Oxford, Brant and Haldimand counties and west along the lake to Hamilton, Burlington and Oakville. If you want to know whether cellular failover makes sense for your building, or you want us to add it to a network we already look after, get in touch or see our business network services.
Sources
- Introducing UniFi 5G Backup — Ubiquiti blog
- UniFi 5G Backup technical specifications — Ubiquiti
- UniFi 5G and LTE Backup Best Practices — Ubiquiti Help Center
- UniFi 5G Backup review: cellular failover for SMBs — iFeeltech
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