PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max)
Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max)
★ 4.9 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti in the sources reviewed
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 2.3 Gbps IDS/IPS per Ubiquiti spec page (older listings show 1.5 Gbps)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti; third-party reviews report about 800-1,000 Mbps for WireGuard and 300-400 Mbps for OpenVPN
  • Max Sessions: Not published in the sources reviewed
  • New Sessions/sec: Not published in the sources reviewed
  • Interfaces: 1x 2.5GbE RJ45 WAN, 4x GbE RJ45 LAN (one LAN port can be reconfigured as a second WAN for multi-WAN)
  • Form Factor: Compact desktop; UCG-Max-NS variant includes 512GB NVMe storage

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Low entry price at $199 MSRP; Compact desktop form factor; Five-port layout with multi-WAN support via a reconfigurable LAN port; Runs UniFi OS with integrated IDS/IPS, site-to-site and remote VPN options (IPsec, WireGuard, OpenVPN, L2TP); Manages 30+ UniFi devices and 300+ clients per Ubiquiti listing
  • ✘ Cons: Routing and IPS throughput (2.3 Gbps) is modest for multi-gigabit WANs with inspection enabled; Published throughput figures conflict across sources (1.5 vs 2.3 Gbps IPS, varying VPN numbers); Only one 2.5GbE port, with the remaining ports at 1GbE; Vendor does not publish IPsec tunnel, session, or new-connection limits; Some resellers list prices well above MSRP (one US listing at $394.79)
  • Est. Price: $199 - $279

Compare Against

Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro Max
Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro Max
★ 4.1 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: 9.8 Gbps measured (basic firewall, iPerf3); Ubiquiti markets about 10 Gbps
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 5.0 Gbps IDS/IPS (Ubiquiti spec); 4.2 Gbps with all threat categories enabled (third-party review)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: 1.8-2.2 Gbps site-to-site (third-party review); WireGuard 2.5+ Gbps; L2TP 800-1,200 Mbps
  • Max Sessions: Not published by Ubiquiti
  • New Sessions/sec: Not published by Ubiquiti
  • Interfaces: 2x 10G SFP+, 1x 2.5GbE RJ45, 8x 1GbE RJ45 (up to 8 WAN ports; default WAN is 1x SFP+ and 1x 2.5GbE); MAC address table 4,000 entries
  • Form Factor: 1U rackmount, 442.4 x 43.7 x 285.6 mm, 4.7 kg
  • Processor: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 @ 2.0 GHz
  • Memory: 8 GB DDR4
  • Onboard Storage: 32 GB eMMC, 128 GB SSD, 2x 3.5in NVR HDD bays (HDDs not included)
  • PoE Output: None
  • Max Power Consumption: 60 W (100-240V AC input)
  • Client/Device Capacity: 200+ UniFi devices, 2,000+ clients (Ubiquiti)

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: 5.0 Gbps IDS/IPS throughput at this price point; Two 3.5in HDD bays with RAID 1 for surveillance storage and hot-swap support; Acts as gateway, NVR, and UniFi controller in one 1U unit; Scales to 200+ devices and 2,000+ clients; Shadow Mode (VRRP) gateway failover available with a second unit; Near-silent at idle with a 1.3in touchscreen
  • ✘ Cons: Fan noise rises noticeably under sustained 5 Gbps IDS/IPS load; Built-in 1G LAN ports bottleneck WiFi 7 APs, so a separate 2.5G/10G switch is usually needed; No PoE output, so PoE devices need a separate switch or injector; HDDs cost extra (about $140-280); PPPoE throughput with IDS/IPS may be lower because the Cortex-A57 has no PPPoE offload; Shadow Mode requires a second identical unit, which doubles gateway cost; CyberSecure subscription adds $99/year; Max sessions and new sessions/sec are not published
  • Est. Price: $599 - $646

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