Most businesses don't install cameras and networking at the same time. The network went in years ago; the cameras get bought later, after a break-in down the street, an insurance requirement, or a delivery dispute nobody could settle. That sequence, video added to infrastructure that already exists, is what shapes the job.
Start With the PoE Budget
Cameras are the light load on most sites. A UniFi Protect bullet or dome camera draws somewhere around four to five watts. A current Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7 access point draws roughly 10 to 21 watts depending on the model, and the higher-end units want PoE+.
So the trap isn't the cameras. It's that the access points already spent the budget. Eight modern APs can consume over 100 watts on a switch whose total PoE budget might be 95, before a single camera is connected. Do that arithmetic before ordering anything.
There are exceptions. PTZ models, cameras with heaters for outdoor cold, and higher-end AI-capable units draw considerably more, and some want PoE+ or better. Check the spec for the actual model rather than assuming a category.
Storage Is Bitrate Times Time
Retention drives the storage decision, and the arithmetic is bitrate multiplied by hours, not resolution multiplied by cameras.
Resolution and frame rate matter, but codec and recording mode often matter more. H.265 typically saves 25 to 40% against H.264 at the resolutions most cameras actually run, more than that at 4K, and continuous recording against motion or smart-detection recording can change the total by a larger factor still.
Decide how far back you would realistically need to look — thirty days, sixty, ninety — then size for that and add margin. Ubiquiti publishes a storage calculator; use it rather than guessing. Running short doesn't announce itself. The system quietly overwrites the week you needed.
You Need a Console That Can Record
Protect isn't software you drop onto an existing gateway and forget. It needs a console that can run it and hold the footage, which means a network video recorder or a Cloud Gateway model with storage in it.
That means drives, and drive compatibility is something to confirm rather than assume. Surveillance-rated drives carry a much higher annual workload rating than desktop drives, tolerate rotational vibration in a multi-bay chassis, and support streaming commands. A desktop drive won't fail on contact; it wears out years early. If losing footage to a failed drive would be a real problem, redundancy is a conversation to have at purchase rather than after.
Placement, and Where the Sun Is at Four O'Clock
Four cameras in the right places beat ten mounted wherever a cable happened to reach. Entrances, the loading dock, the register, and any blind corner of the lot cover most of what a business actually uses footage for.
Light is the detail most often missed. A camera pointed at a glass door with afternoon sun behind it produces a silhouette, and it produces one at exactly the moment you want a face. Walking the site at different times of day catches this. A floor plan doesn't.
Put the cameras on their own VLAN as well, with firewall rules between segments. It keeps a constant video stream off the staff network, and it means a camera running old firmware has no route to the accounting machine.
Before Anything Gets Mounted
Power budget, storage math, a console that can actually record, and a walk of the site in afternoon light. Get those four right and the cameras you put up this year will still be producing usable evidence in three. Most of the value in UniFi Protect installations Raleigh is decided before anything gets mounted. UniFiNerds.com goes through camera coverage planning in more detail.