Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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UniFi Cloud adoption or Layer 3 adoption - what is it and how does it work?
UniFi Cloud Adoption aka layer 3 adoption is usually a fairly simple process.
When your unifi devices and your unifi controller are on the same network, they are communicating at layer 2 and in these cases, things usually work like magic.

In more complex cases where the unifi devices and the unifi controller are on different vlans for example, or maybe if your unifi controller is off site or cloud hosted, this when layer 3 device adoptions come into play.

In many other cases, service providers are using unifi controllers installed on cloud based linux virtual machines. and in these cases, the adoption process is often called "cloud adoption" but its a layer 3 adoption as well.

There are four Methods for updating a UniFi Device’s INFORM URL for the purpose of remote management, including:
UniFi Discovery Tool
SSH Client
DHCP Option 43, and,
DNS Resolution

Watch the full video to find out more.

Layer 3 device adoption KB:
help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/204909754-UniFi-Layer-3-Adoption-for-Remote-UniFi-Controllers

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