[ The reality ]
Cisco, Meraki and Aruba charge annual licensing to keep switches and access points working: money that could go to devices, curriculum or staff, spent again every year. When a license lapses, some platforms lock the dashboard or cut features. Your network shouldn’t stop working because a PO was late.
Most K–12 districts don’t have a dedicated network engineer. Your technology director is fielding help desk tickets, managing Chromebook carts, running the SIS, and also responsible for VLANs, firewall rules and wireless coverage. Their tools should make that job simpler.
Legacy vendors are built to keep you renewing: proprietary management platforms, firmware updates that need an active license, and end-of-life dates that force replacements on their schedule. At the next bond or E-Rate refresh, the district buys the same vendor again because switching looks too hard.
[ How we work ]
We delete what shouldn’t exist, simplify what remains, and deploy UniFi.
For a district, that means replacing a multi-vendor stack with one platform your technology director manages from one dashboard.
UniFi hardware has no per-device licensing: the district owns it outright. Software updates are included and the management console is free.
We handle the engineering: network design, VLAN architecture, wireless planning, content filtering and on-site deployment. Then we train your staff to run it.
Design
VLANs, RF plans, BOMs
Deploy
On site, building by building
Train
Your team, your network
Hand off
The district owns it
[ The math ]
| Legacy vendor (Cisco / Meraki / Aruba) | UniFi (via Unified IT) | |
|---|---|---|
| 48-port PoE switch | $3,000–$6,000 + $500–$1,200/yr license | $699–$1,299 · no license |
| Wireless access point | $600–$1,500 + $150–$300/yr license | $99–$349 · no license |
| Management platform | Cloud dashboard requires active license | UniFi Network Server, free |
| Content filtering | Often a separate licensed product | Configurable at the firewall level |
| 5-year TCO · 30-AP district | $60,000–$120,000+ | $12,000–$35,000 |
| If you stop paying licensing | Dashboard locks or degrades. Some devices lose management capability. | Nothing changes; the network keeps running. |
48-port PoE switch
Legacy
$3,000–$6,000 + $500–$1,200/yr license
[ UniFi ]
$699–$1,299 · no license
Wireless access point
Legacy
$600–$1,500 + $150–$300/yr license
[ UniFi ]
$99–$349 · no license
Management platform
Legacy
Cloud dashboard requires active license
[ UniFi ]
UniFi Network Server, free
Content filtering
Legacy
Often a separate licensed product
[ UniFi ]
Configurable at the firewall level
5-year TCO · 30-AP district
Legacy
$60,000–$120,000+
[ UniFi ]
$12,000–$35,000
If you stop paying licensing
Legacy
Dashboard locks or degrades. Some devices lose management capability.
[ UniFi ]
Nothing changes; the network keeps running.
5-year TCO · 30-AP district
Estimated savings
$66,500
Estimates based on publicly available list pricing as of 2026. Actual costs vary by vendor program, bid pricing and configuration. We’ll run a cost comparison against your current environment at no charge.
[ Switching vendors ]
A migration is phased and scheduled around the academic calendar: summer refresh windows, spring break and teacher workdays.
We document the existing network end to end: switches, APs, firewall rules, VLANs, DHCP scopes and content filtering. Everything is mapped before anything changes.
We design the UniFi replacement for your buildings, accounting for student density, device counts, 1:1 programs and building quirks (concrete block walls, portable classrooms, outdoor areas).
New UniFi infrastructure goes in alongside your existing gear. We migrate building by building or closet by closet in low-impact windows: weekends, breaks and after hours.
When the new network is verified stable, legacy hardware comes out. We test every connection, confirm every VLAN, validate content filtering, and train your team on the new dashboard.
[ Federal funding ]
E-Rate is a federal program administered by USAC (Universal Service Administrative Company) that provides discounts on telecommunications, internet access, and internal network infrastructure for eligible K–12 schools and libraries.
Your district’s discount level is based on the percentage of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (free and reduced lunch). Discounts range from 20% to 90%.
Many districts underuse Category 2 funding. Category 2 covers internal connections: the switches, wireless access points, structured cabling, UPS units and installation labor inside your buildings. UniFi hardware and our deployment engineering both qualify, so the discount applies to a refresh or a migration.
[ Discount range ]
20–90%
Based on free & reduced lunch eligibility.
We don’t file E-Rate applications; that is the job of your E-Rate consultant or service provider. We give them what they need:
The best time to talk to us is before you file, so the architecture and the BOM are settled before your consultant files against them.
[ Multi-campus ]
A district with elementary, middle and high schools, admin offices, maintenance and bus operations may be paying for MPLS circuits or dedicated point-to-point links between them.
UniFi’s site-to-site VPN and SD-WAN connect every campus over standard internet connections, which gives you:
For a district running MPLS across 10 or more sites, this is often the largest single saving in the project.
Single console · site-to-site VPN · no MPLS
[ School safety ]
Cloud-first camera platforms like Verkada and Avigilon Alta are solid products; the difference is the pricing model. They bill per camera per year, commonly $150–$500, so a 100-camera district carries a five-figure recurring cost on top of the cameras, and access to footage depends on the subscription staying active.
UniFi Protect records locally to your own NVR with no per-camera license, and UniFi Access controls doors with no per-door fee. Both run on the network we built. Door schedules, one-action remote lock and camera verification sit in the console your technology director already uses for the Wi-Fi. That matters most on the day everything has to work at once.
100 cameras · annual licensing elsewhere: ~$15,000–$50,000
On UniFi Protect: $0
[ Independence ]
We want your technology director able to run the network without calling us. After deployment we train your IT staff hands-on, on your network and your devices.
Device adoption, VLAN management, wireless configuration, firewall rules, client monitoring, and alerting. Your team learns the UniFi dashboard by using it on their own network during the training.
Every deployment includes a documentation handoff: network topology diagrams, IP addressing, VLAN maps, Wi-Fi channel plans, switch port assignments and a credential inventory.
If your district wants ongoing help after handover, our Technical Assistance Center (TAC) provides remote monitoring, alerting and engineering support. It is optional, and some districts do not need it.
Technical Assistance Center[ Built for schools ]
We configure content filtering at the network level to help your district meet CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) requirements, a prerequisite for E-Rate eligibility.
1:1 Chromebook and iPad programs mean hundreds of simultaneous connections per building. We design coverage and channel plans for the device count in each classroom.
Separate VLANs for student devices, staff devices, guest access, IoT (smart boards, printers, cameras) and building systems. Segmentation is part of the first design.
Major deployments are scheduled around your academic calendar. We plan for summer installs, spring break cutovers, and teacher workday milestones.
[ Track record ]
We’ve deployed UniFi in healthcare facilities, government buildings, private airports, defense contractors and school districts. K–12 is one of our core sectors.
See our workOn a call, an engineer reviews your current setup, walks through what a UniFi migration would involve for your district, and gives you a straight answer on cost and timeline.
