Credit where credit is due, the real tools are the guys who designed this thing.

Please thank your son (again!) - his invention that keeps on giving, all around the world! (This message from the South Pacific)

Thanks for posting this. Saved me from breaking mine in frustration.

Thanks for this, I recall when I put these up I thought they'd be a PITA to take down, but I didn't prepare for it. Your video saved my bacon, made a tool exactly like yours, worked a dream. Love everything else about Unifi, but this is an appalling design.

👍Thank you!!! These things are impossible to get off without some sort of tool. I had to destroy the mounting bracket on one of my AP's the other day trying to get it off the wall (which I also damaged). Now it's just hanging by the ethernet cable. Fortunately, it was an older one. Today I ran into the same issue with a much newer one.

Thanks for the video - knowing how the latch works makes removal easier. After getting it off I just cutoff the latch to make it easier next time.

I hate standing in a very tall ladder, using my both hands doings this

great video, very helpful, it gave me an idea to use a spring removal tool from RC cars that its similar to your, and it work great, thanks for sharing the video.

You don't lift it up. You push it straight in, and twist the AP counter-clockwise while doing so. Once you know that, any small flat utensil will do.

Thank you so much for this tutorial!!!

I just removed two AC-pro with a ZIP tie, works great!

Thanks! The tie wrap worked OK for me. Once it bottomed-out, I pushed a little harder and it released.

For anyone with girlfriends with fancy bathroom equipment: Nail scissors do the trick, too. Open them, then insert the blade as far as you can with the bend facing the wall, hinge and twist it off.

As someone already mention, you don't need to use special tool, you don't need to lift it up. In my case bigger size cable tie like one you tried was enough to unlock.

You need a smaller cable tie, so you can push it all the way in. That's what I do. Unifi suggests using a paper clip. I also used a Sharpie to put a small mark on the top of the AP, so I know where the slot is, as it's hard to see when the AP is mounted on the ceiling.

As an aside - is the plastic on anyone else's AP AC discolored and sticky because it runs hot?

Thanks! You helped me a lot!

Best instructions are as follows: 1) Point your finger at the bottom of the U logo and move for finger from there to the nearest outer edge and push that edge towards the ceiling/wall it's mounted on. 2) While pressing with that finger, use other hand to rotate the AP!

Thanks for this Video!

Dein Englisch tut in den Ohren weh.. Aber, Danke, für deine Mühe es hat offenbar nicht nur mir sehr geholfen! Alle paar Jahre habe ich diese Problem. . und stehe wiedereinmal im Wald..

Thank you for the video.

Thank you, fighting with the same design flaw, engineering failure, now on the newer version still

Well, a simple paperclip works fine for me. At least on the AP's I've tried it on, the plastic tongue doesn't have to be lifted all way up - the thickness of a paperclip is enough to be able to turn it when the plate is fastened to a wall or ceiling.

Wow thank you so much! This video saved me a lot of frustration. If Ubiquiti is going to make such a fucking tamper-proof design, then they should obviously INCLUDE THE SPECIAL TOOL in the box with the access point. Instead they rely on every single consumer to MacGuyver their very own tool, from scratch. It looks like you could "jamb just about any flat little thing in there", but you can't because the opening is quite small, and so the tool has to be just the right shape/diameter to fit through the stupid hole. I ended up using a type of inward-gripping tweezers, one-side only.

Your tool would not bend far enough without hitting the wall or ceiling first . I’m assuming you use it turned around

You're absolutely right, but also, I think you can just install the bracket upside down (180 degrees) if you don't want it to lock.

Thank you very much, I earn a lot of Time

Mine came with the backplate already locked in an absolutely no instruction manual. Even the manual assumes the plate is separated to begin with. I even bought mine from a retailer (Micro Center) and the online support was unable to figure it out. I wasted 45 minutes trying to get the backplate off without breaking something.In this regard Ubiquiti sucks.

Never had a problem just using a zip tie.

Thank you!

Bad design indeed. I used a small fork, this worked perfectly!

I agree its a bad design, but I have never had issue getting it off using a zip tie. Maybe the zip ties I buy are a little more firm or something.

I agree. That design is a pain in the ass.

Break the tab off. Mount the AP high enough that you could only steal it with ladders.

Thank you after hard fight

Quick start guide says use a paper clip - works for me

i still dont understand why Unifi makes these nice APs but then doesnt provide a tool for their little locking mechanism. They want you to fuck around with paperclips to unlock the thing (per the official instructions).

Good luck!

I agree with the poster, this is a very poor design, at least include a removal tool if you are going to make it this hard to remove. The official Ubiquiti website states that the locking clips needs to be lifted less than 1mm. I think not.

Tks!!

Thank you. Used my wifes nail file to unlach it. They could have engineered a plastic press to unlock it. Or provided a tool. Cheap devices like these skimp on these things I guess. Regards from Australia.

thanks - very clever your son

I was able to open this quite easily with the spike of a cheap pipe tamper. The spike consists of a wire with a diameter of 2 mm.

OMG, could not agree more! I hate that design either!!!!! and I use for like 2 hrs to unlock it and the hole is way bigger that before.... Lol

nice

Just hectic recovering the unit from the wall

I do hate this design! Trying to take it down to reset it and it's proving to be a pain in the ass.

I used a chisel to make it smaller, so I can unlock it without any tools.

thx

Use a paperclip and bend it to the right form

I just don't click it in when you rotate.

I always break the clip before installing it

Here is another video I shot of the same thing!! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hrSdoLGKlr_Pp4U.html

Another proof that this mount is poorly designed is that I can simply use brute force to remove the Ap from the mount without damaging anything. The reason I went for this approach is that when you are standing on a tall ladder it is difficult to find the poorly located hole in the first place.

Great AP, bastard design

I just used my finger nail to slightly lift the lock or plastic tongue as mentioned by Arvid and unlocked it in less than 5 seconds. As simple as it can get. Have fun!

A paper clip works also

Oh my gosh...

Just twist AP counterclockwise with bit of force, doesnt have to be lifted. I install 1000s of these

Er du dansker? 😅

This video demostation is not as it seem...there is no difficulty in unlocking the bracket..a simple paper clip or sim eject tool will work fine...i have four unifi ac pro...

WTF , how can this be a professional device. And years later it’s still the same. Just got the nanoHD and it’s the same 😡🤬

cameraman, pls focus

ubiquiti is awesome tech but i agree this latch is a terrible terrible design! i just cut the latch off - its totally redundant anyway

Good grief. Can you re-shoot this with someone who can hold a camera steady, and keep it on the subject?

It was really much easier after fighting it for a few minutes I looked at multiple videos and the following was best video, because it doesn't need a tool at all: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jbpzZbR-0rS6pIE.html

"Poor design" is an understatement The person who designed it should be punished by removing those things for 1 month every day. It's a shitty design

Thanks for this video!!!