• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok

5/12/2025 – If you’re experiencing issues with UniFi licence plate unlock not working, this article will help you troubleshoot and resolve the problem.

0 Comments

UniFi licence plate unlock not working is a surprisingly common issue, particularly on night-time installations where lighting, angles, and detection timing all come into play.

Everything in this blog comes directly from real-world experience across a large number of UniFi Gate Hub and LPR installations. If you’re dealing with UniFi licence plate unlock not working reliably, trust me — you are not alone. We’ve had our own baptism by fire with these systems and learned the hard way what actually works, what doesn’t, and what to watch out for.

Why UniFi licence plate unlock stops working in real installs

The UniFi Gate system itself is genuinely excellent. When installed and configured correctly, LPR (Licence Plate Recognition) automation is one of the smoothest and most convenient ways to open a gate — fast, secure, and completely hands-free. For both homeowners and businesses, it really does feel like true “smart access”:

Drive up.
Camera sees the plate.
Gate opens.
Done.

At least… that’s how it should work.

In reality, many people experience UniFi licence plate unlock not working, working inconsistently, or only triggering for certain vehicles. In almost every case, the root cause isn’t a faulty camera or a problematic gate system — it’s something in the setup that hasn’t been configured, aligned, or installed quite right.

The good news?

These problems are 100% fixable.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the entire UniFi LPR gate setup from start to finish — covering camera positioning, plate recognition behaviour, device pairing, unlock zones, user credentials, network considerations, and the real-world alignment tweaks that make the difference between a system that sort of works and one that works flawlessly.

Let’s get into it.

BTW if you’re wondering who we are and what we do, you can check out our Instagram to see some examples of Licence Plate Reading 

Jump to the Section You Need

---

Is Number Plate Recognition Secure? What You Should Know Before Enabling LPR Gate Access

Before diving into setup and troubleshooting, it’s important to understand whether licence plate recognition (LPR) gate opening is the right solution for your property.
LPR gate access offers excellent convenience. For family homes, small businesses, private drives, apartment blocks, farms, and most everyday environments, it feels seamless: drive up, the gate recognises your number plate, and it opens automatically. No remotes, no fobs, no phone apps, no stopping at the keypad.

However, LPR is not designed for high-security sites.

A number plate is fundamentally an open identifier — it’s on display at all times. That means:

• Plates can be spoofed or cloned
• Anyone who knows a stored plate could try to replicate it
• It should not be the sole security control for sensitive environments

So while LPR opening is brilliant for convenience, automation, and hands-free access, it should not be used as the primary security layer for government buildings, sensitive commercial sites, or locations where access control must be extremely strict.
For typical residential or standard commercial use, though, LPR is one of the most user-friendly and reliable access methods available–as long as it’s set up properly.

LPR is not designed for high-security sites.

Before you begin

Network Requirements for Reliable UniFi LPR Gate Automation

To get UniFi’s LPR gate automation working properly, the first (and most important) thing to consider is the network connection. The Gate system must be connected to the same network as the UniFi Console running UniFi Access — without a stable link, LPR will never work reliably.

Whenever possible, a hardwired Ethernet cable is the best option. It’s simple, stable and offers the lowest latency.

For longer distances, fibre is the more reliable choice, especially when spanning buildings or outdoor runs.

And if cabling isn’t possible, a point-to-point wireless link is also a strong option — as long as there’s clear line of sight between the access points.
​
We’ve used all three approaches on real-world installations, and each one can provide seamless connectivity when installed properly.

Connection Methods That Will Break UniFi LPR (Avoid These)

Connection Methods We Do Not RecommendSome network The following connection methods simply aren’t reliable enough and are a common reason for UniFi licence plate unlock not working on UniFi Gate automation systems:

• UniFi AP mesh links — acceptable only for very short distances, and even then they can introduce latency or dropouts. We generally avoid them for anything mission-critical.
• Powerline adapters — highly unstable, easily affected by electrical noise, and completely unsuitable for access control or LPR-based automation.
• Wi-Fi repeaters / extenders — unpredictable, slow, and prone to intermittent signal loss, which will instantly break LPR automation.

If you want a gate that responds instantly and consistently — and to avoid UniFi licence plate unlock not workingscenarios — it must be connected using one of the three viable options above: Ethernet, fibre, or point-to-point wireless.

Gate Control Compatibility and Wiring Basics

The good news is that UniFi’s Gate Hub works with almost every gate system on the market. All you need is a simple COM / Normally Open (NO) contact — something virtually all gate control boards, even very old ones, provide. We’ve installed UniFi Gate Hubs on gate controllers that are more than 20 years old, and they have worked perfectly.

Ubiquiti provides official wiring specifications, which you can review here:
👉 “Wiring a Gate and Pedestrian Side Door to the UniFi Access Gate Hub” — Ubiquiti Support
https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/23991154602263-Wiring-a-Gate-and-Pedestrian-Side-Door-to-the-UniFi-Access-Gate-Hub

​
The most important requirement is that the gate itself is serviceable. UniFi can only trigger a gate that already functions correctly with its existing wiring and safety systems.

Gate Controls can be confusing but the manual can quickly help you identify the correct cables

Finding the Correct Wires

Identifying the correct COM/NO terminals is normally straightforward, but if you’re unsure:

• Check the gate controller manual
• Contact the original gate installer or maintenance company

If you’re replacing an older intercom system, the COM/NO wires are often already connected to the previous intercom. In that case, you can trace those wires back to the gate controller and reroute them into the UniFi Gate Hub’s relay output.

⚠️ Strong Warning: Don’t Randomly Disconnect Wires

Gate control boards often include:

• Light-beam safety sensors
• Obstruction detection systems
• Limit switches
• Emergency stop inputs

Disconnecting the wrong wire can disable safety features, risking damage to vehicles, injury to people, or causing the gate to malfunction entirely.
​
If you’re not absolutely certain which wires are the COM/NO trigger, stop and get the manual or a gate engineer involved. Gate controllers vary widely between models, and guessing is never worth the risk.

Powering the UniFi Gate Hub: PoE Requirements and Best Practices

The UniFi Gate Hub is powered via PoE, but not all PoE is equal. To get the maximum possible output from the Hub, you must use a PoE++ (802.3bt) injector or switch. Lower-power PoE standards (like PoE or PoE+) will still power the Hub, but they cannot provide the full output needed to power multiple devices reliably.

When PoE Isn’t Possible (Fibre or Point-to-Point)

In many installations—especially where Fibre or a Point-to-Point bridge is used—you cannot send PoE from the main building to the gate location. In these cases, the Gate Hub must be powered locally using a dedicated spur or external-grade socket. This is extremely common in real-world setups and works perfectly well.

UniFi Gate Hub PoE Budget & Power Limits

The UniFi Gate Hub can only supply a maximum output of around 42W to connected devices. This means the Hub’s PoE budget must be shared between everything you plug into it.
Before connecting anything, you must:

1. Check the maximum PoE draw of each device you plan to power
2. Add them together
3. Ensure the total does not exceed the Hub’s available output

Some cameras—especially LPR cameras and AI Turrets—draw significantly more power at night when their IR LEDs activate. It’s very easy to underestimate this and overload the Hub.
If the load is too high, you’ll see:

• Cameras dropping offline
• IR flickering
• Unreliable LPR triggering
• The Gate Hub rebooting or becoming unstable
• Random disconnects that are extremely difficult to diagnose

Ubiquiti has addressed these PoE limitations in their official guidance, which you can review here:
👉 “Gate Hub and PoE Power Limitations” — Ubiquiti Community
https://community.ui.com/questions/Gate-Hub-and-PoE-Power-Limitations/574643a5-f0f5-4ab6-bd1b-8265c971503c?reply=1

How to Avoid Overloading the Gate Hub

The most reliable method is to use PoE injectors for high-draw devices, rather than powering everything from the Hub.
For example:

• Your LPR camera may be powered via a PoE injector,
• But data still runs directly into the Gate Hub,
• Ensuring that LPR events trigger correctly and immediately.

This approach preserves the Gate Hub’s limited PoE budget while keeping the camera directly connected, which is essential for real-time plate detection.

Important: Don’t connect LPR cameras via a switch

If the LPR camera is connected via a switch between the camera and the Gate Hub, this can be another common cause of UniFi licence plate unlock not working.

For reliable operation, the LPR camera must be connected directly to the Gate Hub’s LAN ports. This ensures instant, low-latency communication between the camera and the Gate Hub, which is critical for LPR-based unlocking to trigger consistently.

Best UniFi Cameras for LPR Gate Automation (Ranked by Real-World Performance)

Not all UniFi cameras perform equally when it comes to licence plate recognition. While several AI-enabled models can technically read plates, only a handful deliver truly reliable, consistent results — particularly at night, where most LPR failures occur.

Ubiquiti’s own documentation confirms this. Their official guide on supported cameras for Licence Plate Unlock is available here, and it makes clear that only specific AI-class cameras are recommended for accurate, dependable detection.

👉 Reference: “Configuring License Plate Unlock in UniFi Access” — Ubiquiti Support
(https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/23903814413335-Configuring-License-Plate-Unlock-in-UniFi-Access)

​
However, real-world performance does not always line up perfectly with the minimum requirements. After extensive on-site installations and field testing across a wide range of gates, lighting environments, and vehicle types, we’ve found that some UniFi cameras consistently outperform others for LPR.

Based on that hands-on experience, here is the accurate, real-world ranking of UniFi cameras for licence plate recognition:

1. UniFi LPR Camera — The Most Reliable Choice

If your primary goal is maximum reliability, the dedicated UniFi LPR Camera is the top performer. It’s purpose-built for number plate reading and produces the most consistent detection results across all lighting conditions.
Pros:

• Best night-time performance
• Designed specifically for capturing plates
• Very high accuracy when correctly positioned

Cons:

• Single-purpose camera
• At night, if configured for LPR mode, the feed will only show number plates — not general scene detail

For pure automation, nothing beats it.

Using a Vision Enhancer can significantly improve the performance of a Unifi camera used for LPR.

2. AI Pro or G6 Pro + Vision Enhancer — Best Dual-Purpose Option

If you want both a reliable plate trigger and a normal security feed, this is the best all-round choice.
Why this works so well:

• Great low-light capability
• Handles headlight and glare better
• Captures full-scene video alongside plates
• More versatile than a dedicated LPR camera

Perfect for homeowners who want LPR and general surveillance in one device.

3. AI Pro or G6 Pro (without Vision Enhancer) — Good With Decent Lighting

These models can still perform LPR quite effectively if lighting conditions are favourable.
Strengths:

• Good general AI performance
• Adequate for short distances and well-lit driveways
• Cost-effective compared to dedicated LPR setups

Limitations:

• Less reliable at night
• More prone to occasional misses

4. Standard G6 Cameras — Least Reliable for LPR

The non-“Pro” G6 models (e.g., G6 Turret/Bullet) are good general security These cameras can still work well as general CCTV cameras, but they’re not optimised for licence plate capture. This is another common reason for UniFi licence plate unlock not working reliably.

Typical issues include:

• IR reflection and glare
• Motion blur at higher vehicle speeds
• Inconsistent night-time plate clarity
• Lower reliability for automation triggers

They may be perfectly acceptable for monitoring and recording, but they’re not suitable if you need dependable, repeatable gate automation based on licence plate recognition.

Camera Positioning — The #1 Reason UniFi LPR Systems Fail

Correct camera placement is absolutely critical for reliable licence plate recognition. Even the best UniFi LPR camera will struggle if the angle, distance or approach line is wrong. Below is a combination of UniFi’s official recommendations and real-world experience from multiple gate installations.

What UniFi Recommends

UniFi’s own guidance emphasises the following fundamentals:

• Mounting height: Ideally no higher than around 5 m
• Capture distance: Around 12 m or less for the most reliable night-time reading
• Horizontal/vertical angles: Keep the camera as straight-on as possible
  • Under ~25° for typical residential speeds
  • Under ~15° for faster-moving vehicles
• Lighting: Ensure the camera has a clear, unobstructed view with no direct glare into the lens

The theme is simple: low, close and straight always works best.

Ubiquiti’s official guidance on recommended camera positioning and configuration is available here:
👉 “AI LPR Setup in UniFi Protect” — Ubiquiti Support
https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/29457139215511-AI-LPR-Setup-in-UniFi-Protect

Real-World UniFi LPR Gate Installation Lessons (What Actually Matters)

From actual installations, a few practical points make a big difference:

• Mounting height around 2.5–4.5 m
  This avoids steep angles and improves night-time IR performance.
• Short capture distance, ideally 6–12 m
  This ensures the plate fills enough of the frame for consistent recognition.
• Minimal angle to the vehicle’s approach
  Too much horizontal or vertical tilt distorts the characters and reduces accuracy.
• Stable lighting
  A well-lit driveway or consistent IR illumination dramatically improves reliability.

Common Causes of UniFi LPR Gate Automation Failure

These are the issues that most commonly break licence plate recognition, even when good cameras are being used. They are also frequent causes of UniFi licence plate unlock not working reliably:

Tight driveways or sharp turn-ins

If the vehicle approach is too tight, the camera simply doesn’t have enough time — or the correct angle — to read the plate. This can make the system feel slow or cause it to fail entirely.

Mounting the camera too high

Mounting above around 5–6 metres introduces steep viewing angles, which significantly reduces plate recognition reliability, particularly at night.

Long capture distances

You may still be able to see the vehicle clearly at 15–20 metres, but the AI often cannot reliably read a plate that is too small or distorted at that range.

Poor camera angle

If the plate is heavily skewed, tilted, or affected by glare, the AI will struggle to recognise it consistently.

The plate isn’t being captured clearly in the first place

This is the root cause behind many cases of UniFi licence plate unlock not working — the camera simply isn’t providing usable plate data.

---

A simple but often overlooked check

Go into UniFi Protect and review the exact video frame as the vehicle passes the camera.

If the plate looks blurred, blown out, too small, angled, or unreadable to your eyes, the AI will not read it either.

This is one of the quickest and most effective ways to determine whether the problem is caused by camera placement, lighting, focus, or exposure — before changing any settings or hardware.

Pre-Setup Checklist — Before You Start Configuring LPR

Before diving into LPR settings or automation rules, make sure the basics are in place. Most LPR failures happen because one of these fundamental steps is missing.

1. Can the Gate Hub open the gate manually via the UniFi Access app?

If the Gate Hub cannot open the gate from the app, the issue is wiring or relay configuration — LPR will never work until this is resolved.

2. Are the cameras connected directly to the Gate Hub?

This area can be a bit of a grey zone. Ubiquiti have previously advised me that an LPR or AI camera can be connected via a switch and still function for gate automation. However, in real-world installations, I’ve consistently found this to be a common cause of UniFi licence plate unlock not working reliably.

In practice, I’ve never been able to achieve consistently reliable LPR gate opening when a network switch is placed between the camera and the Gate Hub.

For this reason, I strongly recommend connecting all LPR or AI cameras directly to the Gate Hub’s LAN ports. This approach has repeatedly delivered fast, dependable plate detection and gate triggering, without the delays or missed events that can occur when a switch is involved.

Ubiquiti’s official guidance can be found here:
👉 “Configuring License Plate Unlock in UniFi Access” — Ubiquiti Support
https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/23903814413335-Configuring-License-Plate-Unlock-in-UniFi-Access

Cameras must be connected directly to the hub’s PoE ports and paired with the hub.
UniFi’s official Guidance

3. Can the camera clearly read number plates in UniFi Protect?

Protect will show LPR detections in the UI, so you can quickly see if the system is successfully reading plates at the point of approach. If Protect isn’t recognising plates reliably, the problem is camera position/model/light, not the Gate Hub or Access config.

4. Is the network connection to the gate reliable?

Whether Ethernet, fibre or point-to-point wireless, the Gate Hub must be on the same network as your UniFi Console, with consistent, low-latency connectivity.

5. Do you have enough PoE power for all connected devices?

High-draw devices (LPR cameras, AI Pros) can overload the Gate Hub.
If in doubt, offload heavy devices to PoE injectors, keeping data connected directly to the Hub.

6. (Important Extra) Is the gate itself functioning reliably?

If the gate motors, safety beams or control board are unreliable or unserviced, LPR automation will be inconsistent.
A faulty gate system cannot be fixed with software.

Setting Up Licence Plate Opening in UniFi Access — Step by Step

Once your Gate Hub, cameras and network are installed correctly, you can begin configuring the LPR automation within UniFi Access. Here’s the full setup process:

1. Log into the UniFi Console running Access

Make sure you are logged into the same UniFi Console that manages your Access system and Gate Hub.

2. Adopt all devices and update firmware

Before configuring anything:

• Adopt the Gate Hub and cameras into UniFi
• Update them all to the latest firmware
• Make sure UniFi Access itself is fully up to date

Running outdated firmware can cause LPR issues that are difficult to diagnose.

3. Open UniFi Access → Devices and select your Gate Hub

​In UniFi Access:

• Go to Devices
• Select the Gate Hub you want to associate with your LPR cameras

A panel will open on the right-hand side.

4. Pair the camera to the Gate Hub

In the Gate Hub’s sidebar:

• Select Overview
• Find the section called Paired Devices
• Click Pair Device and choose your LPR/AI camera

The camera should now appear under the paired devices list.

5. Configure the camera’s LPR settings

Click the paired camera in the Paired Devices list, then go to Settings.
You will see an option for:
✔ Licence Plate Opening
Tick this box.
You’ll now be asked whether this camera should trigger:

• Entry
• Exit

If you have separate cameras for entry and exit, configure each one individually.

6. Configure the Unlock Zone (critical for reliability)

a) Use “Only the licence plate number” (recommended)There are two options:

• Only the licence plate number
• The vehicle with licence plate number

In my experience, the second option is far less reliable.
Even if the plate is recognised, the system may refuse to open the gate if it hasn’t clearly detected a “vehicle”.
Selecting Only the licence plate number gives faster and more consistent results.
​
b) Ensure the Smart Detection Zone and LPR Zone Almost Completely Overlap

This is a critical — but largely undocumented — rule and a very common reason for UniFi licence plate unlock not working.

The Smart Detection Zone and the LPR Zone must overlap by at least 90%, otherwise licence plate unlocking may fail entirely. If the zones differ significantly, the Gate Hub may never receive a valid trigger, even if plates appear to be read in recordings.

Recommended setup:

• Leave both zones set to full screen unless you have a very specific and well-tested reason not to.

This approach removes ambiguity and ensures the detection and automation engines are working from the same visual data.

7. Your Gate Hub is now ready for LPR-based opening

Once the above settings are saved, your camera is fully configured to trigger the gate based on plate detection.
The final step is adding plates to the users who should have access.

With your Gate Hub and LPR cameras configured, the next step is to assign licence plates to the users who should be allowed to open the gate automatically.
Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Users & Admins in your UniFi Console

In the UniFi Console running Access:

• Navigate to Users & Admins
• If the user doesn’t already exist, create a new user

You can add either:

• Local users (not linked to a UniFi account), or
• Users with their own UniFi accounts

Both work perfectly with LPR access.

2. Select the user and open the side panel

Click the user you want to edit.
A panel will open on the right-hand side.

3. Go to Settings → Credentials

Scroll down to the Credentials section.
Here you’ll see an option to:
➕ Add Licence Plate
Enter the vehicle’s licence plate exactly as you want it recognised.

4. Add multiple plates if needed

UniFi allows you to add as many plates as you need for each user.
So if a person has more than one vehicle, simply add all their plates under their profile.

However, for auditing clarity:

Recommendation:
For households with multiple drivers (e.g., husband and wife), create separate user accounts and assign each person’s vehicle(s) individually.
​
This makes event logs clearer and ensures you always know who entered and which vehicle triggered the gate.

5. Adding temporary or visitor plates

If you want to give short-term access to guests, tradespeople or deliveries, go to:
Settings → Visitors
Here you can add one-off or temporary licence plates without creating full user profiles.
This is ideal for:

• Family visits
• Gardeners / maintenance
• Short-term vehicle access
• Airbnb / holiday rentals

Your users are now fully configured, and any recognised plate assigned to them will automatically trigger gate opening based on your configured Entry/Exit cameras.

Testing Your UniFi LPR Gate Setup

Once everything is configured, it’s time to test the system in a real-world scenario. This confirms that the entire chain — camera → Gate Hub → Access → gate controller — is working correctly.

1. Add a licence plate to a user (if you haven’t already)

Make sure the car you’re testing with has its plate correctly assigned under Users & Admins → Credentials.

2. Start your test with the vehicle outside the camera’s field of view

This is extremely important:

If the vehicle is already visible to the camera before it starts moving toward the gate, the system may not trigger the unlock.
​
Always begin the test with the car completely outside the camera’s detection zone, then approach naturally.

3. Drive up to the gate as a normal user would

​Approach at normal speed and let the camera detect the plate in real conditions — no need to slow down excessively or “help” the system.

4. Confirm the gate opens automatically

• If it opens: Perfect — everything is functioning properly.
• If it doesn’t: Re-check your configuration. Most issues are simple misconfigurations (covered in the troubleshooting section).

5. Check UniFi Access for recorded events

UniFi Access logs every attempt, successful or not. You can confirm what happened by checking:

• Recent Unlocks for the Gate Hub
• The User’s Activity Log for plate-based unlock attempts

This helps you confirm:

• Was the plate detected?
• Did the system attempt an unlock?
• Did the gate controller respond?
• Or did the system fail to recognise the plate?

6. If the gate doesn’t open, run through your core settings again

Revisit:

• Camera pairing with the Gate Hub
• Unlock Zone and LPR settings
• Detection zone alignment
• Plate formatting
• Protect’s plate-recognition history
• Gate Hub wiring and relay behaviour
• PoE power budget
• Network stability to the gate

If all of the above looks correct, move on to the Troubleshooting section. This is where we diagnose the most common real-world causes of UniFi licence plate unlock not working and show you how to fix them.

​Night-Time LPR Performance — Why UniFi Licence Plate Reading Changes After Dark

Most cases of UniFi licence plate unlock not working are reported at night. Even when everything works perfectly during the day, night-time introduces several challenges that can dramatically affect how reliably number plates are read.

The key thing to understand is this:
the camera doesn’t “see” the world the same way at night.

IR illumination, headlights, reflectivity, and vehicle motion all behave very differently after dark — and the AI often has only a split second to read the plate accurately.

Below are the factors that matter most.

1. Headlight Glare Can Blind the Camera

When a vehicle approaches the gate, its headlights often shine directly toward the camera.
This can cause:

• Washed-out plates
• Irregular reflections
• Overexposed frames
• AI misreads or complete misses

Even with a well-positioned camera, glare is one of the biggest night-time challenges.
Tip:
Side-offset mounting (slightly to the left or right of the vehicle path) significantly reduces headlight flare.

2. Reflective UK Plates Behave Very Differently Under IR

At night, IR illumination dominates the scene.
Reflective plates can:

• Glow too brightly
• Blur characters
• Reflect IR unevenly
• Cause high contrast that hides thin characters

This is why plates that are easy to read in the day can become unreadable at night unless the camera angle is correct.

3. Shutter Speed Slows Down in Low Light

Even though the camera uses IR, the shutter speed is still longer at night, leading to:

• Motion blur
• Smudged plates
• Partial characters
• AI failing to match the plate

This is especially noticeable when vehicles approach too quickly.
Tip:
Real-world best practice is to ensure the plate stays in view for at least 1–2 seconds before reaching the unlock point.

4. Why the LPR Camera Only Shows Plates at Night (and Nothing Else)

Many people think the dedicated LPR model is “broken” at night because the image goes dark except for number plates.
That behaviour is correct and intentional:

• The camera uses a narrow IR-filtered spectrum
• Exposure is tuned only for plate reflectivity
• The background is suppressed to avoid false lighting
• You get the cleanest, sharpest plate possible

This is why the LPR model is unbeatable for reliability — but unsuitable for general CCTV use.

​5. Vision Enhancer Can Dramatically Improve Night-Time Accuracy

The Vision Enhancer accessory helps reduce:

• Overexposed plates
• Headlight glare
• Harsh IR hotspots
• Ghosting / blooming

With AI Pro or G6 Pro models, pairing them with Vision Enhancer often brings night-time LPR performance very close to the dedicated LPR camera — while still giving you a viable CCTV image.

6. Night-Time Makes Camera Position Twice as Important

During the day, a slightly sub-optimal camera angle might still work.
At night, that same angle might cause:

• Complete LPR failure
• Inconsistent readings
• Slow unlocks
• Multiple variants of the same plate

This is why night-time testing is essential.
Tip:
Always test your setup at night — ideally with several vehicles — to ensure your system performs in the worst lighting conditions, not just the best.

7. Personalised Plates Are Worse at Night

Anything unusual — spacing, borders, fonts, screws, decorative bolts — becomes harder for the AI to interpret after dark.
If a personalised plate is unreliable at night, add all misread variants to the user’s profile.

8. IR Contamination From Other Light Sources

Nearby IR sources can cause interference:

• Security lights
• IR motion sensors
• Nearby CCTV cameras
• Strong reflections from signs or windows

These can wash out the plate or make it shimmer in IR.

Troubleshooting UniFi LPR Gate Automation — Complete Guide

If your gate isn’t opening reliably — or at all — don’t worry. Most causes of UniFi licence plate unlock not workingcome down to a few simple issues that can be identified and fixed quickly. Follow this troubleshooting flow from top to bottom.

1. Double-check all your settings

Before diving into deeper troubleshooting, review your entire setup:

• Camera paired correctly to the Gate Hub
• Licence Plate Opening enabled
• Unlock Zone configured properly
• Smart Detection Zone aligned with the LPR Zone
• Number plate entered correctly in the user’s credentials
• Camera connected directly to the Gate Hub
• Access and device firmware fully updated

You’d be surprised how often a small missed setting is the root cause.

2. Make sure you understand exactly what the camera is reading the plate as

This is one of the most common causes of LPR failures and is often overlooked when UniFi licence plate unlock not working is being investigated.

Go into UniFi Protect → Vehicle / Plate Detections and check the exact text the camera is detecting.

Typical issues include:

• 1 (one) vs I (letter i)
• 0 (zero) vs O (letter o)
• 2 → Z, 5 → S, 8 → B
• Missing characters
• Extra characters
• Plates read differently depending on angle or lighting

Even if a plate looks perfect to the human eye, the AI may interpret it differently in practice.
Fix:
Add every variant the camera reads to the user’s credentials.
This is completely valid and very common — adding a few variations ensures the system will always unlock.

3. Check the Unlock Zones (critical)

The Smart Detection Zone and LPR Zone must overlap by at least 90%.
If they don’t:

• The camera may detect the plate
• But the Gate Hub will not receive a valid trigger

Fix:
Set both zones to full screen unless you have a specific requirement not to.

4. Check what Protect is actually detecting

While point #2 deals with incorrect characters, this step is about confirming whether the plate is being detected at all.
Look for:

• Blurry plates
• Plates too small in the frame
• Plates angled or distorted
• Overexposed plates due to headlights
• Underexposed plates in low light

If Protect isn’t detecting the plate reliably, the gate can’t open reliably.

5. Confirm the camera is connected directly to the Gate Hub

In theory, UniFi documentation suggests a camera can work for LPR even if it’s connected via a switch. In practice, two things tend to happen when you don’t connect it directly to the Gate Hub:

• The camera can’t be added/paired to the Gate Hub at all, or
• It pairs, but LPR gate opening never works, no matter what you do in software.

Because of this, the safest and most reliable approach is:
Always connect your LPR / AI camera directly to one of the Gate Hub’s ports, not via another switch.
​
If you currently have the camera on a switch, move it onto the Gate Hub and test again before changing anything else.

6. Check that the camera was not previously used without being paired to the Gate Hub

If a camera has been used as a normal Protect camera before being paired to the Gate Hub, it may not register LPR events correctly.
Fix:​

• Forget the device in UniFi
• Re-adopt it
• Re-pair it to the Gate Hub

7. Make sure the camera and Gate Hub have adequate PoE power

High-draw cameras (LPR, AI Pro, G6 Pro) can overload the Gate Hub’s limited PoE budget — especially at night.
Symptoms:

• Cameras dropping offline
• IR flickering
• LPR detections failing intermittently
• Gate Hub rebooting

Fix:
Power heavy cameras via PoE injectors, while keeping their data cable plugged directly into the Gate Hub.

Keeping everything labelled helps you troubleshoot more easily 

8. Make sure your network connection is plugged into Port 1 on the Gate Hub

This sounds obvious, but it’s a very real-world issue.
The Gate Hub expects its primary network uplink on Port 1, and using any other port can cause inconsistent behaviour.
We once had an installation where:

• A PoE injector from a Flex Utility was used to power the Gate Hub
  (the injector supplied power, but no data)
• The point-to-point network link was accidentally connected to Port 4 instead of Port 1

The system technically worked, but it was unreliable and inconsistent.
Once we moved the network connection to Port 1 and re-ordered the cabling correctly, all issues were resolved immediately.
Always connect your primary data/uplink to Port 1 on the Gate Hub.

9. Check LPR Events Using Find Anything and Zone Filters

This is a useful check for understanding what the camera is actually This check helps you understand what the camera is actually seeing, and which detection engine is triggering the events — an important step when diagnosing UniFi licence plate unlock not working.

In UniFi Protect, you can use the Find Anything tool along with filters to review events from a specific camera. This allows you to see all licence plate recognition (LPR) activity recorded by that camera. In addition to filtering by camera, you should also filter by detection zone, which is critical when troubleshooting LPR-related issues.

In a recent real-world case, the Smart Detection Zone showed plenty of detections, with number plates being read correctly. However, when filtering specifically by the LPR detection zone, there were no events recorded at all.

The cause turned out to be a configuration issue: the camera had two LPR detection zones, one of which was effectively a duplicate. This appeared to prevent LPR events from registering correctly.

To resolve this:

• Both LPR zones were deleted
• A single LPR zone was re-added
• The camera and Protect hub were rebooted

Once this was done, LPR events immediately started working again.

This is a quick but extremely valuable check if plates are visible in recordings but LPR events aren’t triggering as expected — and a common fix when UniFi licence plate unlock not working despite everything appearing correct at first glance.

10. Reboot the Gate Hub & power-cycle the cameras

The classic fix — and still one of the most effective.

• Reboot the Gate Hub
• Remove PoE from the cameras for 10 seconds, then reconnect

This forces a fresh handshake between the Gate Hub and camera.

11. The “Extreme Fix” — Reset Everything and Start Fresh

If you’ve gone through every step above and the system still refuses to work, it’s time for the nuclear option. This is rare, but sometimes corrupted settings, old pairings, or legacy configuration remnants prevent LPR automation from working correctly.

The proper way to do a full reset is:

1. Forget every related device from your UniFi Console, including:
   • The Gate Hub
   • The LPR/AI cameras
   • Any associated readers or Access components
2. Manually factory reset each device
   Use a paperclip or pin to press the reset button for 10+ seconds until the device reboots.
   This ensures you completely wipe any previous pairing or conflicting config that the controller may be holding onto.
3. Re-adopt everything cleanly
   Start from scratch:
   • Adopt the Gate Hub
   • Adopt the cameras
   • Update firmware
   • Pair the cameras to the Gate Hub
   • Reconfigure LPR settings
   • Re-add plates to users

​Although time-consuming, this method is extremely effective.
In stubborn cases, a full reset eliminates hidden issues that troubleshooting alone can’t reveal.

Final UniFi LPR Troubleshooting — What to Do When It Still Won’t Work

Reaching this point is rare. UniFi’s LPR gate automation has become far more reliable in recent years, and in almost every case UniFi licence plate unlock not working comes down to a simple configuration, wiring, or camera-placement issue.

However, if you’ve worked through all of the steps above — checked every setting, verified plate readings, matched detection zones, rewired where necessary, repowered and reset devices — and the gate still refuses to open, it’s time to escalate.

And yes, it’s frustrating. Especially when a client is starting to lose confidence in the system (and in you). But at this stage, escalation is the correct and professional next step.

Contacting Ubiquiti Support

You can open a support ticket directly from your UniFi Console.
A few things to prepare yourself for:

• First-line support rarely solves Access/Gate Hub issues — these cases almost always get escalated to second-line or the engineering team.
• Responses typically come by email, and they can take a while.
• The most frustrating part is often this:
  They reply asking for more details you didn’t realise they needed.

To avoid delays, it’s best to gather everything they will ask for before they ask for it.

What Ubiquiti Support Will Ask For (Have This Ready)

1. Support Files for BOTH the Console and the Gate Hub

Download these immediately after a failed plate-read attempt.
The timing matters:
Support files are most useful when taken close to the moment the issue occurred.

2. The Exact Timestamp of the Failure

Write down:

• The exact time the number plate should have triggered the gate
• Whether the gate failed to unlock entirely or simply reacted slowly

Ubiquiti will not search through hours of logs — they want precise timestamps so they can jump straight to the relevant entries.

3. Camera Footage From UniFi Protect

Go into Protect and export:

• The clip showing the vehicle approaching
• The frame where the plate should have been recognised
• What Protect actually read (or failed to read)

This is crucial. It shows whether the issue is LPR, Access, or the Gate Hub.

4. A Screenshot of the User’s Credentials

Specifically:

• The user profile
• The licence plate(s) you entered
• Verification that it matches what Protect is reading

This helps Support confirm there’s no mismatch.

5. Topology & Network Information

Summarise:

• How the Gate Hub is connected
• Whether the camera is directly connected
• Any PoE injectors or switches in use
• Fibre / wireless point-to-point links
• Firmware versions
• Power budgets (if relevant)

Give them a clear overview so they don’t need to guess.

6. Any Additional Evidence That Shows the Failure

If the issue is intermittent, include:

• A list of the last few failure times
• Any successful unlocks for comparison
• Photos of camera placement (if angle is a concern)

Often, you’ll spot the issue yourself while gathering this data.

And Here’s the Silver Lining…

Collecting this evidence forces you to:

• Look closely at the Protect LPR detections
• Re-examine the user credentials
• Check timestamps
• Watch the camera footage
• Review the topology

More often than not, you’ll spot the issue yourself before Ubiquiti even replies. This is especially true when investigating cases of UniFi licence plate unlock not working.

That’s why gathering the right information isn’t just about support escalation — it’s also one of the most effective diagnostic tools you have.

Conclusion — Getting Your UniFi LPR Gate Automation Working Reliably

UniFi’s LPR gate automation is an excellent system — powerful, flexible, and far easier to deploy than most traditional ANPR-based gate solutions. But like any technology, it isn’t perfect. Issues can and do arise, especially when camera placement, power, wiring, or configuration isn’t quite right.

However, based on installing a lot of these systems, I can confidently say this:
When LPR gate automation doesn’t work, it’s almost always caused by something simple.
A missed setting, a misread character, a zone mismatch, a power issue or a camera plugged into the wrong port.

The good news is that once you identify the root cause, UniFi LPR is extremely reliable.
And remember — Ubiquiti continuously improves their software and firmware.

A feature that behaves inconsistently today may be dramatically better after the next update. Many of the issues that were common a year ago are now completely resolved.
So don’t lose confidence in the system — or in yourself.

Work methodically through the checks, understand what the camera is actually seeing, and you’ll almost always get it working exactly as intended.

​I hope you’ve found this blog useful. If you’ve had your own experiences—good or bad—with UniFi licence plate opening, please feel free to share them in the comments. Real-world feedback helps everyone.
And if you’d like to see some of our installations and behind-the-scenes work, check out our Instagram.

Author: Huw Jones – Home Network Solutions Berkshire
Huw is a UniFi specialist and the owner of Home Network Solutions Berkshire, providing professional networking, CCTV, gate automation and smart home installations across the UK. With years of hands-on experience and a growing YouTube audience at @home.network.solutions, Huw creates practical, no-nonsense guides to help homeowners and installers get the best out of their UniFi systems.