Answers, grouped by problem
The questions we field most often. If yours is not here, support replies to real emails written by real people.
Getting started
How long does setup actually take?
Most sites are live in under fifteen minutes. The slowest part is usually finding your controller credentials. If you are attaching a custom domain, add time for DNS to propagate — that can take a few hours and is out of everyone’s hands.
Do I need a credit card to try it?
No. Every account starts on a 14-day Starter trial with no card required. You will only be asked for payment details if you decide to continue.
Can I change my subdomain later?
Your subdomain is fixed once chosen, because it is the address configured in your UniFi controller and changing it would break live portals. If you need a different address, attach a custom domain on Pro or Enterprise.
What if I manage several venues?
Starter covers one site, Pro covers three, and Enterprise is unlimited. Each site points at the same portal but reports separately in your submissions.
UniFi and connectivity
Which UniFi controllers work?
Anything that exposes the standard controller API — UniFi OS consoles such as a Dream Machine or Cloud Key, and self-hosted controllers. The controller has to be reachable from the internet so we can send the authorisation.
My connection will not verify. What now?
Check the controller URL includes the scheme and the port: https://host:8443 for a self-hosted controller, and no port for a UniFi OS console. Then confirm the admin credentials work in a private browser window. If the controller password changed recently, the stored one is stale — re-enter it and verify again.
The portal page never loads for guests.
This is nearly always the pre-authorisation allowlist in your guest network settings. Your portal hostname and unifinerds.xyz both need to be listed, otherwise guests have no route to the page they are being sent to. Forget the network on your test device and rejoin after changing it.
Guests submit the form but get no internet.
Open Submissions. If rows are arriving but showing as not authorized, the portal is working and the controller connection is the problem — re-verify on the UniFi page. Submissions are deliberately saved even when authorization fails, so you never lose a lead to a controller outage.
Do I have to store my controller admin password?
Yes, because authorising a guest requires signing in to your controller at that moment. It is encrypted with AES-256-GCM and never returned by the dashboard or the API. Create a dedicated controller admin for NerdPortal rather than using your own login.
Portal and branding
What can I customize?
Logo, background, primary and text colors, the welcome title and message, links to your own terms and privacy policy, and where guests land after connecting. Custom CSS is there for anything the settings do not cover.
Which fields can I collect?
First name, last name and email are always collected. Phone number and date of birth are optional toggles, as is the terms acceptance checkbox. Collect less than you think you need — every extra field reduces completion, and you need a lawful reason to hold each one.
How long do guests stay connected?
You set the session length under Settings; the default is 60 minutes. If your controller also has a guest policy timeout, the shorter of the two wins.
Can I remove NerdPortal branding?
White-labelling is included on Enterprise.
Guest data and exports
How do I get my data out?
Export the current view from the Submissions page as CSV or JSON. Both include the fields the guest filled in plus device details and whether authorisation succeeded.
How long is data kept?
For the retention window on your plan — 30 days on Starter, 90 on Pro, 365 on Enterprise — after which records are deleted. Export anything you need to keep longer.
A guest asked me to delete their details.
Delete the record from your Submissions page and it is gone. You are the data controller for what your guests submit, so these requests come to you rather than to us.
Does a returning guest count twice?
No. A submission is one completed form. Someone who reconnects without filling the form in again does not consume another submission.
Billing and plans
What happens if I hit my submission limit?
The portal stops accepting new submissions until the period rolls over or you upgrade, which means guests are not authorized onto your network. Watch usage on the Billing page as you approach the cap, especially before a busy week.
Can I change plans mid-cycle?
Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately so you get the higher limit straight away. Downgrades take effect at your next renewal.
How do I cancel?
From the Billing page, at any time. Your portal keeps running until the end of the period you have already paid for.
Which payment methods do you accept?
Major credit and debit cards, processed by Authorize.Net. Card numbers never touch our servers.
Still stuck?
Send us the portal address, roughly when it happened, and your controller version. That is usually enough to sort it on the first reply.
Setting up for the first time? The setup guide walks through it end to end.