UniFi Protect Cameras; how can we make sure they are not connected to internet? Aren't they communicating with Ubiquiti servers?

[Arjun]

UniFi Protect Cameras; how can we make sure they are not connected to internet? Aren't they communicating with Ubiquiti servers?

Wouldn't I be able to do a packet capture if this was the case?

 

[alastairstevenson]

Wouldn't I be able to do a packet capture if this was the case?

Yes, if you have a (managed) switch that has the ability to do 'port mirroring' where you can configure the port on which the camera traffic flows to mirror the traffic to the port that the PC is connected on so it can be monitored.
Otherwise, all you will see from the camera is broadcast and multicast traffic, not the traffic you are interested in.
Switches by default will only forward packets between the source and destination endpoints, another endpoint will not see that traffic.