It may be auto-updating by default, but that can be trivially disabled. Likewise, their cloud connectivity/management is optional. I'm running without issue multiple air-gapped Ubnt networks using their self-hosted controller software.
Perhaps there is some new watered down usage (like what happened to "literally" or "bricked") but that is precisely why people use the term "air-gapped" - to denote networks with PHYSICAL separation from other means of access.
(Of course, if you connect an AP, it's no longer air-gapped."
All your computers are plugged into the mains for electricity... Always, always the thing that's ubiqutious is the perfect entrance for the oppressors, since noone suspects anything about those innocent things.
Yeh but it is still closed source, no?
I guess if it is air gapped that could be fine, but we are talking mid level network gear here, so for 99% of its use, it isn't air gapped. It is enabling broader connectivity.
So you would have to trust the closed source software at some point.