PoE Switch Suggestion List
- Thread starter giomania
- Start date
If only if they can last, mine are doing fine but there are many that don't find Ubiquiti all that reliable 
Does anyone have one of these BV-Tech switches? Great price for 16 POE + 2 Gb ports......
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area651
Getting comfortable
I've read a mixed bag on here. Some say yes and some have said no. One thing that I notice is that its only 10/100 for most of the switch. Some people say that's all you need but then some dont like to drop back that far in speed when buying new. That's just my thoughts. fwiw, I'm also looking for the same thing. I want a bigger poe switch but I'm not ready to dump $300 on one.
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tibimakai
Known around here
Mine works OK for 2/4MP cams but I've heard that the gigabit uplink can struggle to cope with 8MP cams.
Loved what they are capable of, but had two fail on me. Found they were too fragile for the price point.If only if they can last, mine are doing fine but there are many that don't find Ubiquiti all that reliable
Now running a Managed Netgear POE+ switch JGS524PE-100AJS (its in the spreadsheet). Not as feature rich, interface is nowhere near as slick, but just a solid workhorse at half the cost.
Any reason not to buy this as the backbone of a home network? I plan to do a basic home network with 15-20 hardwired computers, TVs etc and also a connect 8-12 cameras on a separate VLAN with a dual NIC on a blue Iris PC. Any reason not to buy an old Cisco switch that is Gigabit on all ports and does PoE? They can be had all over the place for <$100 used. And renewed units at that price too...
What's the downside?:
What's the downside?:
area651
Getting comfortable
I've always read they can be power hogs and tend to be rather loud for a home network. Maybe that comes down to opinion though. I guess it all depends on if you're cool w/ the extra electricity cost and where it would be located. At a former company I worked at, I know our cisco switches were LOUD but then they were also in a server room that was away from the office desks so the noise wasn't a problem. Not necessarily every house is going to have a separate server room to harness that noise. I totally understand your question though as I've asked myself the same thing. They're often found pretty cheap used.
reflection
Getting comfortable
You can check out the data sheet here: Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches Data Sheet
Looks like it draws about 70W of power. (might be less power than two separate switches)
It will most likely be louder than your consumer grade switch.
If it wasn't abused, it would probably last forever (until the fans die, then you have to replace those).
Plenty of features and certifications as shown in the data sheet.
You can do the dual NIC on blue iris design using this single switch.
I have a single 48 port Cisco switch as well and I keep it in the basement utility room so there is no noise issue. It's about as loud as my PC when the GPU kicks in during games.
Yea mine will be going in a 42u server rack in the basement. And the rack is mostly enclosed... I'm hoping not to hear it. And otherwise I'd be spending $300+ to get the POE and that many ports. And the cheaper way to do that would be two switches which might draw even more power.
I think I might pull the trigger on one. Thanks for your input guys.
Any further input from anyone?
reflection
Getting comfortable
If you plan to do any inter-vlan routing, you might consider going with the Cat 3k series. This could be useful if you want to have multiple VLANs (like a guest VLAN and IOT VLAN) in addition to your camera and internal VLANs. Something like a 3560 or 3750v2 or 3560E. If you need PoE+, go with the X model.
Thanks for pointing that out. I was ready to purchase one of these 2xxx models last night and then after reading further (some of your posts and others here) I did notice the difference you pointed out. I see there is a layer 3 switching capability with the 3xxx series Cisco switches that you don’t get with 2xxx series.
So now my question is this: How hard is it to understand and set up the interlan VLAN routing? That’s a bit over my pay grade lol.
The concept of VLANs makes sense to me and I was completely comfortable learning how to do the basic segregation of networks on whatever switch I buy. I am sure I can learn the inter-VLAN routing part but I don’t want to have to constantly fiddle and add/change rules etc. I love the idea of having a secure network with my IoT, cams, smart home tech and computers all on dedicated VLANs. But at what cost (in terms of time and hassle)? At this point, I’m not sure I’m willIng to put in the effort to understand and configure it all. And if I do get it setup how much more hassle will it be on a regular basis to troubleshoot and ensure everything new and old is connected and routing properly? That’s honestly my biggest concern.
Seems to be the age old question of security vs convenience. And at the moment, I have no idea how much trouble the “security” is going to be. Can you please elaborate?
I have seen a few guides doing this inter VLAN routing setup on Ubiquity gear. I thought about going that route (pun intended). But the cost will be higher... And at this point I’m still trying to get the wife to approve better cameras lol
Thoughts anyone?
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reflection
Getting comfortable
If this is a "hobby" to you, then it is worth investing the time to learn because you will be having fun.
Inter-vlan routing is just being able to have devices from one vlan to talk to another. Typically you might add some security rules (ACLs) in between those VLANs so that they don't talk to each other freely.
As an example, this is what I do for my camera setup (this is only on the switch): The Cisco 3xxx will support that which is what I have.
I have a camera VLAN. I only put my cameras on that VLAN.
I have an IoT VLAN. I put Blue Iris on there (among other devices).
On the camera VLAN, I have rules place inbound and outbound:
- cameras are only allowed to talk to Blue Iris on TCP 443 (for SSL/TLS streaming RDP)
- cameras are only allowed to talk to my NTP server (to sync time. I want accurate time on my camera overlay). The switch is the NTP server so time sync doesn't have to leave the VLAN.
- blue iris can talk to cameras on TCP 554 (RTSP)
- blue iris can talk to cameras on TCP 80 (HTTP)
- management network can talk to cameras on TCP 443 (so my macbook can control cameras). You can skip this if you like to RDP to BI, but you have to add a rule to permit TCP 443 from BI to cameras.
- everything else is blocked (this means no other communication in/out to that camera VLAN).
Then I have a firewall and IDS in front of Blue Iris that is layer 2-7 which also enforces some of these rules and more. I posted that in a different thread. But essentially Blue Iris is also restricted from unwanted conversations. For example, when I went to upgrade blue iris to get the sub streams feature, I had to enable a "permit" rule on my firewall to let it talk to get the update, then I disable the "permit" rule once I was done.
OK. Sounds doable for me with the required reading (and possibly asking for your advice
)After comparing the costs of the 2xxx vs 3xxx switches I think I’ve decided to go with a layer 3 switch. (the cost isn’t that much higher for a used 3xxx). This way, at least I have the ability to implement multiple VLANs with inter-VLAN routing if/when I’m ready.
So the choice becomes 3xxx or Ubiquity Unify for me. People seem to like the Ubiquity gear. Is that because of the user friendliness and pretty interface? It is a LOT more expensive when compared to a Cisco 3xxx (~$300 for used unify 48 port PoE vs ~$100 for used Cisco 3xxx). And I wonder if it will last as long as the Cisco gear...
Does anyone have comparison points they think I should consider? I feel like I read on here where someone had both a Cisco in the past but moved to Ubiquity?
So faceoff! Cisco 3560x vs Ubiquity US-48 w PoE. FIGHT!!!
reflection
Getting comfortable
The Unify 48 is a prosumer switch. I'm sure it would work fine. It costs more used because it's in higher demand for home users.
The cisco 3560x is an enterprise switch. Depending on the model you have, a 3560x with full POE and the IP services license (or Adv Enterprise or whatever they called it) list for about $15-20K new. A lot of that was the software license from IP base to IP servers which was an additional $6K I think. Most enterprises don't want used switches. They have to have hardware that is under service contract. The 3560x is EOL so it's not something that can be under a service contract. Also, the service contract for Cisco switches is 10% of list price per year. So enterprises pay $1500 per year just to keep their switches under maintenance. Since companies can't use these EOL switches, there is a market for them on eBay for prosumers. But they costs pennies on the dollar when they are EOL.
There are other enterprises switches out there like Arista, Juniper, Dell, etc..
There is a small business line of switches from many of these vendors. Cisco has a small business line. The HP procurves are also small business. I think Dell has a small business line.
The cisco 3560x is an enterprise switch. Depending on the model you have, a 3560x with full POE and the IP services license (or Adv Enterprise or whatever they called it) list for about $15-20K new. A lot of that was the software license from IP base to IP servers which was an additional $6K I think. Most enterprises don't want used switches. They have to have hardware that is under service contract. The 3560x is EOL so it's not something that can be under a service contract. Also, the service contract for Cisco switches is 10% of list price per year. So enterprises pay $1500 per year just to keep their switches under maintenance. Since companies can't use these EOL switches, there is a market for them on eBay for prosumers. But they costs pennies on the dollar when they are EOL.
There are other enterprises switches out there like Arista, Juniper, Dell, etc..
There is a small business line of switches from many of these vendors. Cisco has a small business line. The HP procurves are also small business. I think Dell has a small business line.
OK. Got it. Good information. I did know they are enterprise grade. I used to work with them in a telecom job I had supporting Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse... But I didn’t do any configuration of them.
But how should all this effect my decision?
Will I need to pay for a software license?
Any reason I wouldn’t want to use an enterprise grade switch at home? Other than higher power consumption and more noise are there other drawbacks?
reflection
Getting comfortable
You don't have to pay for a software license. The license on that particular switch is permanent (there is no timeout or expiration). Their newer switch have a subscription license. When you find one on ebay, the seller should indicate you what license level the switch is at.
The cisco will also be deeper and heavier (I think). The MTBF for the 3560X is published to be over 150,000 hours. I would guess it runs cooler since it's louder (the noise comes from the fans).
The MTBF numbers for the Unify are not published as far as I could find.
The biggest drawback (with Cisco) is going to be the learning curve. I don't mind helping if you have a question but it will definitely require some investment to get used to the CLI.
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fwiw reflection, my $.02
1st my background to give you an understanding of what I might know (or should know anyway). I'm a EE but I had ZERO experience with networks until a year or 2 ago. My sons on the other hand are very knowledgeable in network design and equipment. So a couple of years ago we were talking and I mentioned I'd like to put a real network in the house. I told them to order and ship me what I needed to get started. The next thing that happens is I get a basic Ubiquiti setup, USG router/firewall, 24 port POE+ switch, 8 port POE switch (it does run warm) and an AP access point. Its been two years now and I've added a couple more AP's, and 3 more switches (my dabbling in cctv causes that).
For me, just a hobbyist, its been a great learning experience. The software is easy to learn and very flexible. I've had a lot of fun with it and its been 100% reliable. One of the software features is a 'map' of your system that I usually print out after changes and leave near my main switch. I've learned a lot on this forum and dabbling with the Unifi software. I'd do it again.
1st my background to give you an understanding of what I might know (or should know anyway). I'm a EE but I had ZERO experience with networks until a year or 2 ago. My sons on the other hand are very knowledgeable in network design and equipment. So a couple of years ago we were talking and I mentioned I'd like to put a real network in the house. I told them to order and ship me what I needed to get started. The next thing that happens is I get a basic Ubiquiti setup, USG router/firewall, 24 port POE+ switch, 8 port POE switch (it does run warm) and an AP access point. Its been two years now and I've added a couple more AP's, and 3 more switches (my dabbling in cctv causes that).
For me, just a hobbyist, its been a great learning experience. The software is easy to learn and very flexible. I've had a lot of fun with it and its been 100% reliable. One of the software features is a 'map' of your system that I usually print out after changes and leave near my main switch. I've learned a lot on this forum and dabbling with the Unifi software. I'd do it again.
reflection
Getting comfortable
Love that story. It's a great hobby
. As an EE also, we have that innate curiosity to tinker with this kind of stuff.The Ubiquity portfolio will definitely will be easier to use and less of a learning curve.