Quick PoE switch questions

blarf

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Hi,

I was planning on getting the Zyxel GS1900-8HP PoE switch (70W) for my IP cams. Now, I also see that they have the same switch but with an added 2 SFP ports (77W).

Do I need the SFP ports?

or is the Orignal switch enough?

Thanks
 

slowmod

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SFP is for fiber connections, you should have zero need for that.
 

slowmod

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I've actually founded it easier to use an 8 port inline PoE injector. you can find these on ebay for about $30, it gives you the ability to run it with any switch you want at whatever speed the switch is and you are not limited to a few year old used business take out switch. you can do two of them for a load balancing/failover scenario in case one should fail or if you just need the extra power. This last go around I replaced my HP 24 port managed switch with an Asus gigabit 24port switch, fanless design so no noise and super low power draw, brand new for $115.
 
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DWW0311

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I've actually founded it easier to use an 8 port inline PoE injector. you can find these on ebay for about $30, it gives you the ability to run it with any switch you want at whatever speed the switch is and you are not limited to a few year old used business take out switch. you can do two of them for a load balancing/failover scenario in case one should fail or if you just need the extra power. This last go around I replaced my HP 24 port managed switch with an Asus gigabit 24port switch, fanless design so no noise and super low power draw, brand new for $115.
You get what you pay for. Would you rather have a few years old used Benz or a new Kia? I'll leave it at that. :)
 

slowmod

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You get what you pay for. Would you rather have a few years old used Benz or a new Kia? I'll leave it at that. :)
I can answer both actually... if those were my only two choices I would take my chances with the Kia, I will not own another Benz outside of warranty, our prior '14 ML was one of the biggest pos's I have ever had. i will have been in IT for 16 years as of June 8, I'm currently a systems engineer. I have purchased/ used/ supported many of the HP Pro-Curves ,Linksys, Cisco and Juniper switches over the years, from $300 24 port non mngd to $3k modular switches. They are designed for server racks/ server rooms, power consumption is generally high, they are noisy due to multiple fans and sometimes multiple power supplies. 95% of the features that the management console provides a common home owner or even small business user would never understand or need. it's much like a home user buying an actual used enterprise server.

for me it's all personal preference, I have had both a 48 port and 24 port managed ProCurve in my home rack (retired from my office), but watching the LCD read out on my battery backup showed that the 48 port switch alone was pulling the same amount of power as my actual blue Iris PC (hp sff 800G1) so I swapped it with the 24, which wasn't much better. The 24port's fan started squealing after about a month in service. even when the fan wasn't squealing I could hear it running as I walked down my stairs to the basement, I still had to walk around a corner, 10ft down a hall and then another corner before opening the closet door where the rack is at. The Asus is dead quiet and uses only a few watts-Asus is a well known vendor in the industry, maybe not an HP or Dell or Cisco, but still high on the charts. but judging by your signature you already know this.

Using a PoE injector module versus and all in one solution allows a lot more options as far as equipment goes. My PoE injector is 1 year old without a single hiccup, if it breaks I spend $30 to replace it, if im concerned with longevity I buy a second one and split the load up then shift the load off whichever fails first. If my switch blows up I can Prime a new one within 1 -2 days or go down to the local best buy, walmart or staples and buy a replacement versus waiting for someone on the other side of the country to get off their butt, package it, then try to figure out the slowest and cheapest way to ship it to me, just to receive a product that is already at minimum halfway through its useable life and may or may not work correctly out of the box. may or may not lock up every few days, may or may not have come with the mounting ears etc.

Would I run this set up in any of my office environments? hell no. I will let the company spend $1600 on new catalyst switches.

again all personal preference, many people outside of the IT world do not know these options exist, they believe their only option is a used enterprise switch when they may be able to just throw some injectors on a switch they already own and save a bunch of money and headaches along the way.
 
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fenderman

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You get what you pay for. Would you rather have a few years old used Benz or a new Kia? I'll leave it at that. :)
That old switch is loud and only 10/100.....the zyxel is a superb switch...and I would take a new kia over a few year old benz any day...
 

blarf

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wow...now I'm even more confused. Too many choices. what would you recommend for about $150.
I need PoE. 8 to 16 ports would be nice.
 

blarf

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I mean I also saw the Netgear Prosace JGS516PE in my price range
 

slowmod

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as mentioned already, if you can get away with that zyxel then I would probably go that route, that is a nice unit and its also gigabit. I posted regarding PoE injection simply due to the catch-all subject line of this thread ;). not everyone needs more than 2/3/4/5/6 ports of PoE to justify buying a dedicated PoE switch or want/ are able to house a big rackmount style switch. In my case I have an 7 camera system but I have a total of 18 wired ports between audio/video, AP's, computers, irrigation, alarm etc, so I need the larger switch but not necessarily the PoE on all of it.

do keep in mind that only 8 ports on the netgear are powered..
 

DWW0311

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That old switch is loud and only 10/100.....the zyxel is a superb switch...and I would take a new kia over a few year old benz any day...
Evidently we define loud differently. When we consider that the bandwidth we'd expect to see from a 10MP camera is about 7.2Mbps, giving it a 100Mbps pipe is more than sufficient. Giving it 1000Mbps is ridiculous in the extreme. I have 8 cams flowing through a single gigabit fiber line and it barely hits 5% utilization.

Zxyel is what I would term consumer grade / bottom of the range small business at best. Compare these boards:

Zyxel GS1900-8HP

zyxel_gs19008h_board.jpg


Catalyst 3560-8
WSC35608PCSe.jpg

Zyxel power budget? 70W total. Comparably sized Catalyst? 124W They're clearly not comparable to each other. Is Zxyel per se bad? No. Is it enterprise grade / would I allow one anywhere near my datacenter? Not by a long shot. If you can get better equipment which more than fulfills the required purpose at a cheaper price, it seems like it should be a simple choice, but I guess to each his own.
 
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fenderman

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Evidently we define loud differently. When we consider that the bandwidth we'd expect to see from a 10MP camera is about 7.2Mbps, giving it a 100Mbps pipe is more than sufficient. Giving it 1000Mbps is ridiculous in the extreme. I have 8 cams flowing through a single gigabit fiber line and it barely hits 5% utilization.

Zxyel is what I would term consumer grade / bottom of the range small business at best. Compare these boards:

Zyxel GS1900-8HP

View attachment 18873


Catalyst 3560-8
View attachment 18874
They're clearly not comparable to each other. Is Zxyel per se bad? No. Is it enterprise grade / would I allow one anywhere near my datacenter? Not by a long shot. If you can get better equipment which more than fulfills the required purpose at a cheaper price, it seems like it should be a simple choice, but I guess to each his own.
Those switch are very loud..please, it would be annoying to sit in the same room with most of them. You never want to saturate a pipeline...you also have no idea what else is connected to the switch...for example it may not only be connecting cameras but another switch or pc/nas....
size of the board is irrelevant..size of components are irrelevant...
Also note the power consumption of that huge monstrosity is likely significantly higher than the zyxel negating any cost savings...
 

DWW0311

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Those switch are very loud..please, it would be annoying to sit in the same room with most of them. You never want to saturate a pipeline...you also have no idea what else is connected to the switch...for example it may not only be connecting cameras but another switch or pc/nas....
size of the board is irrelevant..size of components are irrelevant...
Also note the power consumption of that huge monstrosity is likely significantly higher than the zyxel negating any cost savings...
Yes, being a network engineer I wouldn't know anything about saturating pipelines or network design. I'm not going to argue with you. We're clearly coming at this from two different perspectives. I just do not utilize consumer grade appliances - ever. I'm well aware that they exist; I just consider them to be cheaply made garbage and I don't buy them based on that opinion.

You should recommend what you think is appropriate, and I'll do the same. The person receiving the information can make up their own mind as to which better suits their needs. More options is never a bad thing and there is no "this is the only way that things must be done" solution.
 

fenderman

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Yes, being a network engineer I wouldn't know anything about saturating pipelines or network design. I'm not going to argue with you. We're clearly coming at this from two different perspectives. I just do not utilize consumer grade appliances - ever. I'm well aware that they exist; I just consider them to be cheaply made garbage and I don't buy them based on that opinion.

You should recommend what you think is appropriate, and I'll do the same. The person receiving the information can make up their own mind as to which better suits their needs. More options is never a bad thing and there is no "this is the only way that things must be done" solution.
yes, different perspective..its idiotic to recommend server room switches for home use...thats why im pointing it out to the user...not to mention zyxel support which is helpful for the less experienced users. "consumer grade" equipment is just as reliable as anything you use...you just fell for the fluff...
I have learned a long time ago that positions and titles are meaningless.
 

DWW0311

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yes, different perspective..its idiotic to recommend server room switches for home use...thats why im pointing it out to the user...not to mention zyxel support which is helpful for the less experienced users. "consumer grade" equipment is just as reliable as anything you use...you just fell for the fluff...
I have learned a long time ago that positions and titles are meaningless.
Like I said, I'm not going to argue with you. If you feel that you have to be right, then feel that you're right. I recommend what I recommend.
 

blarf

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as mentioned already, if you can get away with that zyxel then I would probably go that route, that is a nice unit and its also gigabit. I posted regarding PoE injection simply due to the catch-all subject line of this thread ;). not everyone needs more than 2/3/4/5/6 ports of PoE to justify buying a dedicated PoE switch or want/ are able to house a big rackmount style switch. In my case I have an 7 camera system but I have a total of 18 wired ports between audio/video, AP's, computers, irrigation, alarm etc, so I need the larger switch but not necessarily the PoE on all of it.

do keep in mind that only 8 ports on the netgear are powered..
yes, I only have 5 items that requires PoE at this time, the rest is non-PoE. that's why I was inquiring about the Netgear one
 

slowmod

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you should be good with the netgear, plenty of power on the PoE ports, some mgmt ability and no fans so it will be quiet
 

blarf

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ok, Thanks guys, I've decided to go with the Zyxel GS1900-8HP.....ordered it last night.
 
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