Recommendations for a small PoE switch

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mic_y

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Hi guys,

I am in the process of deploying 3 unifi-AP access points, and was thinking of running them off a centralised PoE switch. I dont need anything too fancy, but obviously it needs to be a gigabit switch with at least 5 ports. Any specific brands/products that you guys have worked with?

I have looked at the Ubiquiti 5-port toughswitch(http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php/port-poe-toughswitch-p-1373), but it is quite pricey compared to many other alternatives (PLANET, TP-Link etc). We will be moving quite a bit of data over these links, with up to 15-20 clients on the wireless and often moving around fairly large media files.

This is the first time I am using PoE, so just want to make sure I am making the right decisions early on.
 
Careful bud,some of the Unifi products use a different voltage than *most* off the shelf PoE switches. Check the Datasheet for the Model you are taking if it's 48v,12v or 24v
 
PsyWulf said:
Careful bud,some of the Unifi products use a different voltage than *most* off the shelf PoE switches. Check the Datasheet for the Model you are taking if it's 48v,12v or 24v
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions psywulf. will keep a lookout for that. seems to be that most of the switches provide 24v, and the AP accepts that, so at the moment, I am more worried about the switch throughput, etc.
 
Now that we have that sorted
1) I don't know anyone that would recommend Wireless for Large File transfers,not quickly anyway
2) You must also be aware that every client connected will divide the total available speed for all wireless clients
3) The slowest client will determine the maximum connection speed

So,if you absolutely are gun-set on doing it this way you'd best make sure all the clients can: Use Wireless AC,Have (Multiple) MIMO antennas,Can do 5Ghz connections
 
mic_y said:
Hi guys,

I am in the process of deploying 3 unifi-AP access points, and was thinking of running them off a centralised PoE switch. I dont need anything too fancy, but obviously it needs to be a gigabit switch with at least 5 ports. Any specific brands/products that you guys have worked with?

I have looked at the Ubiquiti 5-port toughswitch(http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php/port-poe-toughswitch-p-1373), but it is quite pricey compared to many other alternatives (PLANET, TP-Link etc). We will be moving quite a bit of data over these links, with up to 15-20 clients on the wireless and often moving around fairly large media files.

This is the first time I am using PoE, so just want to make sure I am making the right decisions early on.
Click to expand...

If it is only going to be 3 unifi's - just run the normal POE's that are in the boxes. Otherwise this will serve you well http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php/port-gigabit-passive-poe-injector-p-1477 with a DC to DC converter.
 
Frikkenator said:
It'll be a lot cheaper to just use the PoE injectors they come with and a normal gigabit switch.
Click to expand...

Yip. Cheaper to replace a single poe injector than a fried switch as well should things go tits up.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. Definitely a couple of pointers to think about before pulling the trigger.

In terms of data throughput, there will be gigabit network points in most rooms, so if there is a need to move multi-gig files, I would obviously recommend users to plug in a cable.

I need to get a switch in any case, as we are currently running a bunch of rag-tag network stuff that has been collected over the years. Due to this I was thinking of going for a PoE switch, to allow for further expansion in future (one or two more AP's and also a couple of IP Cams in future). Due to this I thought of going for a PoE switch to simplify cabling. All the networking equipment is running behind both a surge protector as well as an APC BackUPS Pro, so I am not too concerned with stability of power.
 
I would stick to the POE injectors. IF you plan on going with IPcams you'll want to have that POE switch pretty much dedicated to them. Most 8 port POE switches (well at least what ive seen that are fairly decent) are 4 ports POE and the Rest are not.

You could however pick up a POE switch now. Run the cabling through to the switch have have the access points use the POE in the mean time. Then when you install your IP cams you could move them on to the non-POE ports and use the supplied injectors.

This all depends on how many cams you plan to install in that area. Most IP Cams I've played with all use 10/100.
 
wez1007 said:
I would stick to the POE injectors. IF you plan on going with IPcams you'll want to have that POE switch pretty much dedicated to them. Most 8 port POE switches (well at least what ive seen that are fairly decent) are 4 ports POE and the Rest are not.

You could however pick up a POE switch now. Run the cabling through to the switch have have the access points use the POE in the mean time. Then when you install your IP cams you could move them on to the non-POE ports and use the supplied injectors.

This all depends on how many cams you plan to install in that area. Most IP Cams I've played with all use 10/100.
Click to expand...

Cool, that makes a whole lot of sense. If I am going to stick the PoE injectors, then I might as well use the cash saved on a PoE switch and invest in a bigger gigabit switch instead. Having had a look at Scoop's website I am thinking of going with this one: http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php/port-gigabit-ethernet-switch-p-1201

Has anybody had experience with these? What is the performance like?
 
mic_y said:
Cool, that makes a whole lot of sense. If I am going to stick the PoE injectors, then I might as well use the cash saved on a PoE switch and invest in a bigger gigabit switch instead. Having had a look at Scoop's website I am thinking of going with this one: http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php/port-gigabit-ethernet-switch-p-1201

Has anybody had experience with these? What is the performance like?
Click to expand...

Look at it this way:

You meed to know what IP cameras you plan on installing in the near future. Are they POE or not? If they are then you'll want to look at a full POE switch. Trust me though they arnt that cheap. This is a much better option when running IP cams as you will have a central point backed up with a UPS (compared to multiple plugs and adapters and those dreadful 2 pins....)

You need to know how many IP cams you plan on deploying and you need to know what other things you foresee coming off of that switch. (do you think you will patch computers into that switch at a later stage? or is this switch in a central location that could be used to branch off to other sections / nodes?) From this you can decide how many ports you'll be needing.

We dont really know what your network looks like so I cant recommend what would be best.

Something to make note of is the backplane bandwidth / total bandwidth / total throughput. This should be higher than the number of ports you have on the switch. else if every port is being utilised on the switch you wont be getting the full 1Gbs of each port.

The switch you linked has 24 ports and a total throughput of 48Gbps. This is pretty decent
 
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