EnGenius Reveals ‘Affordable’ Multi-Gig Switches with PoE: 8 2.5GBASE-T and 4 10GbE SFP+ Ports
by Anton Shilov on January 30, 2020 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Networking
- Qualcomm
- 10GBase-T
- NBASE-T
- 2.5GBase-T
- EnGenius
EnGenius has unveiled a new series multi-gigabit PoE++ L2+ networking switches with multiple NBASE-T ports. The EnGenius ECS2512FP and ECS2512 switches are designed for small and medium businesses as well as large living environments, and along with their fast switching capabiltiies, one of the models is also capable of Power over Ethernet to deliver power to remote, high-performance devices like Wi-Fi 6 access points. Both models can be managed remotely using EnGenius cloud-based software. The manufacturer is calling its new switches ‘affordable’, though without listing official prices.
Both new switches from EnGenius — the ECS2512FP and the ECS2512 — support 120 Gbps of switching capacity and are fed via eight 2.5GBASE-T ports along with four 10GbE SFP+ slots for fiber uplinks. Meanwhile, the more advanced ECS2512FP model supports the IEEE 802.3bt Power-over-Ethernet, allowing it to transfer up to 240 W of power to such power-hungry devices as Wi-Fi 6 access points, PTZ cameras, or AV controllers.
One of the key features of the latest EnGenius switches is their support for the company’s subscription-free EnGenius Cloud that allows to monitor system metrics in real time, display network topology, troubleshoot, problems, and analyze network’s behavior. According to the company, its switches and cloud services provide ‘enterprise-class features’ and essentially simplify monitoring of networks. While such capabilities bring a lot of value for companies, they come at a cost that typically makes these kinds of multi-gig switches prohibitively expensive for consumers.
EnGenius says that its ECS2512FP and ECS2512 switches will hit the market next month and that they will be ‘affordable’. Unfortunately, without an actual price it is impossible to say whether the switches will be reasonably priced for an average person, or for a business that wants to save on multi-gig network management.
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Source: EnGenius
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AdrianB1 - Thursday, January 30, 2020 - link
Actually I could use one of these: PoE for the IP cameras outside my house (not a great neighborhood), SFP+ to link to my NAS via Direct Attach Copper (lower power consumption than UTP), 12 ports because I already use 7 of the 8 ports in my current switch (that does not include the cameras, I have 2 more switches in other parts of the house). I don't need 4 SFP+, 2 would be enough (the second one to link to another switch that needs to be in a different place). This would be the switch in the basement, the ones in the house are 5 ports each.bobdvb - Friday, January 31, 2020 - link
@AdrianB1, agreed, I have a DGS-1510-20 under the stairs with 16 1GbE, two SFPs and two 10G SFP+ ports. It's connected to the workshop in my garden where there is another DGS-1510 by fibre. Switching to fibre from PLA cost me less than buying new PLA adapters when they broke at Christmas.For the access points and IP cameras I use a 4 port passive PoE injector under the switch.
vladpetric - Thursday, January 30, 2020 - link
While I don't need 12 ports, I just rewired my home with cat7 cable.POE is great for powering ubiquiti APs, whereas 10gbe is great for my main PC and NAS.
Samus - Sunday, February 2, 2020 - link
The thing is...what PoE devices are beyond Gigabit? I've seen none.azazel1024 - Friday, January 31, 2020 - link
I mean, if it really is affordable, like $100-150 and is power efficient (no more than 20w max power budget), I'll say yes to the dress. I mean switch. Don't need those SFP. Or, well maybe a pair of 10 gig fiber ports wouldn't be bad.My use case is I want a minimum of 2 ports of gig speed or better to link this switch to my core switch. Then a port for my server, a port for my desktop and then a minimum of 2 extra ports for future proofing for my router and an access point. So 6 minimum. Ideal long term use would reserve 2 for my server, 2 for my desktop, 2 for uplink and 1 each for AP and router.
Rack mount could be nice, but I can just sit it on top of my rack mount 24 port core switch.
I am running fiber out to the shed/workshop I am building as I don't want to bury Ethernet and ESPECIALLY because the she is probably going to be on solar power, NOT on the mains from my house. Should not present ground loop issues over an Ethernet cable. Also don't need to find out that it does. Also lightning protection. So fiber. Its also 78 meters from my core switch to the location of where I am building the shed/workshop. So that, plus some short patch cables, and the cable needing to run to some location within the shed/workshop is pushing what cat cable can handle.
But a 1GbE link is fine and my 24 port switch happens to have 4 SFP ports already. But hey, 10Gbps SFP+ in the future between them, why not!?!
azazel1024 - Friday, January 31, 2020 - link
And actually on another thought, I could just get an SFP+ card and transceiver for the switch and my server instead of a 2.5GbE card for it. Desktop can be slower. No worries there, just want faster than 2xGbE it is today (and have several Cat6a cables run to my office).mrvco - Friday, January 31, 2020 - link
While I haven't made the jump to 10G in my home office, when I do, I would prefer copper 10G to SFP. I do use PoE to power a router, WAP, NMS controller and a couple of switches, so PoE is useful. 24 client ports would let me re-purpose those two switches. I also have a short 19" telco rack to keep things organized, so rackmount ears would be useful as well.dontlistentome - Friday, January 31, 2020 - link
That's funny, as the backone of my home network (including connections to my server) is 10Gb fibre over SFP+, and i've a ton of PoE gear.Uses a fraction of the power of 10Gb ethernet, especially when talking about some of the 30m runs I have in place.
There's a reason Mikrotik are doing a roaring trade in their CRS305 boxes.
I use PoE to power
- my in-room switches (ubiquiti unifi)
- my wifi access points
- the CRS305 box
- my security cameras
- my unifi controller/camera recorder
- a couple of raspberry pi boxes
I'm not alone.
Samus - Sunday, February 2, 2020 - link
The PoE part is really mind boggling...I mean what devices are PoE that are beyond-Gigabit, and what PoE devices have beyond-Gigabit pass-through (like phones) where the beyond-gigabit signal will be utilized?Very strange inclusion.
legogris - Tuesday, February 4, 2020 - link
Guess what, that hits my sweet spot and I don't think I'm alone.