PoE Switch vs Non-PoE Switch: Which One to Choose?

Instead of non-PoE switch, the PoE switch is more commonly used to build the wireless network. Well, what are PoE switch and non-PoE switch? What is the difference between PoE switch vs non-PoE switch? Which one to choose? In this article, we will share some insights and help solve the above questions.

PoE Switch vs Non-PoE Switch: What Are They?

To understand the PoE switch, we’d better know Power over Ethernet first. PoE is a revolutionary technology that allows network cable to provide both data and power for the PoE-enabled devices. The PoE can provide higher power and reduce a lot of power cables during network. Usually, it is used for VoIP phones, network cameras, and some wireless access points.

PoE switch is a networking device with PoE passthrough which has multiple Ethernet ports to connect network segments. It not only transmits network data but also supplies power via a length of Ethernet network cable, like Cat5 or Cat6. The types of hubs can be classified into 8/12/24/48 port Gigabit PoE switch, or unmanaged and managed PoE network switch. Among the various port designs, the 8 port PoE switch is considered as a decent option for home network and 24 port PoE switch is popular for the business network.

Non-PoE switch, just as the name, is the normal switch, which can only send data to network devices. There is no PoE in the normal switch to supply electrical power for end users over Ethernet.

PoE Switch vs Non-PoE Switch: What’s the Difference?

The biggest difference between PoE switch and non-PoE switch is the PoE accessibility. As mentioned above, the PoE switch is PoE enabled while the non-PoE switch is not PoE enabled.

For PoE switch, you can mix PoE and non-PoE devices on the same one. Because if there is no need to use power, you can turn off the PoE of the PoE switch and use it as a regular witch. However, non-PoE switch can’t support the mixing of PoE and non-PoE devices.

For non-PoE switch, it can be PoE ready only by installing a PoE injector to power a few devices. The injector is able to add electrical power and then transmits both data and power to power devices simultaneously. Users require one extra cable to connect power outlets. In this solution, if a PoE injector goes out, it only affects one device. But if the PoE goes out in a PoE switch, all PoE devices will be down.

PoE switch vs non-PoE switch

Figure 1: PoE switch vs non-PoE switch

PoE Switch vs Non-PoE Switch: Which One to Choose?

Many users may encounter this problem. Should we choose PoE switch or non-PoE switch? Though the non-PoE network switch can also acquire PoE by installing injector. But PoE switch has some advantages over the non-PoE switch.

Flexibility – The PoE switch is powered through existing PoE network infrastructure and eliminates the demand for additional electrical wiring. This gives you flexibility to employ the switch wherever you need.

Good performance – PoE switch is designed with advanced features like high-performance hardware and software, auto-sensing PoE compatibility, strong network security and environmental adaptability. It provides better performance for users.

Cost-efficient – There is no need for users to purchase and deploy additional electrical wires and outlets with PoE switch. Therefore, it makes great savings on installation and maintenance costs.

Conclusion

After the comparison of PoE switch vs non-PoE switch, do you know which one to choose? Actually, it depends on your real needs. FS is a good place to go for the reliable and cheap PoE or non-PoE network switch. Welcome to contact us if you have any needs about it.

Related Article: 24 Port Managed PoE Switch: How Can We Benefit From It?

24 Port Switch vs Daisy-chaining 8 Port Switch

As technology booming and networking devices proliferating, network expansion has become common in all data centers. Thus choosing an Ethernet switch with abundant ports is of great concern. However, one can also connect small switches like 8 port switches together by daisy chaining them. For SMBs and home usage, the choice between deploying a 24 port switch vs daisy-chaining 8 port switch has confused many people. We’re here to make an analysis for your selection guide.

24 Port Switch Solution Analysis

Deploying a single 24 port switch owns all the edges over several small 8 port switches. Above all, 24 port switch is designed with advanced features for high-performance. Say S1400-24T4F 24 port PoE switch, which has a 400W power budget and 52Gbps switching capacity rather than 130W and 20Gbps of S1130-8T2F 8 port PoE switch. Besides, more unoccupied ports provides you redundancy for network expansion. An 8 port switch can easily get saturated than you’ve expected. Also, running one 24 port switch saves space, power and is easier for management than daisy-chaining several 8 port switches. But meanwhile a single 24 port switch loses redundancy for network outage and separate placing flexibility.

S1400-24T4F 24 port switch

Figure 1: S1400-24T4F 24 port rack mount PoE switch complies with IEEE 802.3af/at, fit for VoIP phones, wireless APs and IP surveillance cameras for intelligent switching and networks growth.

Daisy-chaining 8 Port Switch Solution Analysis

In general, we don’t recommend one to daisy chain 8 port switches. The main reason is that it brings low performance and unnecessary troubles. Chaining switches makes your network too big a diameter, which is difficult to achieve effective Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) and Shortest Path Bridging (SPB). As a result, it forms a loop and your network will grind to a halt. Also, the 1Gbps uplinks for connecting those 8 port switches will become a bottleneck, which causes random dropped connections and incidental throughput issues. To alleviate the loop, mind never daisy chain more than 3 switches together. Besides, keeping hooking up 8 port switches, your network layout will look like a spider web of switches and cables in all different directions. In this regard 8 Port PoE switch may be a good way to go for saving one extra power wire for each device.

However, daisy-chaining 8 port switch can make things easier in some situations. For example, you have a 24 port gigabit switch in the garage and you plan to run each room with a cable to a port. But how about rooms needing more than one port? In this case you can daisy chain an 8 port switch to that port in each room, then all your devices can be connected. This is also the easiest solution when PCs in different areas requiring for separate IP locations.

S1130-8T2F 8 port PoE switch application

Figure 2: Applications of S1130-8T2F 8 port PoE switch for IP cameras, VoIP phones, wireless APs.

24 Port Switch vs Daisy-chaining 8 Port Switch Deployment Guide

To highlight, using a single 24 port switch with redundant ports is a more advanced solution in modern market. It leaves management troubles and low-performance issues like loop and connection drops of daisy-chaining 8 port switches. However, daisy-chaining 8 port switches is a solution to situations when you need several ports in different rooms or separate IP addresses. But all in all, even if you choose daisy-chaining 8 port switches, you need at least a reliable gigabit switch as core switch in the data center. Then you can add 8 port switches as small branch circuits.

Whatever you are choosing, gigabit PoE switch can fit the bill in any situations cruel for power cabling. For the loop issue, one key is to use managed gigabit switch. It detects loops and quickly shuts them down. All managed PoE gigabit switches in FS.COM are fully managed, supporting both Web Interface and CLI command. For replacing clumsy daisy chaining, you can stack switch by using stackable managed switch, which can let your switch stack work smoothly as a single one. Say stackable 24 port gigabit switch managed with 4 10Gb SFP+ uplinks: S3800-24T4S 1000Base-T copper switch and S3800-24F4S SFP switch. Both supports up to 4 24 port switches stacked together, providing up to 512Gbps total switching capacity for your network.

S3800-24T4S and S3800-24F4S stackable 24 port switch

Figure 3: S3800-24T4S and S3800-24F4S stackable managed switch stacking solution for network expansion.

Conclusion

24 port switch vs daisy-chaining 8 port switch: which to employ? For separate placement requirement, daisy-chaining 8 port switch can be a solution to go. A suggestion is to deploy a good 24 port gigabit switch in the data center. Then daisy chain 8 port switches as access switches. For reliable performance concern, one should go for 24 port switch. And for future-proof network growth, to stack switch with stackable 24 port switch can make sense. It also gets around performance issues in replace of daisy-chaining 8 port switches.

24 Port Switch Recommendation

Among all the port types of Ethernet switch, the 24 port gigabit switch plays a really important role in expanding both enterprise and home network. For enterprise network, deploying several 24 port switch versus 48 port switch not only saves you money, but also provides you backup switches in network outages and separate placing flexibility. As for home network, 24 port switch offers you more spare ports for upgrade and expansion even though currently you only has less than 16 drops. This article will recommend you four 24 port switches in terms of 24 port managed switch or 24 port unmanaged and 24 port PoE switch or non-PoE switch for various demands.

Managed 24 Port Switch Recommendation

·24 Port Non-PoE Switch: FS S3900-24T4S ($280)

FS S3900-24T4S gigabit stackable 24 port managed switch comes with 24 x 100/1000Base-T ports, 4 x 10GE SFP+ uplinks, 1 x console port and 2 x power supplies to allow dual power. If dual power is redundant, you can go for this mode’s single power version, which will save you 30 dollars. The switching capacity for a single S3900-24T4S 24 port switch is up to 128Gbps. Morever, the 4 SFP+ ports allow one to stack switch. Up to 6 S3900-24T4S switches can be stacked together as a whole, thus proving up to 768 Gbps total switching capacity to your network and saving rackspace. This 24 port gigabit switch managed is designed to meet the demand of cost-effective gigabit access and 10Gb link aggregation for enterprise networks and operators. FS S3900-24T4S 24 port switch can be managed by both GUI command and web user interface, which is really user-friendly for concerns of interface as well as setting. For fiber switch 24 port, FS.COM is also a good way to go due to a competitive 24 port switch price.

·24 Port PoE Switch: FS S1400-24T4F ($399)

FS S1400-24T4F 24 port gigabit managed PoE+ switch, 400W comes with 24 x 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 x console port, 2 x combo ports and 2 x gigabit SFP (mini-GBIC) slots. This Layer 2 switch, a fully managed 24 port PoE switch, features optimized intelligent function to improve key business application availability, sensitive data security and transmission efficiency. Besides, FS S1400-24T4F 24 port switch complies with PoE+ standard for higher power capacity than PoE standard. The 24 port PoE switch is best fit for SMB, entry-level enterprise and home network to power devices such as wireless APs, IP cameras and VoIP phones.

Unmanaged 24 Port Switch Recommendation

·Cisco Non-PoE Switch: SG112-24 ($149.95)

Cisco SG112-24 24 port unmanaged switch has 24 x 10/100/1000 ports and 2 x combo gigabit SFP ports. The 24 port gigabit switch is a fixed-configuration switch with auto-negotiation, auto-uplink and cable diagnostics function. For any SMBs who just need the network to run automatically, this non-PoE unmanaged 24 port switch will be a good choice. However, it is noted that for concerns of customized setting, security control and heavy load adaptability, you should avoid unmanaged switch and go for 24 port managed switch.

unmanaged 24 port switch

Figure 1: Cisco SG112-24 24 port unmanaged switch with 2 SFP ports.

·Cisco 24 Port PoE Switch: SG 110-24HP ($237)

Cisco SG 110-24HP unmanaged 24 port PoE gigabit switch comes with 12 x 10/100/1000Base ports, 12 x PoE ports and 2 x gigabit SFP ports. The Cisco 24 port PoE switch has a switching capacity of 48 Gbps and forwarding capacity of 35.7 mpps with 100W PoE power budget. The 12 PoE ports support various powered devices such as APs and IP phones. This 24 port switch is a natural fit for anyone who wants to save the configuration trouble and requires for PoE features.

unmanaged PoE 24 port switch

Figure 2: SG 110-24HP unmanaged Cisco 24 portPoE switch with 2 SFP ports.

Summary

This article is dedicated to recommending different types of 24 port gigabit switch for various demands, based on concerns of managed or unmanaged, PoE or non-PoE. It takes the 24 port managed switch from FS.COM and 24 port unmanaged switch from Cisco System as examples to offer reference for 24 port switch selection. Generally speaking, 24 port managed switch is more advanced than the unmanaged switch. 24 port PoE switch has superior functionality to non-PoE 24 port gigabit switch. For most concerns of optimized performance and customization management, just go for FS managed 24 port switch, which is cost-effective with both 24 port PoE switch and 24 port non-PoE switch available. Fiber switch 24 port is not mentioned in the recommendation due to cost-saving concern, but if required S3900-24F4S fiber switch 24 port with decent price would be a good choice.

Related article: Recommendations for 48 Port Switches

Buy 24 port PoE switch: Managed PoE Switch vs Unmanaged PoE Switch

With the increasing popularity of PoE switch, the issue of network switch selection has aroused heated discussion in forums. For the question – should I buy managed vs unmanaged PoE switch 24 port? It seems that people one-sided speak for the 24 port PoE managed switch. However, this post is dedicated to dig the edges of 24 port PoE switch unmanaged and 24 port managed PoE switch for buying best PoE switch.

24 port PoE Switch Unmanaged over Managed PoE Switch Optimal Situation

24 port PoE switch unmanaged is somehow a low-grade switch compared to 24 port managed PoE switch in the current market. It is a plug-and-play network switch with configuration set up by OEM (original equipment manufacturer), which let your network run in the most basic form. Though not allowing customization, 24 port PoE gigabit switch spares green hands the trouble to configure and manage the unmanaged 24 port PoE gigabit switch. Therefore, 24 port unmanaged PoE switch is suitable for any business networks requiring for simplified management. Also, 24 port unmanaged switch can best satisfy the demand for home and small office usage for desktop powered devices (PDs).

Managed PoE Switch 24 Port over 24 port PoE Switch Unmanaged Optimal Situation

Compared to 24 port PoE switch unmanaged, 24 port managed PoE switch is an optimized version in terms of advanced administrative control and security management. In another way, 24 port PoE managed switch can be called a user-defined switch counting you to take in charge of the whole. Before operation, this kind box needs you to configure everything up. During the process of running, managed 24 port PoE gigabit switch allows you to implement control over traffic, management, surveillance and replacement. For example, you can program each port individually and disable those unused ports for power saving and network intrusion forbidden. It is exactly the control feature that secure your network. By monitor, once found you can easily prohibit those unauthorized users, which can largely protect sensitive internal data. Next, managed PoE switch 24 port provides you with failover and redundancy, which maintains network stability due to less downtime. Besides, 24 port PoE managed switch has built-in Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), which offers backup paths to prevent from endless looping in the case of some devices’ failure. Moreover, some 24 port managed PoE switches is equipped with SFP slots. For instance, FS.COM S1400-24T4F managed 24 port PoE switch gives you 4 SFP ports to allow network expansion with flexibility.

S1400-24T4F managed 24 port PoE switch

 S1400-24T4F 24 port PoE+ managed switch, 4 SFP, 400W by FS.

·24 Port PoE Switch: Managed vs Unmanaged vs Smart Switch

For 24 port managed PoE switches option, it is noted that there are two versions of 24 port PoE switch available in the market: smart PoE switch and fully managed PoE switch. Generally speaking, fully managed switch is targeted at providing optimal network performance and reliability, especially in large and complex data centers. 24 port smart switch over 24 port unmanaged switch is slightly managed to cater for smaller size network and cost saving demand, which is best fit for home and office usage.

Buy 24 Port PoE Switch: Unmanaged vs Managed PoE Switch Selection Guide

After explaining each one respectively, we can come to the following conclusion. 24 port managed PoE switch is designed for optimized network performance, which is best suitable for organizations with heavy workloads, high traffic and requiring for custom management and troubleshoot remotely and securely. 24 port PoE switch unmanaged is best fit for anyone who just want to simply set up a network and let it run automatically or starters to get rid of the configuration trouble. Thus it is commonly used in home and small offices. Simply put, the managed 24 port PoE switch is for advanced users whereas the unmanged 24 port PoE switch is specially for beginners

managed or unmanaged 24 port PoE switch

Conclusion

Buy 24 port PoE switch, should I buy managed PoE switch 24 port or 24 port PoE switch unmanaged? Or should I take smart PoE switch? Don’t indiscreetly make decisions. Before asking this question, figure out the exact network environment and the degree you want to take control of your network. Because each solution has its edges over the other and respective optimal situation for usage.

Related article: 48 Port PoE Switch Managed vs Unmanaged

FS 24 Port PoE Switch – Cheap PoE Switch Solution

PoE switch is becoming more and more popular with the ever increasing demand for high capacity and flexibility in various applications. Power over Ethernet switch is available with PoE switch 8 port, 16 port, 24 port and 48 port. Among them, PoE switch 24 port is the most popular and economic one in the market. So today we’ll focus on the part of 24 port PoE switch.

What Are the Options for FS 24 Port PoE Switch?

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a technology that lets Ethernet cables carry electrical power in the process of data transmission. PoE switch is a power sourcing equipment (PSE) that has Power over Ethernet setting built-in to provide centralized function of data transmission and power supply for network terminals over one single cable simultaneously. FS 24 port PoE switch is designed with 24×10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 2×combo port, 1×console port and 2 Gigabit SFP slots.

24 port PoE switch

Figure 1: This photo shows the front panel of 24 port PoE gigabit switch by FS.

FS recommends two managed gigabit 24 port PoE+ switch to provide high-quality and efficient networks: S1400-24T4F 24 port PoE switch and S1600-24T4F 24 port PoE managed switch.

Table below shows product details of S1400-24T4F and S1600-24T4F 24 PoE switch

P/N S1400-24T4F S1600-24T4F
Rate Level 1G switch 1G switch
Switching Capacity 52Gbps 52Gbps
Max. Power Consumption 400W 600W
Gigabit RJ45 Ports 24 24
SFP Ports 4 4
SFP+ Ports N/A N/A

There is no much distinction between the two versions of FS 24 port PoE+ managed Ethernet switch except the power capacity. One is 400W whereas the other is 600W. The suggestion is that if you need to power more devices, S1600-24T4F 24 port PoE switch would be a better choice.

What Are the Applications of 24 Port PoE Switch?

FS 24 port PoE switch provides the benefits of security, management efficiency and superior performance, which makes the 24 port PoE managed switch a natural fit for SME (small and medium enterprise) and start-up business solution. Such PoE switch 24 port is commonly applied to three powered devices (PD): VoIP phones, IP camera and wireless access points (AP).

24 port PoE switch application

Figure 2: This photo illustrates the application of FS S1600-24T4F 24 port PoE switch for IP phones and desktops.

What Are the Advantages of 24 Port PoE Switch?

Cost and Time Efficiency

FS S1400-24T4F 24 port PoE gigabit switch and S1600-24T4F 24 PoE switch is free from electrical power cable, which reduces the extra time and expense for installation.

Flexibility

24 port PoE switc breaks the tether of local electrical wiring, thus can be placed in any place they are needed, in a rack, on a wall or on desktop. The Auto-MDI/MDIX also makes 24 port gigabit PoE switch backward compatible with traditional network devices.

Reliability

Different from traditional distributed wall sockets, FS 24 port PoE switch is specified by worldwide PoE standards, both IEEE 802.3af and IEEE 802.3at. PoE switch 24 port can safely supply other PoE compatible devices such as Cisco IP phones.

High Capacity

FS 24 port PoE switch has 24 ports, which means you can connect up to 24 power-hungry PDs to network at the same time.

Conclusion

FS 24 port PoE switch is best fit for SMEs and start-up companies which require for VoIP phones, IP camera and wireless APs. 24 PoE switch not only upgrades your network to a higher-capacity system, but also centralizes the cabling function for power supply and data transmission. FS 24 port PoE switch price is highly cost-effective with equal performance with other brand-name PoE switches like cisco 24 port PoE switch. For cheap PoE switch 8 port, PoE switch 24 port and 48 port PoE switch, FS.COM will be a good way to go. So why not set up PoE to upgrade you network right now?