POE Switch Recommendations ??

[bifixit30911]

I am beginning to setup a BI system with 12 cameras.
I purchased an IPCAM Power 24 port switch: p/n IPCP-24P2G-AF2 POE.

When trying to access this device thru Windows The login screen has never worked properly;
additionally I believe it corrupted my Windows 10 Start Menu. and even though
I unplugged from my network I cannot get it to stop 'flashing' up on my screen
after cold reboot. I never added any software or firmware nor changed my bios.

I prefer to purchase a different switch altogether preferably in a similar size, one with better support
and documentation. Cost isn't a factor.

Any suggestions ??

thank You !

 

[The Automation Guy]

Honestly I think most people would be well served by getting a used enterprise quality POE switch off EBay. These switches are "too old" or "too slow" for enterprise use, but can still find long life expectancies in a normal residential setting. My current go to favorite is the Broadcom ICX series. Check out this thread on the ServeTheHome site that is everything you could ever want to know about these switches. Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)

The switches are easy to use in a "dumb" capacity (just plug and play), but can also be used in more robust network environments where you want VLANs or L3 routing, etc. and they are dirt cheap on ebay. The 6610 series 48 port POE variant sells for $100 or less when you can find a good reseller dumping them.

 

[bifixit30911]

Honestly I think most people would be well served by getting a used enterprise quality POE switch off EBay. These switches are "too old" or "too slow" for enterprise use, but can still find long life expectancies in a normal residential setting. My current go to favorite is the Broadcom ICX series. Check out this thread on the ServeTheHome site that is everything you could ever want to know about these switches. Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)

The switches are easy to use in a "dumb" capacity (just plug and play), but can also be used in more robust network environments where you want VLANs or L3 routing, etc. and they are dirt cheap on ebay. The 6610 series 48 port POE variant sells for $100 or less when you can find a good reseller dumping them.

Thanks for the suggestion but a quick glance at Ebay shows many of these are untested. I really need something I can have a high confidence for Plug and Play.

 

[Teken]

Thanks for the suggestion but a quick glance at Ebay shows many of these are untested. I really need something I can have a high confidence for Plug and Play.

A quick message to the seller to inquire what the current operational state of the switch would offer that insight. If the seller indicates this is for parts / salvage you know the state. If they simply state it’s been powered up with no testing one has to balance what you may receive vs a great value.

But, I do agree if you had nothing and want 100% reliability buying a new managed POE switch is the way to go. At some point you might consider or entertain the used market like on eBay.

Because there are lots of diamonds in the rough to be had!

Regardless, I truly believe everyone is best served with buying new. Once the primary systems are in place adding in lightly used enterprise hardware allows anyone to have and employ the best in class hardware to make a system good to great!

Let us know what you decide upon and the reasons of as I am sure that information will help guide another in the future.

 

[bifixit30911]

Thank you for the reply. Right now I am looking to get the system up and running asap. Looking for paid help in setting up BI.

 

[Timokreon]

I've used Netgear (the ones made in Taiwan) and TrendNet without any problems.

 

[Teken]

Thank you for the reply. Right now I am looking to get the system up and running asap. Looking for paid help in setting up BI.

The world is your oyster if finances aren’t an issue. I’ll simply affirm some basics in case you’re not aware of them.

• Buy a managed switch that has solid VLAN capabilities and L3 routing.
• Don’t go smaller than a 24 port switch.
• POE+ is the only one to consider
• 250 - 500 watts is the bare minimum

- Energy: Confirm what the idle power consumption is because you’re going to be paying for this forever.

- Noise: Validate what the noise output level is for the switch and if it uses PWM fans to ramp up / down based on thermals.

- Warranty: I’m not normally an extended warranty guy but I’d say you bought this through Amazon. They offer probably one the best extended warranty values for hardware. Nothing ever happens in the first year. Having a 3-5 year warranty from a third party for a no fuss no muss company is cheap protection.

Some enterprise makers and even second tier makers offer lifetime warranty. They cost more but companies like Cisco, HP, TrendNet, etc aren’t going to dick you around when it’s time for a warranty return (generally speaking).

 

[Flintstone61]

If your not running Poe 802.3AT PTZ's then you can get a less power hungery switch.
If you don't foresee anything beyond 15-18 cam's
You can get a Poe 802.3af switch which uses less electricity.
Cost musta been a factor if you bought a $163 no name switch.
I got a 24 port Cisco 3650x with POE+ on all ports 1100 watts ( overkill) of power for
$149 used/tested. Been running for about 1.5 years now. hot swap fans, and hot swap PSU's



why are you visiting a switch with Windows?
You must want a managed switch....
Managed-->

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-24-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Managed/dp/B071J24KX7/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=24+port+poe+switch&qid=1650225647&sr=8-3

If you don't need Vlans
you dont need to visit the switch with Windows.
Unmanaged-->

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-24-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Unmanaged/dp/B08CQPGXZB/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=24+port+poe+switch&qid=1650225712&sr=8-4

 

[Flintstone61]

You dont need support or documentation with a dumb switch. just plug them in and add devices, and it just works.

 

[samplenhold]

+1 @Flintstone61 said.

When I first started, I bought a managed switch simply because lots of folks here said so. But I have never used the managed part of the switch. I don't use VLANs. So I wasted some bucks buying that switch.

There is something to be said about not putting all your eggs in one basket. A few of the seasoned members here posted about using a few POE switches and dividing up the cams such that if one switch fails, other overlapping cams would still work.

I currently have four POE switches, that original managed switch, and three unmanaged switches. They are all Netgear. Two of the switches are in different parts of the house close to the cams such that I did not need to run so many wires back to the IT closet.

These are the switches I have been using:

JGS516PE-100NAS, GS308, GS305P, and GS308PP.

 

[Flintstone61]

Glad you chimed in... I was thinking about suggesting a couple umanaged 8 port switches to keep costs down and complexity down. Glad you have Netgear experience LOL.
A lot of those Switches on Amazon look suspiciously like they are made in the same factory with a variation in window dressing.
I wouldn't cry if a $75 8 port fanless did the job of my Cisco Sg200 at home. I spent the money when I was a Noob, only to find out that its 24 port with only 12 Ports of POE 802.3af. and a noisy fan..:/

 

[MrRobinHood]

I got one off these recently. a Netgear "NETGEAR 16-Port PoE Gigabit Ethernet Plus Switch (GS316EPP) - Managed with 15 x PoE+ @ 231W, 1 x 1G SFP Port, Desktop/Wall mount"

300 Series 16-Port PoE+ Gigabit Switch (231W) - GS316EPP | NETGEAR

Looking for an affordable managed switch for your business? Check out GS316EPP 16-Port High-Power PoE+ Gigabit Ethernet Plus Switch (231W) with 1 SFP Port. Buy now!

www.netgear.com

It wasn't cheap at £250, but I didn't want to faff about with ebay at this stage in the game. So decided I wanted something with warranty.

15 Ports should be plenty for my use case, and went max power for future proofing.

The other two big considerations that sent me to this switch is that it's small and light (I can wall mount it as I have very little space), and it's totally silent, which is also important as noise is important in the room it's in.

If it wasn't for the size and noise constraints I could probably have got something cheaper.

So far very happy, not got around to getting vlans up yet, but that's the other reason why I got it. The interface is okay, and I like how you can check the power draw on each port. So far each of my cams are only drawing 7W max each, even with leds to the max, recording 24/7 etc. So even with 7 cams, that's only about 50W. So 180W spare for a ton more cams or even a few high power PTZ.

 

[Flintstone61]

Sounds like a Win WIn switch for Home use. thanks for chiming in. Even though im not the OP, it's good to hear other people's experience with these switches.
I went hog wild, being a noob, and got a monstrosity. When in hindsight I could have done what you've done.

 

[MrRobinHood]

Yeah, I'm definitely happy, even though it was pricey. I love being able to see the power draw, it's actually less than 7W per cam on average, but I put that number out there to be conservative.

If it wasn't for the size and noise constraints , I'd have almost certainly experimented with getting some cheaper 1U ones off ebay or even new.

It's so compact I've been able to mount it in a pretty snug spot on the wall and I'm going to put an 8 port patch panel above and below it next to sort out the cable spaghet currently going directly into it!

 

[Teken]

I'll add there's nothing wrong with keeping things simple especially as it relates to networking. The acronym of KISS was coined for a reason as its rooted in historical facts. A flat and low hardware count network is easier to learn, install, manage, and lighter on the pocket book.

When it comes time to trouble shoot there's less to identify and worry about.

Having said that, the phrase Buy once - Cry Once also has a place and is also rooted in historical facts. Everyday in this forum you'll read about a member who bought something only a month, to a year and has to upgrade or replace something because what they bought was low quality?!?

In 2022 there has never been more opportunity to buy reasonably priced network hardware that span Enterprise to Prosumer.

As others noted their hardware incorporates some of the best in class features and hardware options. Some, have never used the more advanced features and options like VLAN's / L3 routing. Nothing wrong with that but I would argue the point Better to have and not need - Than to need and not have.

A unmanaged switch with neither features can't be added back later - ever. The same is not true about a POE switch that incorporates the same and is literally just sitting there for a person to take advantage of the same if and when they are ready or have a need for it.

As I noted earlier on as it relates to power . . .

Buy only a POE+ switch that offers no less than 24 ports and 250~500 watts . . . Going this route cost more up front but you'll never run out of power / ports and allows a person to support almost any camera system on the market today! The market is flooded with 3rd tier hardware and some of them are the diamond in the rough for some.

It's safe to say the vast majority of people aren't made of money or have a money tree in the backyard. Regardless, investing the proper amount of finances into the network infrastructure is part & parcel of entering this market.

It's up to each person to decide for themselves after doing their own due diligence to educate themselves as to what are the options and minimum requirements. The OP has achieved the most critical thing already and that is simply posing the question here in the forums.

Good luck . . .

 

[Skispcs]

You have received a number of different responses so far.
You need to give your requirements and desires some serious thought before spending a bunch of money.
You could go the dumb switch route for less complexity and less cost but also less features.
If that meets your needs then go for it.

I don't feel you need a complex Layer 3 switch either.

You will need to add up the total POE requirements of your cameras and fins a switch that can supply that much with some room to go.

I would suggest a Cisco SG250 with at least 24 ports if not 48 to allow for growth.
Then use a pfsense router which supports vlans as the layer 3 router on a stick.

You can create multiple vlans and segregate your traffic for security.
e.g. all of the internet of things which do not get frequent security updates go in one vlan
cameras can go in another if you want.
Guests and teenagers with poor device security go in another vlan

Where do you live? paid tech support is available.

 

[Sim31]

I have been using a TP-Link TL-SG1008MP V2 since 2017 and I have never had any problems with it. My dad has a couple of the same model that I use also and hes been using his for about 3 years now with no problems either along with another friend who has used the TP-link POE switch. It powers and does quite well with our Dahua cams, which include couple of PTZ's and 4K-X color cams. Would recommend those.

 

[Nunofya]

The world is your oyster if finances aren’t an issue. I’ll simply affirm some basics in case you’re not aware of them.

• Buy a managed switch that has solid VLAN capabilities and L3 routing.
• Don’t go smaller than a 24 port switch.
• POE+ is the only one to consider
• 250 - 500 watts is the bare minimum

- Energy: Confirm what the idle power consumption is because you’re going to be paying for this forever.

- Noise: Validate what the noise output level is for the switch and if it uses PWM fans to ramp up / down based on thermals.

- Warranty: I’m not normally an extended warranty guy but I’d say you bought this through Amazon. They offer probably one the best extended warranty values for hardware. Nothing ever happens in the first year. Having a 3-5 year warranty from a third party for a no fuss no muss company is cheap protection.

Some enterprise makers and even second tier makers offer lifetime warranty. They cost more but companies like Cisco, HP, TrendNet, etc aren’t going to dick you around when it’s time for a warranty return (generally speaking).

Something like this?
TP-Link TL-SG2428P Jetstream
$359 on Amazon

 

[Skispcs]

Something like this?
TP-Link TL-SG2428P Jetstream
$359 on Amazon

I would personally stay away from anything that says "cloud managed" .

 

[The Automation Guy]

Thanks for the suggestion but a quick glance at Ebay shows many of these are untested. I really need something I can have a high confidence for Plug and Play.

Ultimately it's your decision and you need to be comfortable with it. I will say that companies are not replacing their network switches because they are broken however. If you deal with a reputable reseller (just look at their ratings - they will have a high number of items sold and a decent rating - which doesn't need to be perfect), you will be fine. Most will have a free return period if there is something wrong with the device. While I've never had to return a network switch because it was broken, I have had to return other items bought from these types of resellers and I've never had a problem. These guys do such high volume that they are not going to haggle over returns, they simply process the return and move on.