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FS S2805S-24TF-P vs. Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G: Picking the Right One for Your Small Business

In the ever-evolving world of networking equipment, making the right choice for your small business can be a daunting task. Two contenders in the Ethernet switch market are the FS S2805S-24TF-P and the Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G. Both switches offer impressive features tailored to meet the needs of small businesses. In this article, we will compare FS S2805S-24TF-P and Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G across various parameters to help you make an informed decision.

FS S2805S-24TF-P vs. Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G

Performance and Features

When it comes to performance, both FS S2805S-24TF-P and the Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G offer impressive capabilities. Both of them are equipped with 24x 10/100/1000BASE-T PoE+ ports and 4x 1G SFP uplink ports, offering flexibility to accommodate various types of connectivity options. In terms of features, both switches support advanced protocols and features like VLANs, QoS, and Link Aggregation Protocol. FS S2805S-24TF-P is also a fully featured L2 switch that comes with simple Web GUI management, greatly meeting the network demands of growing SMBs.

Scalability

Scalability is a crucial factor to consider when selecting a switch for your network. When it comes to scalability, both switches are capable of meeting the growing demands of your small business. With 24 ports each, they provide ample room for expansion. You can quickly expand your business’s network capacity to support powered devices such as IP security cameras, wireless access points, VoIP phones, etc.

Reliability and Redundancy

Network downtime can be costly for small businesses, so reliability and redundancy are crucial considerations. FS S2805S-24TF-P and Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G both offer reliable hardware with robust build quality. FS S2805S-24TF-P is packed with one power supply and 3 built-in fans for superior network reliability. It also supports non-stop upgrades, continuous forwarding, graceful restarting, and redundancy protection. On the other hand, Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G comes with 1 default power supply and a fanless design.

Management and Monitoring

Effective management and monitoring are essential for network optimization and troubleshooting. FS S2805S-24TF-P provides a user-friendly web-based management interface, which is intuitive and easy to navigate. It also supports SNMP, making it compatible with various network management tools. Likewise, Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G offers a robust web-based management interface with a comprehensive set of features.

Security

Network security is paramount, even for small businesses. FS S2805S-24TF-P comes equipped with features like MAC address filtering, port security, and IEEE 802.1X network access control to help safeguard your network. Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G, being a Cisco product, offers advanced security features, including Access Control Lists (ACLs), DHCP snooping, and IP Source Guard, providing enhanced protection for your network.

Cost

Cost is often a significant factor when making purchasing decisions. FS S2805S-24TF-P generally comes at a much more affordable price compared to Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G. This can be especially beneficial for small businesses with budget constraints or those looking for cost-effective solutions without compromising on essential features and performance. However, it’s essential to weigh the upfront cost against the long-term benefits and features that best align with your business requirements.

Support & Warranty

FS S2805S-24TF-P offers a 5-year limited warranty against defects in materials or workmanship. Most importantly, FS provides free professional technical support and 24/5 live customer service. You can always find tailored solutions and services for your businesses. Similarly, Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G comes with a limited lifetime warranty and complementary one-year access to Cisco’s Small Business Support Center for ongoing support. However, the level and extent of support may vary, and it’s important to review the specific terms and conditions of the warranty before making a decision.

FS S2805S-24TF-P vs. Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G at a Glance

Here is a table comparing the specifications of FS S2805S-24TF-P and Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G:

Specification	FS S2805S-24TF-P	Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G
Ports	48x 1G SFP, 6x 10Gb SFP+ Uplinks	48x 1G SFP, Modular Uplinks
Switching Capacity	56 Gbps	56 Gbps
Forwarding Rate	41.66 Mpps	41.66 Mpps
Power Supply	1 default power supply	1 default power supply
Fan	3 Built-in	Fanless
Power Budget	370W	370W
Cost	Varies	Varies

Please note that the cost of these switches can vary depending on the retailer, region, and additional features or support options selected. It’s best to check with authorized vendors or the respective manufacturers for the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the choice between FS S2805S-24TF-P and Cisco CBS250-24FP-4G depends on your specific network requirements, budget, and the level of support and warranty coverage you prioritize. If cost-effectiveness is a significant consideration for your small business, FS S2805S-24TF-P may be a suitable choice, offering competitive performance and essential features at a more affordable price. Conducting a thorough evaluation and consulting with networking professionals can help you make an informed decision that aligns with your needs and goals.

What Is PoE and Power Over Ethernet Switch?

Network switches with PoE technology are widely used in business, school districts and healthcare facilities for the big benefits of their IP surveillance networks. So what is PoE, what is power over Ethernet switch, could you explain?

What is PoE?

PoE is short for power over Ethernet, which is a technology that can pass electrical power through an Ethernet cable alongside data. For example, if a digital camera is PoE-enabled, it only requires a network connection since it would receive the electrical power from the power over Ethernet cable. PoE technology actually makes hooking up network devices more convenient in any context. By doing so, the number of cables that must be configured for network installation will be greatly minimized. Therefore, PoE technology makes networking setup much simpler and less expensive.

Power over Ethernet usually starts with a Gigabit PoE switch or power over Ethernet injector, which pumps out the electrical power over the Ethernet ports and passes it to the device end via Ethernet cables. So what is power over Ethernet switch?

What Is PoE Switch?

A power over Ethernet switch is a normal rack-mounted network switch with integrated power over Ethernet functionality. It can automatically recognize the PoE devices like IP surveillance camera or wireless access point that connected to the switch, and pass power to the device accordingly. Network switches deliver power based on some standards. According to IEEE 802.3af, the delivering power can be up to 15.4 Watts on a switch port, while IEEE 802.3at rules that the one port can deliver power up to 30 Watts. To find the switch that is right for you, all you need to do is choose a switch according to your power needs.

In addition, there are managed and unmanaged options of PoE switches on the market. Unmanaged PoE switch is a plug-and-play device, which only provides power and signaling to Ethernet endpoints. On the other hand, managed PoE switch supports many advanced features, including VLANs, SNMP so as to manage and monitor the network. Considering the rapid growth of today’s technology and the future’s upgrade, I think it’s wise to choose a managed PoE switch.

Using Power Over Ethernet Switch to Upgrade Your Network

When connecting to the networking devices, PoE switches are a more cost-effective choice. As the figure below shows, users are able to connect the IP phones, wireless access points and IP cameras directly to the PoE switch. There is no need for additional wiring, power sources. Thus, in this case, it can save time and money for additional wiring, which will result in a relatively lower cost.

The following table lists some switches produced by FS.COM that I want to recommend to you. They are available in 8, 24 and 48 ports. Look at the product detail, and select one for your need.

FS P/N	S1250-8T2F	S1600-24T4F	S1600-48T4S
Description	8 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, and 2 Gigabit SFP slots	24 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, 2 combo port, and 2 Gigabit SFP slots	48 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, 4 10G SFP+ slots
Power Consumption Per PoE Port	Max.30W	Max.30W	Max.30W
Switching Capacity	20Gbps	52Gbps	180 Gbps
Forwarding Rate	14.88Mpps	38.69Mpps	130.94 Mpps

S1250-8T2F and S1600-24T4F are 1G switches, which are suitable for home and small business application. S1600-48T4S is a 10Gb switch, which is designed for medium business networks.

Conclusion

Power over Ethernet switch is a great choice when you want to set up a cloud phone system or wire a security camera cluster since it can save your time and money and adds flexibility to your IP network. Want to find a good network switch, please visit FS.COM, both copper switch and fiber optic switch could be found here.

Home Network Switch Buying Guide

Today, almost every home has built a home network which requires some basic hardware. The first important hardware for your home network is a data switch. It allows you to connect several computers and some other networking devices like printers, IP cameras together. Since there are so many data switches like 12 or 24 port switch on the market, which one is the right for your actual needs? Here focus on home network switch buying guide to help you find the best home network switch.

Benefits of Using Home Network Switch

For home use, one of the main advantages of using a data switch is that Ethernet connections will become much faster and more reliable, due to the higher bandwidth it can provide. As such, it’s perfect for things like gaming or transferring network files, and other real time application will perform better through the home network switch. For example, if there are several users in your home, then you can use the switch to share an Internet connection to all the users and all the connected devices at the same time.

Meanwhile, you can use the network switch to build a home LAN. Then you can share any type of files maybe a music folder across your home network. Instead of transferring files on the Internet, other members of your home network can access the songs in the folder through the home network switch. This helps to simplify the transmission flow.

In addition, you can add a guest VLAN to manage the guest’s access permission and ensure the Internet security.

Specifications Should be Considered Before Buying

Before you decide to buy a network switch for your network, here are some specifications you should pay attention to.

- Speed

Network speed is always the most important performance that people concern most. Currently, the network switches are capable of handling 10,100 even 1000 Mbps transfer data, which is sufficient for home use. Therefore, choose the switch that can provide appropriate speed that you need.

- Ports

The port number means how many networking devices can be connected to the switch. Network switches with 8 ports, 12 ports, 24 ports and 48 ports are available on the market. So select a switch with enough ports for your devices. If you’ll add more devices in the future, then choose a switch which will offer you extra room to grow.

- Price

Price is always an important factor when buying anything. There are different types of switches on the market, such as the managed switch, unmanaged switch and Gigabit PoE switch, and their prices vary greatly. So you can establish a budget for your switch, thus you can narrow the buying scope and make a final decision.

Recommendations for Home Network Switch

Network switches with 24 ports are excellent for home use. Considering future upgrade, speed and ease of use, we choose FS S2800-24T4F as the best Ethernet switch for home networking. And we also recommend FS S1600-24T4F switch as an excellent budget option.

FS S3900-24T4F Switch

S3900-24T4F switch is a great option for home use and small business. It includes 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 copper ports and 4 1G SFP/RJ45 combo ports. The switch provides high performance with a packet forwarding rate up to 96Mpps. It supports multiple functions like VLAN, flash memory, etc. to make it easy for your network management. Besides, it adopts the fanless design and therefore it will not generate any noise, which is welcome in both homes and offices.

S3900-24T4S

Figure 1: S3900-24T4S Fanless Gigabit Stackable Managed Switch

FS S1600-24T4F Switch

This is a Gigabit PoE+ switch features 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, 2 combo ports and 2 Gigabit SFP ports. The max power consumption of this switch is 600W. And another highlight of this switch is that it’s designed with green energy saving technology. Therefore it can save energy without sacrificing performance by sensing whether the ports are idle or not, and then power down the idle ports. It’s a great, standard switch with the plug-and-play design.

Figure 2: 24 Port Gigabit PoE+ Managed Switch

Conclusion

As described above, we know how to buy a home network switch. We can select one based on the speed, ports and budget. Using a network switch can help us optimize our home network. FS.COM is ready to help you purchase your new data switch. Feel like you need a direction, don’t hesitate to contact us via sales@fs.com.

Powering PoE Switch From A PoE Switch: Is It Possible?

PoE (Power Over Ethernet) technology supports power and data transmission over the same Ethernet cable, which makes the cabling easier and greatly saves the space. Characterized by this advantage, PoE switch gains the popularity among many users. In practical application, we may meet some emergency, such as power failure. At this time, is powering PoE switch from a PoE switch possible? This article will discuss this topic.

Working Principe of PoE Switch

Before we come to the answer of powering PoE switch from a PoE switch, let’s learn about working principle of PoE switch. A whole PoE system consists of Powering Sourcing Equipment (PSE) and Power Device (PD). PoE switch is a type of PSE device. The PSE device not only powers Ethernet client devices, but also manage the entire Power over Ethernet process. While the PD device is PSE load which receives power, or we can call it PoE system client. The working principle pf PoE switch can be divided into five steps. For applications of PoE switch, you can read this article: Using PoE Switch for Different IP Camera Systems

Detection: PoE switch outputs very small voltage on the port, until it detects that the PD equipment connected to the cable end supports the IEEE802.3af standard.

PD Classification: After detecting the PD, PoE switch may classify PD equipment, and assess the power loss of PD equipment.

Begin to Supply Power: In a configurable time (usually less than 15μs) start-up period, PoE switch begin to power PD equipment with low voltage, until it provides 48V DC power supply.

Power Supply: PoE switch provide stable and reliable 48V DC power for PD equipment to meet the power consumption which is less than 15.4W.

Power Off: If the PD equipment is disconnected from the network, the PoE switch will stop powering the PD equipment quickly, generally within 300-400ms, and repeat to detect whether the end of the cable is connected to the PD equipment.

Powering PoE Device From A PoE Switch

PoE switch is self-adaptive. When the PSE has the power supply requirement, the PD will output the voltage to the PSE. This means the switch can be powered by PoE while simultaneously providing power by PoE to other devices such as IP phones or wireless access points. This provides great flexibility because it means that the switch can be deployed without the constraints of an AC power outlet. As for powering PoE switch from a PoE switch, Universal PoE (UPOE) technology will be required and the following part will talk about UPOE. The following figure shows the evolution of PoE technology.

Evolution of PoE Standard

Powering PoE Switch From A PoE Switch with UPOE Technology

UPOE technology is a new innovation from Cisco Systems which happens to the industry’s first 60-watt Power over Ethernet technology. It can offer twice the power per port of the switch—providing both power and network access to a greater range of devices through a single standard Ethernet cable. This can surely help to lower the total cost of IT operations. By using UPOE technology, powering PoE switch from a PoE switch is possible. Here is an example to help you have a better understanding of this.

Most major networking vendors provide PoE Passthru, but they all require using higher powered sources. It physically would be impossible otherwise. If X is the power provided to the switch and Y is the power the switch uses, then Z is the power available for PoE devices. Then X – Y = Z. If you want Z to meet the PoE specification, then X has to be at least: Z + Y which means your input power needs to be UPOE.

Conclusion

As the enterprise workspace evolves with more and more end devices for communication, collaboration, security, and productivity, the need of PoE is also evolving to support newer end devices with increased power requirements. Regarded as upgrade of PoE, UPOE technology doubles the power delivered per port over PoE+ to 60 Watts which can extend resilient network power to a broad range of devices. What’s more, it realizes powering PoE switch from a PoE switch.

Gigabit Switch Review: Ethernet Switches Recommendations

Ethernet switches, also known as network switches, serve as the brain of the whole network, especially for data center. On the market, there are various types of Ethernet switches which are designed for different requirements, such as port number, speed, managed or unmanaged. Faced with so many choices, you may get confused about which one is the best switch. In fact, not just you, there are a lot of people who don’t know how to make the choice. In the year 2017, Gigabit switch has been the hot topic at several big forums, and the question “Can you recommend a Gigabit switch for me?” frequently occurred. This article will focus on Gigabit switch review and recommend several Ethernet switches for you.

Gigabit Switch Review 1: D-Link DGS-1008G Gigabit Switch

D-Link DGS-1008G Gigabit switch has eight gigabit ports and boasts data transfer speeds of up to 2000 Mbps. It comes with QoS features, which automatically organize and prioritize important and time-sensitive data packets, ensuring efficient delivery. This feature helps enable smoother media streaming, VoIP calling and online gaming features. In addition, it utilizes D-Link’s Green Technology which allows the switch to reduce heat and use less energy. D-Link DGS-1008G Gigabit switch is a solid choice if you are looking for a fast, easy-to-use and reliable network switch.

Gigabit Switch Review 2: FS S5800-8TF12S Managed Switch

FS S5800-8TF12S switch is a 12 port smart managed switch. It is designed with twelve 10G SFP+ ports and eight 1000BASE-T/ SFP combo ports. The 1000BASE-T copper RJ45 ports support Gigabit speeds over Cat6 cable up to 100 meters, and the 1G SFP fiber ports can be connected to other devices via SFP transceivers over fiber optic cable. FS S5800-8TF12S 12 port smart managed switch is designed to support a demanding and dynamic environment of SMB networks. It is a good choice for 10G access Layer switch for hyper-converged infrastructure.

Gigabit Switch Review: FS-S5800-8TF12S 12-port smart managed switch

Gigabit Switch Review 3: UniFi US-24-500W PoE Switch

UniFi US-24-500W switch is a 24 port PoE switch which comes with 24 Gigabit RJ45 ports and 2 SFP ports. Its non-blocking throughput is up to 26 Gbps and the switching capacity is up to 52 Gbps. UniFi US-24-500W PoE switchh is a fully managed Gigabit switch which can deliver robust performance and intelligent switching for networks. Besides, it offers the forwarding capacity to simultaneously process traffic on all ports at line rate without any packet loss. It is really a cost-effective PoE switch at $399.00. For more details about Gigabit PoE switch review, you can read my previous article: 8 Port PoE Switch Recommendations.

Gigabit Switch Review 4: FS S5850-48T4Q 10GBASE-T Switch

FS S5850-48T4Q 10GBASE-T copper switch is a 1U managed L2/L3 Ethernet switch. It has forty-eight 10GBASE-T RJ45 ports and four 40G QSFP+ ports. And it can provide 1.28Tbps switching capacity. FS S5850-48T4Q switch is designed to meet next generation Metro, Data Center and Enterprise network requirements. For example, it can be used for Spine-Leaf network which is a popular architecture design for data center. For 1GBASE-T copper switch at lower cost, FS S5850-48T4Q switch is a great option to help you migrate to 10GbE network.

Conclusion

The above content Gigabit Ethernet switch review has recommend 8 port unmanaged Gigabit switch, 12 port 10G smart managed switch, 24 port PoE switch and 48 port 10GBASE-T copper switch. All of them are good choices when compared with the same type of Ethernet switches. I hope this article can help you choose the best switch when you feel confused.