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To switch or not to switch

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ddaenen1

Very Senior Member
I am currently running a Netgear GS752TP switch as the main data distribution channel in my network with almost all devices (AP's, media, desktop,...) directly hardwired to it. In 2 instances, i use an additional Netgear GS108 switch to have more connection point in 2 locations. APs are Cisco WAP571 powered by the POE+ ports of the switch. Everything is working perfectly fine and above all, very reliable.

Last week i came accross a Cisco SG350-28P switch in brandnew condition on a 2nd hand website (similar to Craigslist) for 100 Euro which i thought was a bargain so i didn't hesitate and bough it - an impulse buy, you can say. I received the switch and it is truly in new condition and actually works perfect.

Now my dilemma is, to change the Netgear with the Cisco or not. Netgear has been fine but i will never need 48 ports and the fans are quite loud but not an issue as my cabinet is in the basement. The Cisco is 24 ports and significant less loud and all ports are POE+ with 4 60W POE ports. I thought that there maybe an advantage of having a Cisco switch working with Cisco AP's but i haven't been able to allocate anything specific in the setting on both devices.

Any advice or insights you all can provide on a do or don't?
 
The extra POE power will be nice. I don't think you use VLANs so I am not sure whether you will notice the change out. But let us know if the wireless runs better.

I would run it as a L3 switch with VLANs.

It goes without saying update to latest firmware before putting into service.
 
Well, after i got the latest firmware update, i migrated from the Netgear to the Cisco switch today. All in all, a painless process as i did have some concerns about the LAG configuration as it looked more complicated than with the Netgear but not so. All seems to be working perfectly fine. I did notice that the Cisco has some features such as protected ports, which may come in handy if i do not want certain devices to have access to the rest of the network but for the rest not much to report. POE working well and the AP's as before. I will do some speed testing later on. I do have the impression that the Cisco has more features but i haven't gotten to that yet.
 
The Cisco SG350 switch have ACLs which I find nice for controlling local network flows.

I have no idea whether Netgear supports ACLs or not.
 
You did this upgrade for 100 Euro only? :)

LOL. I get your point. I thought that the Cisco having all POE+ ports with 4 60W POE ports was a bit more future proof and the fact that maybe combining a Cisco switch with Cisco AP's might give an advantage (which i have yet to figure out, if any) but on the other hand, at 100 Euro i thought it was a steal :)
 
I have a question for the experts: i am currently using one of the uplink ports to connect the switch to my pfsense box LAN side. Is there anything wrong with that? Everything seems to be working perfectly fine.
 
The uplink ports on the Cisco switch are just regular ports so it does not matter which port you use for uplink. You could use port 1 for uplink. The only difference is you can replace a port with a fiber module or copper module. I am thinking switching and routing. POE+ may be different.
 
I thought that there maybe an advantage of having a Cisco switch working with Cisco AP's but i haven't been able to allocate anything specific in the setting on both devices.

Any advice or insights you all can provide on a do or don't?
Generally, the only time you see advantages like this is when the components are part of some sort of 'system' (ubiquiti, meraki, et al). For plain jane Cisco, I wouldn't expect any differences.
 
What I see is a lot of companies overstate their spec like with POE+ which cause problems. Cisco understates because big companies' budget by specs.
 
What I see is a lot of companies overstate their spec like with POE+ which cause problems. Cisco understates because big companies' budget by specs.
Yep, classic 'overpromise underdeliver' vs 'underpromise overdeliver' scenario.
 

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