Help, looking for a 2.5Gbps managed switch with SFP+ 10Gbps and passive PoE.

[dvnevares]

I am looking for a switch to upgrade my personal network to 2.5G. I have purchased two Horaco ZX-SWTGW218AS switches to make the change, and I have realized that it wouldn't hurt to replace one of them with one that has passive PoE capability to power my MikroTik router and a Ubiquiti PowerBeam M5-300 antenna, saving power adapters.
Does any of you know if there is a switch with these features (8 Ethernet ports at 2.5G, a 10G SFP+ uplink, and 24V passive PoE) in the price range of Horaco switches? Ubiquiti has a switch that could work, but it's beyond my budget.

Any suggestions?

 

[kpfleming]

I suspect passive PoE is going to be rare on newly-designed switches at this point, and since 2.5GbE gear hasn't been available for long, all of them will be newly-designed

I power Mikrotik devices using PoE 'splitters' that extract the necessary voltage and make it available on a barrel connector; that's a fairly simple solution which also avoids having to use a plug-in adapter at the router's location.

 

[dvnevares]

I suspect passive PoE is going to be rare on newly-designed switches at this point, and since 2.5GbE gear hasn't been available for long, all of them will be newly-designed

I power Mikrotik devices using PoE 'splitters' that extract the necessary voltage and make it available on a barrel connector; that's a fairly simple solution which also avoids having to use a plug-in adapter at the router's location.

I think you are right about the 2.5G switches and passive PoE. My question now is if I can use a PoE injector and have the router connect to the switch at 2.5Gbps through the injector. I will try with the PoE injector from the Ubiquiti antenna and if it works I will look for an injector for multiple devices.

I'm doing all this to save power supplies on my desk, but if it's not possible I will have to live with them.

 

[blunden]

I think you are right about the 2.5G switches and passive PoE. My question now is if I can use a PoE injector and have the router connect to the switch at 2.5Gbps through the injector. I will try with the PoE injector from the Ubiquiti antenna and if it works I will look for an injector for multiple devices.

I'm doing all this to save power supplies on my desk, but if it's not possible I will have to live with them.

The PoE injector you have might limit you to 1Gbps unfortunately. You can probably find 2.5Gbps ones though.

 

[SimplyComplicated]

I am looking for a switch to upgrade my personal network to 2.5G. I have purchased two Horaco ZX-SWTGW218AS switches to make the change, and I have realized that it wouldn't hurt to replace one of them with one that has passive PoE capability to power my MikroTik router and a Ubiquiti PowerBeam M5-300 antenna, saving power adapters.
Does any of you know if there is a switch with these features (8 Ethernet ports at 2.5G, a 10G SFP+ uplink, and 24V passive PoE) in the price range of Horaco switches? Ubiquiti has a switch that could work, but it's beyond my budget.

Any suggestions?

The Ubiquiti PowerBeam M5-300 is Passive PoE (Pairs 4, 5+; 7, 8 Return) and thus also only a 10/100 MbE port.. You won't lose anything by using its included passive injector between the switch and the device it is already going only max out at 100Mbit.

 

[dvnevares]

The Ubiquiti PowerBeam M5-300 is Passive PoE (Pairs 4, 5+; 7, 8 Return) and thus also only a 10/100 MbE port.. You won't lose anything by using its included passive injector between the switch and the device it is already going only max out at 100Mbit.

I know that the M5-300 goes at 100Mbps. The idea of the switch with passive poe is to connect this antenna and the router (an hAP ax³) with fewer power supplies in the desktop and be able to use the 2.5Gpbs socket of the router.

I have tested the M5-300 source with the router and it only synchronizes at 100mpbs. I don't think I will be able to save the plug because I don't think there is a 2.5Gpbs POE injector.
I don't understand mikrotik's design decisions, having the POE output and 2.5Gbps in the same socket is a mistake.

 

[blunden]

I don't think I will be able to save the plug because I don't think there is a 2.5Gpbs POE injector.

There are definitely 2.5 Gbit/s active PoE injectors, but I'm not sure if there are any passive ones sold anywhere. Most vendors have moved on from passive PoE as far as I know.

 

[SimplyComplicated]

Passive POE is generally considered a hack these days as we have several generations of mature active POE. I am fairly confident you won't ever see a passive 2.5Gbit device.

 

[dvnevares]

Passive POE is generally considered a hack these days as we have several generations of mature active POE. I am fairly confident you won't ever see a passive 2.5Gbit device.

Mikrotik does not think the same. My router, a fairly recent hap hAP ax³, can be powered through passive POE at 24V and has a 2.5Gz network socket, precisely the only one that allows it to be powered through POE.

 

[blunden]

Mikrotik does not think the same. My router, a fairly recent hap hAP ax³, can be powered through passive POE at 24V and has a 2.5Gz network socket, precisely the only one that allows it to be powered through POE.

Ubiquiti who also used to use passive PoE moved away from it many years ago on their Unifi product line. It's certainly becoming more and more rare.

A user on the Ubiquiti forum actually made an interesting point that the 1 Gbps PoE injectors technically shouldn't actually prevent you from going faster since the injector is passive and simply adding power, assuming the signal quality through it is decent. Might be worth trying.

 

[dvnevares]

I did a test with a gigabit passive POE injector and the router links at 2.5Gbps