How do you choose between a Commercial vs. Industrial PoE Switch?

Commercial Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches and industrial PoE (Power over Ethernet) switches are essentially the same. The greatest disparity between these two products’ features and applications is operating temperature.

The questions are: Where do you want to use your compact PoE switch, and which one should you choose to save money?

What is a PoE Switch?

Commercial PoE Switch

Commercial Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches can operate at a temperature range between 0ºC and 50ºC. Therefore, they are used in normal temperature environments, like schools, offices, and university campuses. These compact PoE switches are available in managed PoE switches (GPoE+/M, GHPoEBT/M, 10GPoE+/M, and 10GPoEBT/M) or unmanaged PoE switches (GPoE+/Sx, GHPoEBT/Sx, 10GPoE+/Sx, and 10GPoEBT/Sx). As you can see in the table below, these compact PoE switches have RJ-45 user ports used in critical infrastructure applications for powering small cells, Wi-Fi access points, IP surveillance cameras, and a variety of enterprise networking equipment. They can also be managed with any standard web browser or SNMP management system. Management facilitates monitoring and PoE scheduling features, powered device (PD) heart-beat monitoring, and automatic PD restart. 

10G vs. 1G, Managed vs. Unmanaged, Commercial PoE Switch

The Omnitron 1G and 10G PoE switches support self-healing and protection features, like link aggregation, Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), and Industrial Media Redundancy Protocol (MRP). As the director of product management said, “In addition to saving space and increased flexibility with their compact size, our PoE switches offer a turnkey solution for edge networks that are faced with escalating bandwidth and high-power requirements. As many of the latest Wi-Fi access points, small cells, and IP surveillance cameras require more than 60 W of PoE power, these switch’s unique ability to deliver high-power PoE (60-100W) on all the 1G access ports gives the network operators and enterprise network administrators a solution to overcome the bandwidth and high-power demand at the network edge. Our PoE switches are ideal for critical bandwidth networks with a strict, no-oversubscription bandwidth requirement.”

Industrial PoE Switch

Industrial Power over Ethernet switches can operate at temperature ranges between -40ºC and 75ºC. These ruggedized PoE switches are designed for industrial and outdoor network applications, powering Wi-Fi access points, small cells, IP surveillance cameras, and various industrial and transportation equipment. They are deployed in extreme environments for organizations like Utilities, Railways, Industrial Manufacturing, and a variety of Defense and Intelligence agencies such as the US Army, Navy and Air Force. These compact industrial PoE switches are available as managed and unmanaged models. The managed industrial PoE switches are managed using any standard web browsers or SNMP management system. Management facilitates remote monitoring, configuring, and PoE scheduling features, as well as powered device (PD) client monitoring and automatic failure recovery restart. These compact switches have fiber-optic uplink ports and RJ-45 user ports. RuggedNet Industrial PoE Fiber Switches are designed for resilience and redundancy with features such as Industrial Media Redundancy (MRP), link aggregation (LAG), and Rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP) protocols.

10G vs. 1G, Managed vs. Unmanaged, Industrial PoE Switch

Conclusion

All of the 16 Omnitron PoE switches above are designed and manufactured in the USA. When it comes down to cost, an Industrial PoE switch has a slightly higher cost than a Commercial PoE switch.  The reason is because Industrial PoE switches use specialized components designed to withstand extreme temperatures, and a pleated metal casing that provides faster heat dissipation and protects the device from moisture, dust and foreign particles.

Now, it is time to answer the question that we asked you earlier: Where do you want to use your compact PoE switch? Your environment will be the main deciding factor. If the answer is a normal environment or one that’s temperature-controlled, like home, school, or the office, the best option is commercial PoE switches. However, if you want to use PoE switches in harsher and extreme temperature environments, your answer is industrial PoE switches. There are more options that you have to consider before you pick a switch (Learn more).

Before you buy any product, contact Omnitron for free pre-sales support. It is always a good idea to talk to a specialist who can guide you.

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