Ubiquiti UniFi USW-Pro-XG-8-PoE Internal Hardware Overview
Getting inside this switch was not too bad. Here you can see the main part with the fans.
The bottom part is a PoE board with Realtek chips.
Here is a better look at the board.
Here is a look at the other side of the PoE board.
Here is a view of the switch without the PoE board installed. If you saw our recent Cisco Catalyst C1300-8FP-2G Review, you will notice that Cisco did not use a PoE daughterboard like Ubiquiti is, but we will quickly note that it is very common to see this design in PoE switches.
Next, we have two AVC fans.
This is how far we got into the switch before we started getting worried that further disassembly would jeopardize future test results with it. Still, we found online that it is using the Realtek RTL9313, which makes sense. We saw the MIPS-based management processor which aligns with the RTL9313.
We have reviewed switches, including the Sodola SL-SWTG3C12F 12-Port 10G SFP+ managed switch and the recent Sodola 10Gbase-T and SFP+ 12-port managed switch, that use the same chip. Although this costs more than twice as much, Ubiquiti’s hardware engineering around that switch chip appears to be a step above, and it supports PoE++ and more 10GBase-T ports. That RTL9313 just seems to be the low-cost option and we have seen it perform quite well.
Here are the fans if you want to see them. Actually, Ubiquiti did a great job picking these as the unit is generally very quiet when in operation after it boots. While we recognize some folks read our reviews, looking at switches and think of fan swap opportunities, we would not recommend that with these fans.
Next, let us get to the management.
Ubiquiti UniFi USW-Pro-XG-8-PoE Management
We are not going to go into depth on Ubiquiti UniFi here. You can read about that overall solution online. When we plugged this switch in, our UniFi controller immediately recognized it and asked us to adopt it.
Once it is adopted, you have many common options, including VLAN management. One really nice feature is that the PoE++ can also be set to “Off” in the interface, so you can remotely power cycle APs, cameras, or other devices directly from the UniFi interface.
You can also take a look at the different ports here like other Ubiquiti switches.
Here is perhaps the neatest feature. You can set the Etherlighting to color based on speed or based on the network to which it is attached. This helps quickly identify network links. Also, it just looks cool. Meta has had RGB QSFP cages for some time in some of its OCP switches. This is like a more practical use of that for copper connections. Is this a “must have”? No. It is still really neat.
Next, let us get to the performance.
 and test it using a high-end traffic generator){kind=link}
Would be really nice if the L3 performance could be tested as Ubiquiti advertises with this.
The world waits while STH conjures up it’s next Ubiquiti review. Your network reviews don’t have any peers now.
That’s a really nice switch for desktop! There isn’t a lot of market for 8 port tx + sfp+ 10g switches, even the chinese switches are hard to come by like that. I was so disappointed by qnap I’ll never buy theirs again, but several network engineer friends of mine use Ubiquiti so it can’t be too bad.
I think the switch is a good deal in terms of cost per 10G port. The CRS304 has 4x 10G, and the cost per 10G is around $41~43. This got 10x 10G ports, and the cost per 10G is $49.9, slightly more than the CRS, but it gives you PoE availability.
The main thing about this switch is that it fits in a 10-inch rack. There aren’t many switches out there that have 10GBASE-T + SFP+ + POE.
I’m looking for a 10g switch for my 10-inch rack, so that’s why I’m looking at this one.
If anyone has a better suggestion, please let me know.
Yay you’re doing the good work. Best testing. Ubiquiti should have you review all they’ve got. I’m just waiting until you review from now on
Having an avg and max jitter are really not enough to tell you, for example, if your VoIP is going to annoy users. The average is 3ms, ok, great, but does that mean:
– most packets 2, some packets 20? or
– most packets 2, occasional packets 70? or
– something else?
The former is probably fine for VoIP, the latter will cause sound artifacts.
So when you say you saw unusual jitter on this box, that would be the first question I’d want answered: Does VoIP work well? Even under heavy load?
But more generally, you should be able to characterize jitter in a more interesting way, and I’d be surprised if your fancy new testing box doesn’t have software to do that already. Show a jitter CDF graph, or at least tell us the %age that comes in with latency <40ms, <50ms, <60ms since dejitter buffers are usually in that range. Alternatively you could how a jitter histogram.
BTW, "max jitter" is mostly useless info. 95th percentile is far more interesting.
Grr. “…show a jitter histogram”. Sorry.
@justsomeguy, the average jitter seems to be 3ns, not 3ms. So like 6 orders of magnitude lower. The max is <1.2us (microsecond). I don't think any human can discern such variations.
Wow. Yes, obviously, ms jitter in a 10G switch would be ridiculous. Clearly I need to focus a little better. Sorry.
…though the jitter info would still be a little interesting.
What is the black protection around SFP+ ports ? It-is in plastic or in metal ? If it in metal it can help a little bit to dissipate heat
I have this model sitting on my desk at home, powering our main floor AP and providing connections for a pair of desktops (yes, they’re on 10Gbps connections because I’m silly) and a printer, and I’ve been quite happy with it. I will note one minor thing; it does not seem to support 10Mbps connections. The old alarm system in my home uses a 10Mbps connection, and would not establish a link with this switch. It probably won’t affect anyone looking to support multiple multi-gig connections, but it caught me off guard for a few moments.
@ Michael Butash. “I was so disappointed by qnap I’ll never buy theirs again”
What was your disappointment with the qnap switch you mentioned. Which model were you referring to and what was your problems ?
I just wish this little switch had the front panel LCD like some other Ubiquiti gear. Surprisingly handy.
155W of PoE++ is not much at all given that PoE++ can go all the way up to 90W per port but this switch tops out at 60W per port. That equates to two ports at the power level with a bit left over for another 30W or two 15W pieces of gear. Many of the higher end Wi-fi 7 access points are going toward 60W. Then there is the trend of supporting PSE pass through where 30W or 15W PoE devices can start to be daisy chained off of a 90W or 60W capable switch port. (Daisy chain PoE speakers are awesome.) Speaking of power, being able to support a second power supply would be nice.
The variable latency here could be explained by the PoE addition on the ports. There is logic here to account for power delivery that SFP+ ports don’t need to do. What would be interesting is if this switch also supports 802.1Qav or 802.1Qbv for deterministic networking. That amount of variable latency would be troublesome in that scenario.
Overall seemingly a good switch for the price, especially if you’re already a Ubiquiti user.
Ubiquiti actively evades sanctions to sell tech to Russia for use in war. Boycott.
@joachim source? If so, then yes, boycott.
I imagine that source would be the two recent Pablo Torre Finds Out episodes on same-name YouTube channel, about Robert Pera.
J’ai constaté quel que chose d’extrême ment grave appler moi de toute urgence je vous explique tout par téléphone SoS Tel :418-647-2222