Network Switches

# Cisco SG250-26HP Switch Review — 4 Months in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The **Cisco SG250-26HP** is an excellent unmanaged-to-managed tier switch for mid-size networks that need PoE without the complexity of running a full Unifi controller stack. […]

# Managed vs Unmanaged Switch for Home Network — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer For the average smart home user living in an apartment complex like mine, unmanaged switches are often sufficient unless you need VLAN

# Beginner First Managed Switch Review — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab Byline ## *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The **TP-Link TL-SG108E** is the definitive entry-level managed switch for anyone building an IoT VLAN on Linux without breaking their budget. In

# PoE Switch for 8 or More Cameras Review — Testing in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer For an eight-port setup with camera loads, the **Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Flex Mini** is my current pick after running it alongside a

# TP-Link TL-SG108E Review — Six Months in a Portland Proxmox Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer In my testing over six months on the basement floor plan of this 1920s craftsman, the **TP-Link TL-SG108E** proved itself as a budget-friendly workhorse for

# Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 16 PoE vs Netgear GS724TPv2: The Network Engineer’s Verdict *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer If you need a budget-friendly switch for your IoT VLAN without breaking the bank, I recommend sticking with the Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 16

# Ubiquiti UniFi Switch 24: The EdgeRouter-Ready Access Point for Home Labs Marcus Webb Senior Home Lab Network Engineer | 4-Node Proxmox Cluster Specialist | Portland Metro Area ## The Short Answer The **Ubiquiti UniFi Switch 24** is a high-density PoE+ access point that delivers approximately 224W of total power to 24 ports, making it

# Cisco SG110-16HP: The 16-Port Gigabit Smart Switch Review **Marcus Webb** | Senior Home Lab Network Engineer ## The Short Answer The Cisco SG110-16HP is a solid mid-tier smart switch that offers Gigabit connectivity for approximately $180, making it a viable option for expanding a 4-node Proxmox cluster or managing a large NAS array. However,

# Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Enterprise 8 PoE Review — 6 Months on a Portland Proxmox Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After six months of daily use on a 4-node Proxmox cluster managing a 24-bay Synology DS3622xs+ NAS and a full-stack Home

# TP-Link TL-SG2210MP Review: The “Almost” Perfect Managed Switch for Your Home Lab ## WHO SHOULD NOT BUY THE TP-LINK TL-SG2210MP Before we dive into the positives, let’s address the scenarios where this switch will actively frustrate a home lab enthusiast. If you are running a multi-node Proxmox cluster and require strict VLAN isolation between