IT Pro Verdict
Pros
- +
High-power ports
- +
Easy to manage
Cons
Zyxel's XMG1930-30HP could be the perfect partner for SMBs seeking a multi-gigabit Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch that has every angle covered. This 1U rack mount switch offers a total of 30 ports with a wide range of speeds and PoE feeds, a generous 700W power budget and a choice of two management modes.
The first 20 copper ports support 100Mbits/sec, 1GbE and 2.5GbE connections all with 30W PoE+; the next four have the same speeds but increase delivery to 60W PoE++; while the next four add 5GbE and 10GbE support and also present PoE++ services. The final two are standard 10GbE SFP+ ports for high-speed fibre uplinks over longer distances.
That big power budget means there's plenty of headroom for many powered devices. It will support a large wireless network installation, with high-power ports perfect for the latest Wi-Fi 6E wireless access points that require up to 60W.
The large LED status display on the front panel shows power, system and cloud connection status, while the PoE light turns yellow or red to warn when power usage is getting close to the maximum. You can see at a glance what the ports are doing as each one has a five-colour LED for the connection speed and another shows if they are delivering power.
For switch management, you can opt for a standalone operation mode or move it all into the cloud using Zyxel's Nebula Control Center (NCC) platform. In standalone mode, the local web console presents four wizards for setting a default admin password and SNMP community names, plus for configuring security features, VLANs and quality of service. Standard L2 features are in abundance and include port and protocol-based VLANs plus static and LACP link aggregation groups.
VoIP networks are covered, with the switch identifying traffic from IP phones using their organisationally unique identifier and automatically prioritises it by dynamically creating voice VLANs.
Zyxel refers to the XMG1930-30HP as a "Lite-L3" switch. That means it offers basic Layer 3 routing capabilities with support for static IPv4 and IPv6 routing, but not the dynamic routing found in more expensive full Layer 3 switches.
The web console provides plenty of details on system utilisation, port and PoE usage and overall powered device consumption. You can set one of three power priorities on each multi-gig port so if the power draw is getting close to the maximum available, those assigned a low priority will be switched off first.
Adding the switch to our NCC cloud was simple, as we used the Nebula iOS app on an iPad to scan the QR code label on its box. The switch then appeared online in our cloud portal in one minute and took all its settings from those we'd previously configured for the site. The portal's monitoring page provides plenty of detail on the switch with a colour-coded graphic showing each port's connection speed and those that are supplying power.
Further down are 24-hour traffic graphs for the switch's uplink port along with total power consumption, and these are extended to seven days with an optional Plus licence and one year with the Pro version.
Individual ports on the switch can be configured from NCC with options for enabling or disabling PoE services and assigning up to five global PoE schedules to specific ports that determine when attached powered devices are active. For general switch operations, all features available in standalone mode can be accessed from the portal and include options to set up voice VLANs, port mirroring, QoS services and aggregating up to eight ports in an LACP link.
Its extreme versatility makes the XMG1930-30HP a great choice for SMBs planning on installing a wireless network using the latest Wi-Fi 6/6E access points. The range of multi-gigabit ports and choice of PoE delivery covers virtually any type of powered decive and it can be easily managed from Zyxel's slick NCC cloud portal.
