TP-Link TL-SG1016PE | 16 Port Gigabit PoE Switch | Easy Smart Managed | 8 PoE+ Ports @150W | Plug & Play | Sturdy Metal w/ Shielded Ports | QoS, Vlan, IGMP & LAG, Free Expert Help

Solid buy. Recommended, but see details
Use CaseI crawled around and put about 6000ft of Cat5E witing into my old house, but there was one attic that I only ran two lines to. As a temporary measure I put an 8 port switch up there and used a bunch of individual PoE injectors. The purchase of the TL-SG1016PE is meant to replace all of that, and act as a more permanent solution.Build QualityThe TL-SG1016PE is standard fare when it comes to SOHO networking products. It’s in a metal housing that seems durable enough. The unit it 1U in height, and includes flanges to mount into a 19″ rack. The case has hexagonal perforations for ventilation, along with 40mm fans. Thankfully, the power supply is internal, and the power hookup is a standard C13 jack. A straight C13 cable is included.Setup/PerformanceI bought a cheap 4U 19″ bracket to mount to a stud in the attic, but it’s one of the shallow wiring type brackets for punchdowns. The TL-SG1016PE’s mounting brackets support the switch being mounted vertically (where the flanges are rotated 90 degrees). I mounted the switch in the lowest U position, and a punchdown block will go in the top position. The fit is good, and there were no surprises. I think this is a really good mounting option for newer homes that have structured wiring coming back to a closet (usually a master bedroom closet), as it can significantly reduce the practical space/footprint consumed.The PoE ports of the device work fine, but it’s worth noting that the total power budget of the device is 110W. While I will not end up using anywhere near this, it’s still good for you to know that the limitation exists. This switch supports 802.3at-2009, which can max out the power budget at 4 devices (even though there are 8 ports). For reference, the 5 cameras that I have on the switch consume about 24W total (and that’s at night when the IR consumes more power). When I have the full complement of 8 cameras on the device, I still won’t be anywhere near the power budget.There isn’t much to the setup of the hardware portion of the switch, but that still leaves the configuration of the “smart” management of the switch. While the TL-SG1016PE is not a full L2/L3 managed switch, it does have some limited extra functions. In order to access the switch, you can use a TP-Link software application to set the IP address of the switch – it’s included on CD, but you can use the one you have installed already if you have any other TP-Link switched already. I prefer to assign static addresses, but DHCP is available, too. Once you’ve assigned the IP, you can access the web management interface. While I was able to log in with Microsoft Edge, I wasn’t able to change the device password unless I used Chrome; Edge seemed to work for all other functions.The first thing I did was change the device password. I then created a link aggregation group (LAG) for the two lines that I’d run to the attic, which creates a higher bandwidth connection back to a switch (or computer) on the other end, provided that the other end supports it as well. The last thing I did was to create a VLAN for the cameras, which I think is a smart idea for anyone that has externally mounted cameras. Some of my cameras are mounted high up on the house, but others are low enough that someone could access the ethernet cabling with a stepladder… if they do, the VLAN limits the LAN access that the person would have.The web management includes PoE configuration and usage details. You can set a switch-wide power limit, as well as per-port power policy. I just left everything at auto. The usage details are comprehensive, displaying exactly what the negotiated power level was, along with the instantaneous usage.Something worth noting is that the TL-SG1016PE, like the switch I was using before it, will be operating in environmental conditions that are out of spec for the unit. The switch has an operating temperature limit of 40C, and the attic routinely gets hotter than that. The robust cooling of the unit, along with the relatively low power draw I will have (compared to the 110W max), should give me at least a few good years of operation. I’d consider that to be a great result.ConclusionThere are a few things I would change about the TL-SG1016PE:1. It would be nice if the unit shipped with the current firmware (it doesn’t). There are a couple notable differences between the 5/18 firmware and the 5/17 firmware that ships on the device. I recommend loading the new one ASAP2. I would prefer foam filters on the vents. This is not something that most people wouldn’t want or need, but I’ve got my unit in an attic…3. It would be nice if the unit (which uses temp-controlled fans, I think) would have hall-effect RPM monitoring of the 40mm fans, and could notify the admin of fan failure4. It would be nice if there was some syslog or SNMP supportOk, so that’s out of the way… none of the items above are absolutely necessary. As it is, the TL-SG1016PE is performing flawlessly. The VLAN and LAG are functioning correctly, and the PoE hasn’t had any faults with my cameras. I highly recommend this item.

Works well. Easy to use.

Works great for powering a pair of Unifi U7 access points. Obviously it’s not going to be visible to the Unifi management platform the way an in-ecosystem device would be, but for 1/3 the price, I’m happy to make that tradeoff.

No problems at all. Super easy to set up and manage through the web UI.