Howdy y’all! I’m currently on the hunt for another switch for my home network as my current Juniper EX4200 48 port switch has been dropping connections effecting my entire network. I’m running on pretty much a full stock configuration (fresh from the factory). Assuming it’s a hardware issue with my LAN connections being dropped. I would attempt to do a firmware upgrade, but unlucky me doesn’t have a corporate email to register with Juniper to download the update (last time I tried). So I’m on the hunt for something that would definitely meet my needs on my home network. I will have to connect via console to see what the devil is going on. So I will follow up on that once I get around to it
I am currently running 2 WAPS Ubiquiti Unifis specifically, 7 desktops, 2 laptops, 3 tablets; but have plans on adding in security cameras running on a VLAN separate from the rest of the network. I’m definitely okay buying used equipment, as I am a bit of a cheapskate.
Pretty much bare minimum I’m looking at is a 48 port switch, PoE Capable and redundant power on the hardware side; my main concern at the moment is what manufacture requires licensing or corporate emails say like for firmware updates; there any out there that wouldn’t require such bullshit just to simply update firmware to the latest available? Also thoughts about Extreme Networks and Dell switches?
I was eyeballing a few Brocade switches, just hesitant since I hardly heard of them.
I used to have an extreme networks switch a long while back, given to me by an old CDLUG member back in 2013. Hell, reached out to Extreme to see about buying a serial cable from them…they sent one to me free of charge. What experience did you have with Extreme?
Which is way less of a johnny-come-lately than you make them out to be. Decent stuff, and really good for the price 2nd hand.
Extreme paywalls everything, they destroyed the Brocade VDX line and wanted me to pay them more than a new car in renewal fees for a single MLX-4e. Shun the non-believers!
I am a Cisco first guy, and I take what I can get for the price. I love me some old HP ProCurve stuff, but Brocade is more than good enough for homelab.
Ah gotcha now. Makes sense, so that’ll knock Extreme off the list then. I’m also looking at a Brocade FCX648S-HPOE, $45 on ebay. Thoughts on that switch specifically?
You really wanna look at ICX not CX switches to get modern lower power consumption. The 6450 is usually a good starter homelab switch. If you need better high speed port density there are other brands as well, but theres some good deals in that STH thread.
It’ll be going out in the shop, so loudness isn’t a factor on that aspect. As for power usage, might be better then my Juniper EX4200; as long I can easily get the latest firmware without jumping through hoops…I’ll be happy. Also trying to stay on a strict budget since I’m trying to get some rackmount UPSs for my server rack and replace my unifi AP out in the shop so I can do mesh network.
EOL for the switch was back in 2017, but was supported into mid 2022. But latest firmware was 2020. Which is more recent then my EX4200, so there’s that.
Is there any reason you specifically wanted a really old, used enterprise switch instead of a prosumer L3 (like Mikrotik)? They should all have the same features no? Only something like a Mikrotik wont have so many hours on it already and have the potential licensing issues you run into, or the power and noise. It just seems strange to me and Im curious about your reasoning for wanting one of these switches specifically.
Most of the time the price is a deciding factor for me. Since I’m on a strict budget, I have to factor in the switch pretty heavily; as I’m also going to be adding a Ubiquiti Unifi AP Pro into my network, which my current Unifi AC Lite is going out into the workshop replacing the Unifi AP LR I have out there; also buying some extra SAS drives for my TrueNAS server as hot spares.
If I had more of a better budget, I’d be handily going with a Ubiquiti switch. My main concern is having to jump through a half a dozen hoops just to get the latest firmware. At least with Brocade, I can easily get firmware just by signing up with a free account. I often go with used enterprise equipment just for the price alone, and options for redundant power supplies as well; which I often prefer to have.
