Unifi Switch Flex | USW-Flex

Product Information

PoE+ devices like the U6-Pro will usually operate with 802.3af input, but they will be unreliable. It’s never a good idea to push past your budget, feed a PoE+ or PoE++ device with a lower tier of PoE, or supply the wrong voltage. Always follow the recommended input power, and never provide less the required power or a different voltage.

No LACP (This would be a niche use case for a 5-port switch, but one scenario that sometimes comes up is having an Ethernet repeater for >100m runs, and it would be nice to have link-level redundancy and 2Gbps throughput for that repeater.) Higher PoE budgets. The 2nd generation non-pro models are fanless and have very limited PoE budgets Passive 24V and 48V PoE — Ubiquiti’s standard, mostly used on EdgeMAX, AirMAX, and older UniFi devicesThe UniFi USW-Flex-Mini is a smart managed Gigabit switch. It offers 5 RJ45 Ethernet ports, providing 1 Gigabit links to your devices. Power up the USW-Flex-Mini with the included USB Type-C (european only) power adapter or with 802.3af PoE Ethernet in port 1. Do not have a serial console port. All management has to be done over Ethernet in-band. (EdgeSwitches still have console ports!) A common complaint with the first generation models are their loud fans. It is possible to replace them with quieter Noctua fans, or you can throw it in a network closet and forget about it. If you just need basic L2 switching and PoE, the first generation models are still worth considering, especially if budget and availability are more important than future software support. This guide applies to the Ubiquiti’s USW-Flex only, this does not apply to other products in the range ( USW-Flex-Mini and USW-Flex-XG). It’s also worth pointing out that PoE devices don’t always consume their maximum rated power draw. The spec sheet will specify the maximum amount the device can use, but during normal operation they won’t use that much. For example, the U6-Pro requires 802.at PoE+ or 48V passive, and maxes out at 13W. During normal use it usually consumes around 5 to 7 watts of power.

The USW-Flex switch from Ubiquiti has the capacity to provide a total PoE power budget of 46W but this will vary depending on how you power the device. These total power output breakdowns are as follows: The main point I’m trying to make here is that if you expect a UniFi switch to be your only layer 3 device, you’re going to be disappointed. Adding layer 3 at the switch level usually doesn’t make sense in small to medium sized networks, and I wouldn’t recommend relying on UniFi layer 3 switches in general. If you’re working on a large multi-building network with high requirements, UniFi may not be the best fit. I’ll cover this in more detail if I ever get around to finishing my USW-Enterprise-8-PoE review. EdgeSwitches are more flexible and capable, and are a better fit for network operators, WISPs, managed service providers, and other more advanced networks. If you need features like link aggregation, TACACS+, RADIUS, 802.1X, MAC filtering, ACLs, or static routing, you’re better off with an EdgeSwitch than a UniFi switch. UniFi switches support many of these features, but are often less configurable, poorly documented, and less reliable. Have lower fan noise — the non-pro models are fanless. The pros have fans, but are quieter than the 1st generation models.

Key Features

Ubiquiti calls them “Gen2” but I am going to call them 2nd generation. Whatever you call them, Ubiquiti’s newer UniFi switches split things into a few tiers. There are models which replace the 1st generation switches, and the higher pro and enterprise tiers. The USW-Flex-XG is a 2nd gen model, with one 1 Gbps and four 1/2.5/5/10 Gbps RJ45 Ethernet ports. No PoE. Please Note: This product does not come with PoE injectors included, however, you can select our PoE injector kits from the accessories menu. Ubiquiti UniFi USW Flex Mini 5-Port Layer 2 Gigabit Switch - EU Power Supply (USW-Flex-Mini)

The USW-Flex can be installed horizontally or vertically and is designed for indoor and outdoor use, making it ideal for desktop, wall, and pole-mount installations. With its weatherproof housing and versatile mounting options, the USW-Flex provides flexibility and durability in environments with extreme temperature variations. Management capabilities At the time of writing, the first thing you will need to do is to set the UniFi controller to display the old user interface as the option to enable this option is currently absent from the new interface and so cannot be selected. Please refer to our Swapping Between New & Old User Interface On UniFi Controller blog post for instructions on how to swap between old and new if you are unsure on how to do this. Putting the L2/L3 differences aside, the 2nd generation pro models also have some other advantages over the non-pro UniFi switches. 2nd Gen Pro models add The US-XG-6-PoE has four 1/2.5/5/10 Gbps RJ45 Ethernet ports with PoE++. It also has two 10 Gbps SFP+ interfaces.I’ll use the PoE, PoE+, PoE++ names as shorthand. It is important to consider the type of PoE you need for your devices, and to make sure that you have enough PoE budget on your switch to power all your devices. Otherwise, you will need to rely on separate power injectors. PoE Passthrough

The USW-Flex can be installed horizontally or vertically making it ideal for desktop, magnetic wall-mount, and pole-mount installations. You can access any managed UniFi Switch through the UniFi Controller to configure a variety of features: Build and expand your network with the UniFi® Switch, part of the UniFi Enterprise System. The UniFi Switch, model USW-Flex, is a configurable Layer 2 Gigabit switch with auto-sensing 802.3af PoE. It offers 5 RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet ports, providing 1 PoE input and 4 PoE output links to your devices.I just finished an evaluation of the UniFi Switch Flex (PoE in & out) and Flex Mini (PoE in only). They're both great little 5-port switches for what they are, but there are a few feature limitations to be aware of. The first 2 limitations are non-negotiables in my use cases: