Taiwan

ZYXEL

ZYXEL counts the packets and forgets the PoE class

Two ZYXEL units

A Wi-Fi 6 access point and an eight-socket unmanaged gigabit switch.

The most numerate page on its shelf

The switch publishes a switching capacity of 16 Gbps, a forwarding rate of 11.5 Mpps, a 192 KB buffer, 9 KB jumbo frames and an idle draw of 0.57 W. Those are the figures that let one unmanaged switch be compared with another, and most listings in that family print none of them.

The uplink, and the blank beside it

The access point carries a 2.5 Gbit/s uplink stated to run over Cat5e already in the walls, and offers local or cloud management with no licence named. It then says PoE without naming a class, and describes no bracket. The switch’s voice priority is real but fixed to two sockets, so it helps only where the cables land as the maker assumed.

Every ZYXEL unit reviewed here

Network switches

ZYXEL GS-108BV5, eight-port unmanaged gigabit switch with fixed traffic priority

eight gigabit sockets · unmanaged, stated · 16 Gbps capacity · 11.5 Mpps · 192 KB buffer · 9 KB jumbo frames · metal · 0.57 W idle stated

An unmanaged switch that publishes a capacity, a forwarding rate, a buffer size and an idle consumption, and prioritises voice traffic on two fixed sockets without a settings page.

Best for: A home office running a telephone over the network, where the two priority sockets can be used as the maker intends and where the unit has to be silent.

≈ 19 €

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Wireless access points

ZYXEL NWA50AXPRO, Wi-Fi 6 access point with a 2.5G uplink

Wi-Fi 6 · AX3000 · 2.5 Gbit/s uplink on Cat5e · three internal antennas · NebulaFlex, local or cloud · PoE class not named

An access point with a multi-gigabit uplink and a choice of local or cloud management, whose listing says PoE without ever naming the class.

Best for: A small building already wired with Cat5e that wants an uplink faster than a gigabit and the option of cloud management later.

≈ $119 / £74 / 73 €

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Every price named in a summary was read on the date that review carries. What a shop asks today is shown beside the product, and it moves.