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EnGenius ECS2512FP Multi-Gigabit 2.5GbE PoE++ Switch Review

Many Wi-Fi 6 Access Points were released with 2.5GbE ethernet ports this standard lets you more than double the speed of gigabit ethernet over cat5e. This lets you use your current cabling which can be the most expensive part of the network while boosting speeds.  It is also a great way to increase uplink speeds between switches and traffic to PC’s and NAS devices.

Up until now multi-Gigabit PoE switches were out of reach for most SMB’s they were either too expensive or only featured PoE on some ports. With the release of the ECS2512FP there is now a solution with 2.5GbE and 802.3af/at/bt PoE++  on all ports and a price below $750! The ECS2512FP can also be cloud managed via the no cost EnGenius Cloud anyone can set up a account here even https://cloud.engenius.ai/ and view the features. This makes remotely deploying, monitoring and configuring your switches easy either from a web browser or the EnGenius Cloud app..

Wired Testing:

There are not many PC’s with built in 2.5Gb adapters yet but this is a easy upgrade via the cable creations USB 3 to 2.5G adapter https://amzn.to/3dUmMTR This adapter even worked on my Synology NAS. Using this adapter you can add a 2.5Gb port to any desktop or laptop with a USB 3.0 port . I connected my laptop to a switch port with the cable creations adapter. On my desktop I have a 10Gb SFP+ adapter like this one https://amzn.to/2NQdMop lastly I connected a twinax cable like this one https://amzn.to/3eXHRhF from by desktop to the ECS2512FP via one of its four SFP+ ports.

I used jperf to test the throughput and here are the results very close to 2.5Gb sustained

Wireless Testing:

Next I tested two of the fastest Wi-Fi 6 Access Points available right now The EnGenius ECW230 and the Ruckus R750 these are both have 4×4 spatial streams with 2.5Gb capable ports. For the client device I used a laptop with a 2×2 Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 adapter. There are not many 4×4 Wi-Fi 6 client devices available yet but I saw speeds over 1Gb even during single client testing.

First I tested the ECW230 and got these results

Next I tested the Ruckus R750 this AP requires PoE++ for maximum performance and features. Here are the results.

In conclusion the ECS2512FP is a great way to increase your network speeds both wired and wireless while keeping your existing cabling.

Click here for more information on the ECS2512FP The ECW230 and the R750

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EnGenius release Multi-Gig Network Switches to Support Wi-Fi 6 Faster Speeds.

EnGenius has release two new Multi-Gig ethernet switches to support the ever increasing demand of Wi-Fi devices. With many Wi-Fi 6 client devices already being used networks are experiencing much more traffic than even a year ago. By upgrading your network switches to Multi-Gig you can more than double their capacity while using your existing CAT5e or CAT6 cabling. On top of that many of today’s Wi-Fi 6 access points require more power than legacy units to operate at full capacity.

The ECS2512FP supports PoE standard 802.3af/at/bt so they will work with new Wi-Fi 6 Access Points as well as legacy AP’s, Phones, IP Cameras and other devices. The ECS2512FP also has a 240W power budget to support even the most power hungry devices. This switch supports 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps on all copper ports to handle Wi-Fi 6 AP’s with many clients. The ECS2512 is the non PoE version you can use it to upgrade your switch to switch links to 2.5Gbps using existing cables or boost the speeds of workstations and servers without upgrading to expensive fiber. Both of these switches have free cloud management and a 2 year warranty.

The ECS2512FP and ECS2512 are available for purchase now click here for more information.

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Do you need multi-gigabit switches to deploy Wi-Fi 6 access points?

Today, most business and enterprise-class switches have one-gigabit access ports and there are not many multi gigabit switches yet on the market. The ruckus ICX7150-C10ZP-2X10GR is a compact switch that can support 1/2.5/5 and 10Gb and also the new PoH power standard with up to 90W per port.

A 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) AP has the potential of more than one-gigabit throughput. Therefore, a 1 GbE access port could now possibly be the bottleneck to performance for Wi-Fi users. So many of the Wi-Fi 6 AP’s released will support up 2.5 Gbit/s using the multi gigabit ethernet standard NBASE-T / 2.5GBASE-T. Basically you can use the same Cat 5e or Cat6 ethernet cabling at higher speeds up to 100 meters.

All Wi-Fi 6 AP’s will fall back to standard 1Gbit/s and usually feature a second 1Gb only port. There are not many Wi-Fi 6 clients out in the world at this point so saturating a 1Gb port would be very difficult with legacy clients. There is no issue with deploying Wi-Fi 6 AP’s using your current gigabit switches and then plan to upgrade to multi-gigabit at a later time.

One other thing to plan for is PoE most Wi-Fi 6 AP’s require full power 802.3at or PoE+ like the engenius EWS377AP and ruckus R750 . There are a few like the engenius EWS357AP that only need half power 802.3af PoE. And some like the ruckus R730 ultra high density AP need PoH for full 8×8 stream function but will fall back to 4×4 streams with PoE+ power.