INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   For most consumers and even professionals a modem/router with its rear 4/5 Ethernet ports should be more than enough but if you happen to need more ports or if you have several PoE compatible devices like IP cameras and access points a high performance Gigabit (or faster) switch is your best choice. Knowing you need one however is merely the beginning since switches are not only divided in categories based on the number of available ports, their type (RJ45/SFP) and whether or not those are also PoE (+) compatible but they are also divided in categories based on the needs of the end user. For example, unmanaged switches make up the largest percentage of the market and are clearly aimed towards casual consumers whereas smart switches are aimed towards more demanding users (home/office) and finally managed switches are primarily aimed for professional use (businesses). The somewhat popular TPE-082WS 10 Port Gigabit Web Smart PoE+ Switch by TRENDnet belongs in the smart category and is also what today's review is all about.

   TRENDnet is a global provider of award-winning networking and surveillance solutions to small and medium-sized business and home users. Building networking solutions since 1990, TRENDnet enables users to share broadband access, multimedia content and networked peripherals for true anywhere connectivity. TRENDnet's diverse product portfolio includes Wireless, Internet Cameras (IP Cameras), Switches, Power over Ethernet (PoE), Fiber, Gigabit, Home Automation, Network Video Recorders (NVR), Keyboard/Video/Mouse (KVM), Print Servers, Powerline, NAS Media Servers, Multimedia Accessories, and more. To learn more about TRENDnet, please visit www.trendnet.com.

   The TPE-082WS by TRENDnet is a rackmount compatible model that sports a total of 8 RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet ports and two SFP Gigabit ports with a total switching capacity of 20Gbps. All 8 RJ45 ports also support PoE+ with a maximum output of 75W (up to 30W per port) making them ideal for use with PoE (+) compatible devices like IP cameras, IP microphones, IP/VoIP telephones and of course access points. Now as some of you may know smart switches may not offer quite the same level of features as managed ones but they are getting closer and closer and the TPE-082WS is no exception since it's IPv6 ready and its ports support functions like 802.3az power save mode, 802.3ad link aggregation, asymmetric VLAN, 802.1Q tagged VLAN, Voice VLAN, Loopback Detection, GVRP, 802.1p Class of Service (CoS), QoS queue scheduling, port bandwidth management and IGMP snooping. In terms of monitoring and access control protocols the TPE-082WS supports RMON (remote monitoring), SNMP (simple network management protocol), SNMP Trap, Port Mirroring, ACL, SSL, MAC/port filtering, 802.1X TACACS+ and RADIUS authentication. Also let's not leave out that TRENDnet offers a limited lifetime warranty for their aluminum enclosure switches like the TPE-082WS.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual the switch arrived inside a box the front of which is taken by a large product picture.

 

 

Both the features and bundle contents are printed on the left side.

 

 

Contact information for TRENDnet along with the product serial number and barcode are located at the base of the box.

 

 

The main product features are also listed at the rear in 6 languages right next to a very large topology drawing.

 

 

No problem with packing since the switch is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two pieces of cardboard.

 

 

Along with the TPE-082WS and its power adapter and cord the bundle also contains two rackmount brackets, mounting screws, 4 rubber feet, rackmount installation instructions, safety paper and the quick installation guide.

 

 

THE TPE-082WS EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The TPE-082WS features an aluminum enclosure that measures 280mm in length, 125.8mm in width and 44mm in height.

 

 

To have a better idea about its size i placed the TPE-082WS on the Linksys LGS124P and QNAP QSW-804-4C switches.

 

 

At the front of the TPE-082WS we find the activity LEDs, mode button, reset button, 8 RJ45 Gigabit ports and two SFP Gigabit ports.

 

 

Both sides are perforated and feature mounting holes for the rackmount brackets.

 

 

Just the DC in is present at the rear of the aluminum enclosure.

 

 

Turning the switch over we see the 4 feet areas (you can place the bundled rubber feet there for desk use) and a couple of stickers with contact information for TRENDnet and the product serial number and barcode.

 

 

THE TPE-082WS INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accessing the interior is easy and as you can all see roughly 90% of the interior is taken by the PCB and its components.

 

 

On that PCB we see a large heatsink (under which lies the main chip), Broadcom 8-channel PoE Controller, nuvoton 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller, Realtek serial management interface and shift register LED display controller, four Base-T dual port LAN transformers, 256MB DDR3L SDRAM module by Nanya, 32MB flash memory and united Chemi-Con capacitors.

 

 

WEB GUI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As with other products by TRENDnet the main tab is also the system information tab (because of the number of available settings/features an in-depth explanation is pretty much impossible).

 

 

Under the system tab you can access everything in regards to the IPv4/IPv6 protocols, DNS address, IP access list, administration access, timeout period, system time, SSL/SSH status, telnet, DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol), SNMP (simple network management protocol), RMON (remote monitoring), statistics and green ethernet (802.3az EEE).

 

 

Inside the network tab you can access settings for each port, enable/disable spanning tree, adjust trunking settings, enable/disable mirroring, access the loopback detection, enable/disable IGMP/MLD snooping, adjust VLAN settings, access the bandwidth settings for each port and enable/disable LLDP (link layer discovery protocol).

 

 

The QoS tab pretty much allows the end user to setup internet priority for each of the ports.

 

 

Likewise, the PoE tab allows you to configure power over ethernet for the 8 RJ45 ports.

 

 

Everything related to user authentication is placed inside the Security tab along with the DoS and DHCP snooping.

 

 

You can perform firmware updates (do keep in mind that the TPE-082WS has two images from which it can boot), save/restore your configuration, run diagnostics, reboot the switch and use the ping feature from the tools tab.

 

 

Worth pointing out is that no setting gets saved onto the switch unless you click the save settings to flash option seen above.

 

 

TEST BED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Network switches are very similar to routers so we’ll be using roughly the same testing methodology here as well. So aside the usual networking benchmark by Passmark (updated to v9.0) we'll also be using ATTO (v3.05 for 1GbE tests and v4.00.0f2 for 10GbE tests) and Crystal Disk Mark (v5.1.2 for 1GbE tests and v6.0.2 for 10GbE tests). The reason we are still using ATTO v3.05 and Crystal Disk Mark v5.1.2 for 1GbE tests is due to the fact that we can't re-test all of the switches to ever pass from our lab and also because unlike Passmark results from these versions are inaccurate compared to results from the latest ones. Also as you’ve already noticed we decided to replace the QCheck software by Ixia with Crystal Disk Mark since we feel it’s a more complete and reliable choice for testing switches. To test all network switches, we are using our top two desktop systems (details above) along with two laptops with which we simulate LAN load. Our systems are placed 15m away (connected with CAT7 cables) from the switch in hand and each test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average scores are recorded into our charts. Our systems have Windows 10 Pro installed complete with all updates up until the time of this review.

   Also just like with Modem/Routers we will also be recording power consumption is these reviews during all our tests and both the lowest and highest numbers will be available in our charts. Finally, when testing network switches with built-in fans (active cooling) we'll also record noise levels using our high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed at roughly 5-10cm away.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - PERFORMANCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – POWER CONSUMPTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   It’s clear from the charts that the TPE-082WS switch by TRENDnet does extremely well and has nothing to be jealous from some of the more expensive models I’ve tested to date. Also let’s not forget that the two SFP ports may come in handy and even if they don’t it’s better to have them just in case. On top of that power consumption is very good and the passive cooling ensures that it has zero noise emissions. At the same time however, its passive cooling might just not be enough under harsh conditions (heat) so do keep that in mind when mounting it inside a rack or anywhere else. With a maximum PoE+ wattage of 75W for all ports and up to 30W for a single port this is perhaps the only “limitation” this switch has since there are models with higher outputs. Still considering that your average IP camera can consume anywhere from 5-8W even 75W for all 8 ports is more than enough, at least for that use. As for available settings the TPE-082WS has such a vast number that even i don’t think I’d ever get to use so at least for home and office use they should be more than just enough.

   The TRENDnet TPE-082WS V1.2R currently retails for USD120.89 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 98Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) and so it’s clearly priced properly for what it offers. Of course the thing with switches is that it almost always comes down to the number of ports and the PoE (+) feature (maximum output/maximum output per port) so if you think that the TPE-082WS with its 8 RJ45 Gigabit ports and its 2 SFP Gigabit ports is more than enough to support your devices then you should really give it a chance, especially since it won our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Near Excellent Gigabit Performance
- 8 RJ45 & 2 SFP Ports
- 8 PoE+ Compatible Ports
- 75W Maximum PoE+ Power Output
- Available Settings / Features
- Power Consumption
- Limited Lifetime Warranty
- Price (For Some)

 

CONS

- Maximum PoE+ Power Output (75W Just Might Not Be Enough For Some Devices)
- Passive Cooling (Not For Harsh Conditions)