NETGEAR Announces New Generation of ProSAFE Gigabit Plus Switches

NETGEAR, Inc., a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, has expanded its fast growing family of ProSAFE Gigabit Plus Switches. With three new Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) models, the enhanced ProSAFE Plus Switch Family now includes eight switches that combine improved management capabilities with Gigabit speeds and enhanced performance, making them an ideal, cost-effective upgrade from NETGEAR plug-and-play Unmanaged Switches for small organizations with growing networks. NETGEAR is the industry-leading provider of both Unmanaged and Smart Switches, offering a comprehensive portfolio of switches for business of all sizes.

Today's growing businesses are putting more network traffic and applications on their Ethernet infrastructure, requiring more than simple plug-and-play connectivity. Network intelligence from NETGEAR switches separates and prioritizes voice and video traffic from data, at an affordable price point.

Designed for networks that support 20 or more employees with growing network needs, the second-generation NETGEAR ProSAFE Plus Switches offer Gigabit speeds on all models, and new web-based management capabilities available for 16- and 24-port models and available soon for 5- and 8-port models. They enable customers to build multiple user groups, prioritize voice and video traffic through Quality of Service (QoS), monitor and troubleshoot, and set up easily with multiple deployment options such as desktop placement, undertable mount, wall mount and rackmount - all within a ten percent premium over the cost of an Unmanaged Switch.

Along with the existing first-generation 8-port PoE model, NETGEAR has added new 5-, 16-, and 24-port PoE switches to the ProSAFE Gigabit Plus Switch family. PoE switches are ideal for powering devices such as IP phones and cameras, wireless access points, and Ethernet switches, eliminating the need for separate electric lines. With half of the ports PoE-capable and supporting the appropriate PoE power budget, the NETGEAR PoE Plus Switches are the most cost-efficient Gigabit Ethernet solution for converged SMB networks where PoE support is needed, yet controlled costs are a concern.

"The NETGEAR ProSAFE Gigabit Plus Switches are built with essential management features for the most common real-world applications," said Paul Williams, vice president of security and communications products at Control4, a leading provider of personalized automation and control solutions. "They suit small businesses and organizations nicely where network intelligence is needed to improve performance, while cost-efficiency is a must. The fact that NETGEAR is now offering PoE options as well as web management capabilities makes these switches an even better value."

A unique feature of the five-port NETGEAR PoE switch is that the power is supplied solely via a PD (PoE Powered Device) port. As a result, it does not need an external power adapter and is truly free from requiring proximity to AC power outlets, for maximum deployment flexibility. In addition, it offers pass-through functionality to deliver power to other connected devices such as WiFi access points, IP phones and IP cameras.

NETGEAR's ProSAFE Plus Switches meet the growing need for more intelligence in SMB networks by providing features that help optimize performance. ProSAFE Plus Switches offer traffic monitoring that enables network managers to observe traffic behavior. If there are connectivity issues, these switches can identify and locate connection problems via a cable diagnostic test. To optimize traffic, ProSAFE Plus Switches offer both port and tag-based prioritization to keep latency-sensitive traffic moving ahead of less critical packets.

"For our channel partners and their SMB customers, performance, manageability, reliability and flexibility of their networking equipment is just as important as it is in enterprise-scale networks, but they are more sensitive to high-value solutions," said Maggie Wu, the senior product line manager for NETGEAR Switching Products. "The switches we're announcing today round out our portfolio of Gigabit Plus switches to address growing requests for more solutions with PoE capability to carry video, voice and data, as well as additional management options. We're happy to offer these at a price point that's a reasonable step up from our Unmanaged Switches for companies looking to upgrade their networks."

The second-generation family of NETGEAR ProSAFE Plus Switches are packed with enhanced features and real-world benefits:

• Full network configuration and management at the price point of Unmanaged Switches
• Gigabit connection delivery up to 2000 Mbps of dedicated, non-blocking bandwidth per port
• VLAN support for traffic segmentation
• Quality of Service (QoS) for traffic prioritization
• Auto "denial-of-service" (DoS) prevention
• Troubleshooting capabilities via cable test
• Loop prevention and broadcast storm controls
• IGMP snooping v1, v2 and v3 support for multicast optimization
• Rate limiting for better bandwidth allocation
• Port mirroring for network monitoring
• Port trunking for bigger uplink bandwidth
• Flexible management options via PC-based Utility Tool or web-based GUI (available on select models now and coming soon for all models)
• Energy Efficient Ethernet (IEEE802.3az) support for maximum power savings

Pricing and Availability

NETGEAR ProSAFE Gigabit Plus Switches are available worldwide through a broad variety of NETGEAR PowerSHIFT partners and authorized reseller and DMR channels. While pricing for the end customer may vary depending on the reseller, below are the manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) in the U.S.

• 5 port desktop Gigabit switch (GS105Ev2), U.S. MSRP $80, available now.
• 5 port desktop Gigabit switch with 2 PoE ports and one PD port (GS105PE), U.S. MSRP $112, available now.
• 8 port desktop Gigabit switch (GS108E), U.S. MSRP $107.50, currently available only in the first generation.
• 8 port desktop Gigabit switch with 4 PoE ports (GS108PE), U.S. MSRP $200, currently available only in the first generation.
• 16 port desktop Gigabit switch (GS116Ev2), U.S. MSRP $254, available now.
• 16 port rackmount Gigabit switch with 8 PoE ports (JGS516PE), U.S. MSRP $300, available now.
• 24 port rackmount Gigabit switch (JGS524Ev2), U.S. MSRP $320, available now.
• 24 port rackmount Gigabit switch with 12 PoE ports (JGS524PE), U.S. MSRP $420, available now.

Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 12:08 pm CDT