CiscoBusiness CBS250-8PP-E-2G Smart Switch, 8 Port GE, Partial PoE, Ext PS, 2x1G Combo, Limited Lifetime Protection (CBS250-8PP-E-2G-NA)

No, this is not a full blown IOS run inside the box but it gets the job done with the stripped down CLI and the GUI layout is logical and user friendly.I purchased this small business line (CBS250) switch which powers up some of my PoE devices from Ubiquiti, including 5 security cameras and 2 APs without breaking a sweat. The configuration is pretty straightforward. You can go either the CLI if you're familiar with it, or graphical interface if you're more comfortable with it, or BOTH. I did both, as I found doing some configuration by CLI is so much quicker than from the GUI. The outcome is the same. I get the same reliability of the Cisco product from day 1, just like my Catalyst 1000 switch.The best practice is like this:1. Log in to the switch to do the very basic configuration but not in depth2. Do the firmware update right away. It came with 3.0.0.69, but I updated to 3.1.1.7 right away (as of October 2021)3. Figure out if you want to go with Copper or Fiber for your trunk port. You can do both for redundancy but it's not required.4. Document or label (like what I did) the deployment date so you know how long you've had this box for tech support or just for fun5. Make a cutsheet to document the purpose of each port. It's only 8 ports so it shouldn't take too much efforts.6. Put it away and don't bother to look at it again. It will be up for years without you touching it.After all, I think this is a very good purchase for a Cisco box in such a low price. Yes, you don't get the bells and whistles as the Catalyst but hey, you only pay a fraction of a Catalyst and it does get the job done. You can't go wrong with Cisco, can't you?If you find this review is helpful, please give me a thumb up and I will continue to write more. Cheers!

To start, don't buy this switch if you need something reliable with an actual warranty. When I first got the switch I was fairly impressed by the features for the price I paid. I even recommended it to some friends (none of them got the 120W PoE version that I did). However, after having issues with the power supply and talking with "Cisco Small Business Support", I would never recommend these switches to anyone again.After only 4 months of service indoors, in a room that is kept at 73F or lower, the PSU started to simply stop providing power to the switch at random. Disconnecting and reconnecting the switch from the PSU would have no effect. If I disconnect the mains power and reconnect it the switch would boot back up normally and stay operating for (at first) a few days to as low as a few hours. The duration it stays operational continues to reduce.I opened a ticket with Cisco thinking "well I have that lifetime warranty, no problem". The rep I spoke to told me two very critical pieces of information. First, there is no way for them to send me a new PSU. It is literally not an option in their system as the PSU isn't a separate SKU for these things. Second, if they send me an RMA switch it may not even come with a PSU. How did anyone think this was ok? PSUs are what usually will fail on switches which is one of the reasons why proper enterprise hardware has dual PSUs. To not even have a way to guarantee a customer will get warranty support if their PSU fails tells me that nobody at Cisco took this product line seriously.I've had the ticket open now for a week and no word on them even trying to ship me a new switch with HOPEFULLY a new PSU in the box, but maybe not. I've use a lot of different networking hardware over my 19+ years in the industry, all the way up to boxes that cost over $1mil each. I know what quality enterprise hardware looks like from Cisco and other brands. This is not even close. This should not be called business class. Don't buy this.

Most of the features you see in the CCNA practice can be used here in this little switch. There's some enterprise level stuff that you can't do but honestly if you're at that level you aren't looking for this switch anyway.It's cisco so it's not plug and play/ready out of the box. But it's great if you have a specific setup you're trying to implement and only need a few ports. Highly recommend

The web management interface and feature set are very good, and the device worked without issue from day one. It was relatively easy to set up LAG and VLANs on the switch and synchronize device time to my Netgate box, which can act as an NTP server for local hosts and appliances. It also works fine with my PoE IP cameras. I had to upgrade the firmware, which went well, and no problems using my 10Gtek 1.25G SFP DAC cables for my LAG setup. Overall, I like this switch for its good design and what I need in my environment; to support a few virtual networks.

unit powered on directly after unboxing and ran long enough to get a basic setup for a network. unit turned off. after investigation, the PSU is already intermittent within 3 hours. power drops out. this device is powered off of the same isolated ground and line-conditioned power system as the rest of the rack. secondly, the rack mount hardware is set an inch or more behind the faceplate, causing this switch to stick out much further than any other rack device.