Zyxel Communications today announced the GS1005HP and GS1008HP Gigabit Ethernet switches, filling a long-standing hole in the market for unmanaged PoE switches that feature the 802.3at standard, have a high power budget and are affordable for SOHOs and small businesses.

Zyxel GS1005HP and GS1008HP Gigabit Ethernet switches

“These days, smaller businesses are increasingly likely to have access points, security cameras, and VoIP phones around their premises, in turn increasing demand for PoE switches that can power them,” said Bill Su, senior AVP of Zyxel’s Smart Living SBU. “But although the switch market has continued to see steady growth in the past few years, it hasn’t met the needs of small businesses for PoE switches.”

“This often forces these businesses to settle for insufficient PoE ports or to overpay for switches that give them what they need,” Su said. “Our new GS1005HP and GS1008HP switches have been designed to provide unmanaged switches that tick the boxes of affordability, many PoE ports, a high power budget, and 802.3at support.”

Specifically, the GS1005HP has four Gigabit PoE+ ports while the eight ports of the GS1008HP are all Gigabit PoE+ ports. In addition, both switches boast a total power budget of 60W and feature a handy LED indicator that shows orange when the 50W threshold is reached. If power usage exceeds the budget, the last device will be automatically dropped with no impact on the other devices being powered via the switch.

Among the small number of unmanaged switches on the market with similar PoE port counts and power budgets, the GS1005HP and GS1008HP each has the most competitive price point in its segment.

As well as having a sleek metal housing and easy design for wall mounting, the switches have IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet. This “green” feature automatically detects network traffic and adjusts power consumption accordingly, enabling the switch to reduce power consumption during low link utilization.  For more information, visit: https://www.zyxel.com/products_services/8-Port-GbE-Unmanaged-PoE-Switch-GS1008HP/