Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE vs Cisco Catalyst 9500: Specs & Price Comparison

Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE

★ 4.2 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 80 Gbps
Forwarding Rate: 59.52 Mpps (Ubiquiti tech specs list 60 Mpps)
Non-Blocking Throughput: 40 Gbps
Ports (breakdown): 8 x 2.5GbE RJ45 (all PoE+; 2.5G/1G/100M/10M) + 2 x 10G SFP+ (10G/1G)
PoE Budget: 120W total PoE; 802.3af/at (PoE+) only, up to 32W per port
Layer: L3 (managed)
Stacking Support: Not stated in official specs
Packet Buffer: 1.5 MB
MAC Address Table: 16,000 entries
Power Consumption: 30W excluding PoE; 150W including PoE output
Form Factor: Compact desktop, wall-mount kit included
Dimensions: 200 x 248 x 44 mm
Management Display: 1.3-inch color LCM touchscreen
Product Status: Listed as 'Enterprise 8 PoE (Vintage)' on Ubiquiti's store; no official replacement or EOL announcement found

✔ Pros: Eight 2.5GbE PoE+ ports suit multi-gig Wi-Fi 6 access points and desktop devices; Layer 3 managed feature set at a low price for the class; 80 Gbps switching capacity and 59.52 Mpps forwarding rate cover small-office and branch loads; Two 10G SFP+ uplinks allow 10G backhaul or fiber links; Compact desktop form factor with wall-mount kit and LCM touchscreen for local status; 120W PoE budget is enough for several PoE+ access points or cameras
✘ Cons: Only 802.3af/at PoE+ (max 32W per port), so it cannot power PoE++ devices such as Ubiquiti's U7/E7 access points; Product is listed as Vintage with no official successor named, so long-term availability and firmware support are uncertain; 120W total PoE budget limits how many high-draw devices can be powered at once; Only two SFP+ uplinks and no stacking support, which limits scaling; Price varies widely across resellers ($479 on Ubiquiti's US store, up to about $688 or more at third-party sellers)
Est. Price: $479 - $688

Cisco Catalyst 9500

★ 3.3 Value Score

Switching Capacity: Up to 12 Tbps (9500X, Q200 ASIC); up to 6.4 Tbps (C9500-32C); up to 3.2 Tbps (32QC, 48Y4C); up to 2.0 Tbps (24Y4C); up to 480 Gbps (9500-16X, UADP 2.0)
Forwarding Rate: Up to 8 Bpps (9500X); up to 2 Bpps (C9500-32C); up to 1 Bpps (32QC, 48Y4C, 24Y4C); up to 360 Mpps (9500-16X)
Ports: 16 to 92 ports by model, mixing 1/10/25G, 40/100G, and 400G. Examples: 16x 1/10G SFP+ (9500-16X); 24x 1/10/25G SFP28 + 4x 40/100G uplinks (9500-24Y4C); 48x 1/10/25G SFP28 + 4x 40/100G uplinks (9500-48Y4C); 32x 100G QSFP28 (9500-32C); 32x 40G or 16x 100G QSFP (9500-32QC); 28x 40/100G QSFP28 + 8x 400G QSFP-DD (9500X-28C8D); 60x 10/25/50G SFP56 + 4x 40/100/200/400G (9500X-60L4D)
PoE Budget: N/A (no PoE variants listed in the Catalyst 9500 datasheet)
Layer: Layer 3 (full IP routing; Network Essentials or Network Advantage license tier)
Stacking Support: StackWise Virtual (SVL) on 9500 and 9500X families; no physical StackWise stacking

✔ Pros: One family spans 1G/10G access-aggregation to 100G/400G core uplinks; 9500X models reach up to 8 Bpps forwarding on the Silicon One Q200 ASIC; StackWise Virtual pairs two chassis into one logical L3 core with redundancy; Full Layer 3 routing with Network Essentials and Network Advantage license tiers; Modular uplink options on the 9500-16X (NM-8X, NM-2Q) add flexibility
✘ Cons: No PoE variants in the line, so access-layer PoE requires separate switches; Prices are not published by Cisco and reseller pricing varies widely (about $3,875 to $37,824); Older UADP 2.0 models like the 9500-16X are limited to 480 Gbps and 360 Mpps; SVL uses ports for the link and requires identical models on both chassis; Cisco DNA licensing is sold separately from the hardware and adds to total cost
Est. Price: $3,875 - $37,824

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