Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE vs Fortinet FortiSwitch 148F: 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

Fortinet FortiSwitch 148F

★ 3.3 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 176 Gbps (duplex)
Forwarding Rate: ~260 Mpps (duplex; figure published for the 148F-POE datasheet, consistent with the base model's 176 Gbps capacity but not confirmed for it)
Ports (breakdown): 48x 1GbE RJ45 + 4x 10GbE SFP+ uplinks + 1x RJ45 console
PoE Budget: 0 W (no PoE ports; PoE models are the 148F-POE and 148F-FPOE)
Layer: L2 managed (some resellers describe it as L2+ management)
Stacking Support: No physical stacking confirmed for the base model; managed via FortiLink from a FortiGate (the FPOE datasheet cites up to 300 switches per FortiGate)
Packet Buffer: 2 MB
VLAN Support: 4K
Link Aggregation: 8 ports per LAG, 16 LAGs
ACL Entries: 768
Spanning Tree Instances: 16
Form Factor: 1U rack-mountable
Memory: 512 MB DDR3 DRAM, 64 MB flash

✔ Pros: Full 48-port GbE access with 4x 10GbE SFP+ uplinks for a 1U footprint; 176 Gbps switching capacity is ample for a non-blocking access layer; Managed by FortiGate via FortiLink for centralized policy and config with the Fortinet Security Fabric; Lower entry price than the PoE variants when PoE is not needed; Refurbished units are available at about $712.50 from some resellers
✘ Cons: No PoE, so it cannot power phones, APs or cameras; Listed by at least one distributor (SHI) as end-of-life, so the 100 Series may be superseded; Official Fortinet datasheet not located; several specs come from reseller copies and need verification; Forwarding rate, MAC table size and jumbo frame support are unconfirmed for the base model; Conflicting Layer 2 vs. L2+ classification across sources; Dependent on a FortiGate or FortiLink for full management features
Est. Price: $991 - $1,340

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