Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE vs Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6300M Switch: 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

Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6300M Switch

★ 3.2 Value Score

Switching Capacity: Up to 880 Gbps per 48-port model (system range 496-880 Gbps across the 6300M family; varies by SKU)
Forwarding Rate: Up to 654 Mpps per model (system range 369-654 Mpps across the 6300M family; varies by SKU)
Ports: 48x 1/2.5/5GbE Smart Rate (Class 6 PoE) + 4x SFP56 uplinks (10/25/50GbE) for JL659A; other 6300M SKUs use different port mixes (24-port, 48-port 1GbE, and 100G variants)
PoE Budget: Class 6 PoE per port; 1440 W family maximum (SKU-dependent)
Layer: L2/L3
Stacking Support: VSF (Virtual Switching Framework), up to 10 units via 4 built-in QSFP28 stacking ports (1/10/25/50GbE, 50GbE DAC only)

✔ Pros: Smart Rate 1/2.5/5GbE ports support multi-gig Wi-Fi 6/6E access points over existing copper cabling; Class 6 PoE budget supports high-power PoE devices; VSF stacking lets up to 10 switches be managed as one logical device; 4x SFP56 uplinks provide 10/25/50GbE capacity; L2/L3 feature set covers campus and branch access and aggregation
✘ Cons: Specs vary widely by SKU, so family-level figures can mislead when comparing models; VSF stacking requires QSFP28 ports and DAC cables, which uses port capacity and adds cost; Pricing is well above basic unmanaged or entry-level L2 switches; Reseller price spread is wide (for example, JL658A listings range from about $4,975 to $15,343), so quotes need checking; Official HPE QuickSpecs were not directly verified in this research, and figures come from reseller and datasheet mirror pages
Est. Price: $13,174 - $20,497

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