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

★ 3.3 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 880 Gbps to 1760 Gbps (series range, varies by SKU)
Forwarding Rate: 660 Mpps to 1310 Mpps (series range, varies by SKU)
Ports: 24-port or 48-port models: 1G/2.5G/5G/10G Smart Rate RJ45 access ports, plus 4x SFP56 (10/25/50G) uplinks on most SKUs (some L2 SKUs add 2x SFP28 25G)
PoE Budget: Up to 2880 W total (720 W, 1440 W, or 2880 W options by SKU); per-port Class 4 (30 W), Class 6 (60 W), or Class 8 (90 W); non-PoE SKUs also available
Layer: L3 (6300M/6300F); L2 (6300L)
Stacking support: Yes, Virtual Stacking Framework, up to 10 members per stack, 200 Gbps to 400 Gbps stacking bandwidth; VSX active-active pairs also supported

✔ Pros: Smart Rate multigigabit ports (1G/2.5G/5G/10G) support modern Wi-Fi 6/6E/7 access points without upgrading cabling; high switching capacity for a fixed-port switch; flexible PoE options up to 2880 W total for demanding powered devices; 50G and 25G uplinks suit aggregation and future growth; stacking up to 10 members simplifies management; Aruba Central cloud management and AOS-CX automation support; multiple SKU variants (L2 and L3, PoE and non-PoE) fit a range of deployments
✘ Cons: Specs and PoE budgets vary widely by SKU, so the series-level figures are hard to compare directly; higher-PoE and 50G-uplink configurations carry high list prices; stacking and VSX require matching SKUs and licensing planning; the 6300 series sits well above entry-level switches on cost; official HPE QuickSpecs were not directly retrieved, so per-SKU figures should be confirmed before purchase
Est. Price: $5,053 - $24,013

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