Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE vs Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6100: 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 6100

★ 3.4 Value Score

Device Category: Switch
Switching Capacity: 176 Gbps (family figure, from datasheet copies and reseller listings)
Forwarding Rate: Up to 98.6 Mpps family maximum; 95.2 Mpps for 24-port JL678A; 45.1 Mpps for 12-port JL679A
Ports: 12, 24, or 48 x 10/100/1000BASE-T ports plus 2 or 4 SFP+ 1/10GbE uplinks, depending on model (e.g., 24G 4SFP+ JL678A, 48G 4SFP+ JL676A, 12G 2SFP+ JL679A)
PoE Budget: Model-dependent: 139W on 12G Class 4 PoE model; 370W on 24G/48G Class 4 PoE models; 740W on 48G Class 4 PoE model R9Y04A; non-PoE models have none. Sources conflict on the series-wide maximum, so verify per SKU
Layer (L2/L3): Layer 2 switching with static IPv4 and IPv6 routing; no dynamic routing protocol (OSPF/BGP) found in the sources
Stacking Support: HPE VSF (Virtual Switching Framework) up to 6 members in chain or ring topology; requires AOS-CX 10.16.1006 or later; 12-port models stack only with 12-port models, and 24/48-port models stack only with each other
Form Factor: 1U rack-mount

✔ Pros: 1U rack-mountable form factor with built-in 1/10GbE SFP+ uplinks; Multiple port-count and PoE options (non-PoE and Class 4 PoE) from one series; VSF stacking of up to 6 members simplifies management as a single logical switch; Layer 2 switching with static IPv4/IPv6 routing suits small-to-mid access-layer deployments; Runs HPE Aruba AOS-CX, which offers a modern API-driven, Aruba-ecosystem management experience; Lower entry price than many enterprise-class switches in the same port density
✘ Cons: No dynamic routing protocols (OSPF/BGP) found in the sources, which limits Layer 3 use; PoE budget varies widely by model (139W to 740W), so the series-wide PoE figure is unclear; Official HPE per-model forwarding rates were not directly confirmed (figures come from QuickSpecs and reseller pages); VSF stacking is restricted by port count, so 12-port and 24/48-port models cannot be mixed; Street prices vary a lot between resellers, and the highest-PoE SKU was listed out of stock
Est. Price: $1,959 - $4,805

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