Cisco Cisco Catalyst 9200L vs Ubiquiti Switch Enterprise 24 PoE (USW-Enterprise-24-PoE): Specs & Price Comparison

Cisco Cisco Catalyst 9200L

★ 4.3 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 56 Gbps (24P-4G) to 128 Gbps (24-port 4x10G) and 104 Gbps (48P-4G) to 176 Gbps (48P-4X); varies by SKU and source
Forwarding Rate: 83.33 Mpps (24P-4G) to 190.4 Mpps (24P-4X); 154.76 Mpps (48P-4G) to 261.9 Mpps (48P-4X); varies by SKU and source
Ports (breakdown): 24 or 48 x 10/100/1000 downlink ports (PoE+ on P models, non-PoE on T models; some 48-port PXG variants add mGig ports) plus 4 fixed uplinks: 4 x 1G SFP (-4G) or 4 x 10G SFP+ (-4X)
PoE Budget: 24P models: about 370 W default, up to about 740 W with redundant PSU; 48P models: about 740 W default, up to about 1440 W with two PSUs (sources conflict, e.g. 600 W and 1 kW PSU options quoted)
Layer: L2/L3: Network Essentials provides L2 switching with basic L3 features; Network Advantage adds full dynamic L3 routing
Stacking support: Yes, StackWise-80 with 80 Gbps stacking bandwidth, up to 8 switches (requires stacking module/kit)

✔ Pros: Cisco StackWise-80 stacking of up to 8 units with 80 Gbps stacking bandwidth; 4x10G SFP+ uplink option for higher-bandwidth aggregation; Full PoE+ (802.3at) on P models with budgets up to roughly 1440 W with redundant power; Two licensing tiers (Network Essentials and Network Advantage) let buyers pay only for needed L3 features; Lower price point than Catalyst 9300 for standard campus access deployments
✘ Cons: Uplinks are fixed with no modular expansion slots, which limits future upgrade paths; Full dynamic L3 routing requires the more expensive Network Advantage license; Stacking needs a separate stacking module and is capped at 8 units; Switching capacity and PoE budgets differ widely between SKUs, making spec comparison and sizing confusing; Lower forwarding performance and feature depth than Catalyst 9300 for aggregation or core roles
Est. Price: $1,783 - $4,604

Ubiquiti Switch Enterprise 24 PoE (USW-Enterprise-24-PoE)

★ 3.5 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 124 Gbps
Forwarding Rate: 92 Mpps
Non-Blocking Throughput: 62 Gbps
Ports: 24 total: 12x 1GbE RJ45 (PoE+), 12x 2.5GbE RJ45 (PoE+), 2x 10GbE SFP+ uplinks
PoE Standard: IEEE 802.3af/at (PoE+), no PoE++
PoE Budget: 400 W total; up to 32 W per port
Max Power Consumption: 60 W excluding PoE output; 460 W including PoE output
PSU: Internal 550 W AC/DC; DC input for redundant power (RPS)
Layer: L3 (static routing and inter-VLAN routing for local networks; 256 IPv4 static routes; no full dynamic routing listed)
Stacking Support: Not listed in official specifications
MAC Address Table: 16,000 entries
VLANs: 1,000
Packet Buffer: 2 MB
Jumbo Frames: Supported
Form Factor: 1U rack-mount, 442 x 325 x 44 mm; rack depth 400-1200 mm
Weight: 5.1 kg (5.2 kg with brackets)
Operating Temperature: -5 to 40 C; 10-90% humidity, non-condensing
Management: UniFi Network 5.14.12 or later; 1.3-inch touchscreen LCD

✔ Pros: Twelve 2.5GbE PoE+ ports suit multi-gigabit Wi-Fi 6 access points; 400 W PoE budget powers several PoE+ devices at once; Two 10GbE SFP+ uplinks for aggregation or backbone links; 124 Gbps switching capacity with a 2 MB packet buffer and 16,000-entry MAC table; Broad Layer 2/3 feature set including LACP, STP/RSTP, 802.1X, IGMP snooping, DHCP snooping, port isolation and QoS; Optional DC input for redundant power; NDAA compliant; Managed through the UniFi controller ecosystem
✘ Cons: Ubiquiti lists this model as Vintage, so it may be superseded and harder to source with full warranty; PoE is limited to 802.3at (PoE+), with no PoE++ and not compatible with U7/E7 PoE++ access points; The 400 W PoE budget can be exhausted quickly with high-power PoE+ cameras or APs; Per-port PoE is capped at 32 W; Layer 3 is limited to static and local inter-VLAN routing, so larger routed networks need an external router; Stacking is not listed in official specifications; Heavy for its class at 5.1 kg and draws 60 W before any PoE load; Few independent tests verify real-world forwarding or routing performance
Est. Price: $799 - $1,009

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