PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Palo Alto Networks PA-555-POE
Palo Alto Networks PA-555-POE
★ 3.2 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: 7.5 Gbps (AppMix, reseller listings; not confirmed in official Palo Alto docs)
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 5.0 Gbps (reseller listings)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: 4.5 Gbps (reseller listings)
  • Max Sessions: 448,000 concurrent (reseller listings)
  • New Sessions/sec: 75,000 (reseller listings)
  • Interfaces: 8x 10/100/1GbE RJ-45 (ports 1-8, ports 5-8 PoE); 4x 1/2.5GbE mGig RJ-45 (ports 9-12, PoE); 2x 1GbE SFP (ports 13-14); 2x 1GbE/10GbE SFP+ (ports 15-16); 1x 1GbE management RJ-45; console (RJ-45 + USB-C)
  • PoE Budget: Up to 332 W per connected device on ports 5-12; no aggregate system PoE budget published
  • Form Factor: Desktop, PA-500 Series (not stated in official component docs; verify before relying on it)
  • Max Power Consumption: 503 W

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Firewall throughput of 7.5 Gbps (AppMix) and 5.0 Gbps threat prevention, well above the 2 Gbps in the current catalog row; Eight PoE ports (5-12) delivering up to 332 W per device, which removes the need for external injectors for APs and cameras; Mixed uplink options with 1/2.5GbE mGig copper plus 1GbE and 10GbE SFP/SFP+ ports; 448,000 max sessions and 75,000 new sessions/sec for busy branch or mid-market networks; Full PAN-OS next-generation firewall feature set, including App-ID and threat prevention
  • ✘ Cons: No aggregate PoE budget is published, so total power for many PoE devices is unclear; Throughput and session figures come from reseller listings rather than an official Palo Alto datasheet; Maximum power draw of 503 W requires a 550 W adapter and adequate power and cooling; Requires PAN-OS 12.1.2 or later, which may complicate upgrades in existing deployments; Street price of roughly $9,400-$10,400 is high for a desktop unit, and stock is limited (Newegg listing out of stock)
  • Est. Price: $9,387 - $10,430

Compare Against

Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Fiber
Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Fiber
★ 5.0 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti; 5 Gbps IDS/IPS-secured routing throughput is the only headline figure (reviewer and retailer listings)
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 5 Gbps IDS/IPS
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: Not published
  • Max Sessions: Not published; 500+ simultaneous users and 4,000-entry MAC address table
  • New Sessions/sec: Not published
  • Interfaces: 2x 10G SFP+; 1x 10GbE RJ45 (10G/2.5G/1G); 4x 2.5GbE RJ45 (2.5G/1G/100M/10M); 2 of the 6 WAN-capable ports are default WAN (1x 10G SFP+ and 1x 10GbE RJ45), with the other ports selectable as WAN
  • Form Factor: Compact desktop; 212.8 x 127.6 x 30 mm; 675 g without SSD
  • CPU / RAM: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A73 at 2.2 GHz / 3 GB RAM
  • Storage: Optional NVMe SSD up to 2 TB (NVR storage)
  • PoE Budget: 30W total from one PoE+ port (port 4)
  • Max Power Consumption: 29.4W excluding PoE output

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Lowest-cost Ubiquiti gateway with 5 Gbps IDS/IPS, rated above the UDM-SE's 3.5 Gbps at a lower launch price ($279 MSRP vs. $499); Multi-gig flexibility with 10GBASE-T, dual SFP+ and four 2.5GbE ports; Compact desktop design with optional NVMe storage for UniFi Protect/NVR use; Supports site-to-site VPN plus OpenVPN, WireGuard and L2TP server functions, with integrated PoE+ for one device; Managed through the UniFi Network controller with 500+ simultaneous user capacity
  • ✘ Cons: No official routing, IPsec or WireGuard throughput figures published by Ubiquiti; community WireGuard numbers (around 400-500 Mbps) are unverified; Only one PoE+ output port (30W total) versus eight PoE ports on the UDM-SE; Lower device and user capacity and less storage expansion than the UDM-SE; No published IPsec tunnel or concurrent session limits; Reseller prices now often run above the launch MSRP (about $320-$346 USD at US resellers)
  • Est. Price: $279 - $346

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