Fortinet FortiSwitch 648F vs Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE: Specs & Price Comparison

Fortinet FortiSwitch 648F

★ 3.2 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 720 Gbps
Forwarding Rate: 1,071 Mpps
Ports (breakdown): 32x 2.5GbE RJ45 (multi-gig); 16x 5GbE RJ45; 8x 25GbE SFP28 uplinks (SFP28 also accepts 10G SFP+); 56 ports total, 1RU
PoE Budget: None on the base 648F (data-only). The 648F-FPOE variant adds 802.3bt PoE on 48 ports with an 1800 W budget
Layer: L2/L3
Stacking support: Not listed. Managed through FortiLink by a FortiGate (switch controller model, not stacking)
MAC Address Table: 64K entries
VLANs: 4,000
Link Aggregation Groups: 56
IPv4 Routes: 16,000
Packet Buffer: 8 MB
Memory: 4 GB DDR4
Security: Hardware MACsec
Form Factor: 1RU rack-mountable, approx. 43.2 x 439.4 x 350.5 mm, 7.15 kg
Operating Temperature: 0-45 u00b0C
Redundancy: Dual redundant PSU

✔ Pros: Very high port density for a 1RU switch (56 ports, mixing 2.5G, 5G and 25G); 720 Gbps switching capacity suits multi-gig access and aggregation; Hardware MACsec encryption on all ports; FortiLink integration lets a FortiGate manage it centrally; Dual redundant PSUs; 25G SFP28 uplinks, with backward compatibility for 10G SFP+
✘ Cons: Data-only base model with no PoE, so it cannot power APs or cameras; The FPOE variant costs substantially more; Requires a FortiGate for central management, which adds to total cost of ownership; Pricing and warranty terms vary across resellers (one lists a limited lifetime warranty, another a one-year hardware warranty); Official fortinet.com datasheet could not be retrieved, so specs come from reseller listings and should be verified; One reseller listing gives conflicting figures (1.44 Tbps, 40GbE uplinks) and was disregarded
Est. Price: $6,210 - $7,817

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

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