TP-Link JetStream TL-SG3424P review

Traditionally associated with SoHo networking, TP-Link now has the SMB market in its sights, and it’s staking its claim with a new range of Ethernet switches. The JetStream TL-SG3424P sets the bar high, supporting both PoE and PoE+ standards at a very low price.

The switch has 24 Gigabit ports, and four dual-personality Gigabit/SFP ports. All copper ports are PoE-enabled, but the maximum output of 320W means it may not be possible to add PoE devices to all of them.

From the switch’s web interface, we could view the status of all the ports, where PoE devices were attached, and their power consumption in watts, milliamps and volts. We could also see which PoE class the switch had allocated to all our attached devices.

You don’t have to stick with the automatically allocated defaults, though. The TP-Link’s power controls allow you to take full control and edit the class manually, set power caps on selected ports, and assign power priorities. If the power drain reaches the switch’s limits, the ports with the lowest priority are switched off first. Power profiles simplify this process, allowing the combination of power classes or manual power limits with power priorities. These profiles can then be applied to selected ports. It’s even possible to add a time range and determine when a profile is active.

We tested with an Axis 216FD IP camera, a Netgear WNDAP350 AP and a Sony SNC-EP520 PoE+ IP camera, and could see clearly each device’s power consumption. Also, the TP-Link correctly identified the Sony camera as a Class 4 device.

The switch has plenty more to offer, too. Along with sound security and QoS features, it can create a voice VLAN, recognising VoIP devices by their organisationally unique identifier (OUI) and automatically prioritise traffic accordingly.

HP’s 10/100 Ethernet 2620-24-PPoE+ costs around £150 more, but it has a tiny PoE output of 128W, and only 12 ports are PoE-enabled. The JetStream TL-SG3424P packs in Gigabit all round, along with more features for less cash, so we recommend it without any hesitation.