From the Specifications a 16 port switch there are 8 POE+ Ports with a total POE Power Budget of 120 Watts, the AP6 consumes 20 Watts, the AP6 Pro 25 Watts. So going by the specs, I can only use Qty 6 AP6s on a 16 port switch?
The 16 port switch can only power QTY 4, AP6 Pros at 25W each?
Is this switch a little under powered?
The AP6 and AP6Pro power that you state are maximums, not constants. Real world, I have an AP6Pro with 19 associated clients and it has peaked at 9W, that’s my busiest AP currently.
Budgeting is just that, figuring out where your levels top out, add a little cushion. The switches were also designed for any 802.3af/at device, not just the APs, so it’s not necessarily designed to be fully loaded with APs.
Sorry if I seem unimpressed about the published specifications and guidance. Alta labs may be designing their switches for other devices too, I expect that if I am purchasing a managed POE switch made by a company that is manufacturing Access Points that are POE powered, I should be able to use a high percentage of the switches ethernet ports for the access points.
I’m sorry to hear you’re dissatisfied with the switch selection at present. We’ll take your feedback into consideration with future products.
Technically, you can fill all available PoE ports with PoE devices, you would just need to watch your budget. I’m unaware of any PoE switches currently on the market that can provide full power budget to every single port.
An 8 port would require 208W
A 16 port would require 408W
A 24 port would require 612W
A 48 port would require 1,224W
That’s assuming the 25.5W output at the PD per the 803.2at spec and excludes the power requirements to power and operate the switch. Budgeting is a typical requirement of using PoE. Doing a quick search of the household names of networking, I checked about a dozen datasheets and none of them hit the PoE budget needed to output power on all ports. Of course, I can’t check them all.
Also keep in mind that our introduction into switches is intended to be market standard. There will be more to come.
Sorry, I am unimpressed with the market standard. We rarely ever use anything that is just market standard. I would not consider the AP6 Pro, as market standard. It is a unique robust Access Point, that has a great start of an excellent control set.
I hope that Alta sets a higher goal for its switch products in the future.
The reason to select a POE switch is about Management and having a tool that will fill the unique needs of the devices that are being connected. We need devices that we can Manage remotely. These devices must have excellent performance to cover the end user’s needs and provide us with the support tools to ensure that performance.
POE Budgets are about Management. 8 APs on a switch can be powered without issue if there is sufficient total power available, and the start of each device can be staged. The period when the most power is consumed on a switch is at the start. Fans are running (I know Alta’s 16 Port switch has no Fans) and all the devices are starting up. Even if all the APs are the same, there will be differences in the power draw because of the ethernet cables. Distance, Cables, and Connections will cause resistance variations.
I think the documentation can have more specifics about the real-world expectations of the APs POE consumption, and the 16 port switch is a little underpowered.
For what it’s worth, I agree with you. On the other hand, we have to stay competitive on price. And you have to consider circuit loads, too. The 48 port example for 1,224W would require a minimum of a 10A circuit for the switch alone (assuming it’s fully loaded, of course. Then you consider the 80% and you’re at 15A. When I built my server room, I put a 20A dedicated circuit for it, 75% of that used by one switch, that would be a surprise and not really something I’d consider.
At any rate, your feedback is noted and documented on our side. I have high confidence that our switch portfolio will only continue to grow.
One of my AP6 Pros is currently on a Switch that only does 802.3af, I’ve not yet noticed a problem from a lack of power.
I’ve installed one with 2880W budget.
It was used for some dante kit (not poe), a few lidar sensors (a couple of watts max) and one unifi ap. Guess you could class that as overkill but it would be able to power 40 AP6 pros with ease…
I stand corrected on the market statement. But that switch would have to be on its own 30 amp circuit @ 120V (24A max for PoE budget * 80%). Although it could work with a 20 amp circuit on 240V, assuming the switch hits its maximum draw which it likely never will.
Imagine turning your switch on and all the lights in the place dim 
They’re on 240v so all good. It’s running the experience center for this place so power isn’t a huge issue, in comparison to the power their AC system in just the experience center uses (the smaller offshoot on the left of the image) 2800w is a rounding error 
That is a crazy awesome looking building. It looks like it’s from the future.
We should Elevate the WiFi in there 
Have a firewalla and that netgear switch in the experience center. They haven’t let me see their setup in the main part of the building yet but maybe one day
