Choosing the Best Small Business Switch

We prepared a comprehensive overview of factors to consider and the best products to help you choose a small business switch.

Managing a small business is already hard, probably with various tasks falling on single hands. Moreover, your business is likely to grow and expand in a short time. An essential facet of managing a small business in the current climate, especially with your growth goals in mind, is the flow of information within the office. A reliable ISP connection is not enough; you must ensure that users, endpoints, and applications have a smooth and reliable connection. Therefore, we prepared a list of the best products to help you choose a small business switch.

Network Switches Are Here to Stay

Before moving on to the list, first things first. Is a network switch even necessary? If you are reading this article, the short answer is probably yes. However, if you need to decide before comparing products, you can check our article HERE to help you determine whether you need a network switch at all.

So, what are the deciding factors when buying a network switch for small businesses?

Buying a small business switch is relatively simple. Still, you should never forget that adopting any switching solution without understanding your home network and requirements will only add up to your connectivity, performance, and budgetary constraints.

Budget

Budget is always a deciding factor, no matter what the need is. Even in corporate and enterprise businesses, people tend to go with the allocated budget rather than focusing on the best solutions that exceed the budget. It is recommended to prepare the budget part after reviewing a couple of network switch solutions first to have a rough idea about the prices. Take note of your in-hand budget and choose the optimal choice by keeping security and reliability in mind. Expensive switches are not always the best, and cheaper switches do not disappoint every time.

The number of users and endpoints

It is considered the best practice to evaluate the current number of users and endpoint devices in the LAN infrastructure. An ideal small network consists of somewhere between 20-30 users and 20-40 endpoint devices. All the network switches with minimal features support this number of users. The number of users and devices can increase in the future or on rare occasions. So, to avoid poor connection and bandwidth issues in the network, it is always recommended to go for a higher capability network switch rather than the currently required one.

Make network security a priority

Cybersecurity is a global concern, and Ransomware is leading from the front while targeting individual users. Privacy and data protection are equally important for everyone, whether ordinary people or VIPs. Hackers target small networks, typically consisting of IoT devices and less secure networking appliances like routers and switches. A good small business switch with at least industry standard switching security can defend and protect against IoT and various attacks.

Go for a scalable network switching

Managed or scalable network switches might sound expensive or advanced for small networks, but it becomes beneficial when you convert your small office into an enterprise office. You should always prefer a scalable network switch over unmanaged switches. Scalable not only in terms of managed and unmanaged but also in terms of the number of ports. An extra interface/port can save you the additional cost of a switch.

Brand value does matter

Why not go for branded switches instead of poorly rated products?

Popular switching solution manufacturers like Cisco, Aruba, Juniper, Netgear, Mikrotik, Linksys, and TP-Link designed and built switching technology based on real-time customer experience and requirement analysis. They have a brand value and reputation to protect and promote among the end-users.

Small offices often struggle with bandwidth and smooth connectivity. This mostly happens due to the lack of performance-centric and reliable network switches. A switched network or ethernet connection is always preferred over a wireless network because of stability, network speed, and smooth connectivity. We have narrowed down the best network switches for small offices based on real-time research and customer experience.

Our Picks:

Cisco CBS 350 Series

The Cisco CB350 is a simple and power-packed performance switch from tech giant Cisco. The CB350 offers performance, reliability, security, and affordability and can be managed by a mobile app. The compact design, robust security, and PoE capabilities allow small offices to facilitate their multiple needs with a single network switch in the form of Cisco CB350.

Some important features of this small business switch are:

●          L2 Security

●          PoE

●          IPV4/IPV6 Routing Support

●          Stackable

●          Layer 3 Traffic Management

●          DHCP Relay & Server

●          Policy-Based Routing

●          Stacking and high availability (Failover Available)

●          DoS Prevention

For a detailed comparison between CBS 350 models, please CLICK HERE.

Cisco Business 250

The Cisco Business 250 switches are one of the finest network switches available in the small business segment. Best suitable for small offices and daily connectivity needs, the Cisco 250 switch is an innovative performance switch ideal for modern offices.

Cisco 250 is affordable and can be implemented quickly in the live network.

Unlike other switches in this price segment, the CB 250 switches have a lot to offer. It is powered with the following features:

●          Available in 8,16,24,48 Ports

●          L3 Routing Capability

●          PoE

●          IEEE 802.3ad LACP

●          Loopback Detection

●          VLANs

●          Port Security

●          IPV6 Support

●          Cisco Business Mobile App

Cisco Business 250 provides layer 3 static routing capabilities alongside comprehensive security measures to defend against layer 2 attacks. If your office network has expanded with additional users and endpoints, and you need a solid solution to onboard them in the network, then Cisco Business 250 is the deal for you.

To learn more about the detailed features of the Cisco Business 250 switch, CLICK HERE.

Aruba 2930M Switch Series

The Aruba 2930M switch series is a game-changer in the segment. Powered with advanced features and aggressive pricing is something small offices and enterprises consider while looking for network switches.

The Aruba 2930M series can be managed by a unified cloud-based management feature that allows the management and configurations right from the cloud console. The 2930M series can be easily deployed and managed using Aruba proprietary monitoring tools like Aruba Central, Aruba AirWave, and ClearPass Policy Manager. The high availability is backed by the  VRRP feature, where two routers can be grouped to maintain a highly available routed environment.

This small business switch includes:

●          Up to 10 chassis backplane stacking

●          PoE

●          Advanced security

●          Supports RIP and Access OSPF

●          10GBE and 40GBE uplinks

●          Layer 3 routing support

●          Software-defined, REST API and OpenFlow

●          Zero-touch provisioning

●          QoS

The 2930M is designed by considering the scalability needs of small enterprises. Stacking technology can be used to bind multiple units to act as one logical switch appliance. This allows organizations to adapt and cooperate with performance, redundancy, and compliance needs. Want to learn more about technical features? CLICK HERE.

Juniper EX2300 Switches

The Juniper EX2300 series is built and designed considering small office networks and enterprises' quality, performance, and cost needs. It can be treated as an entry-level switch to small offices to the edge and connecting points for multiple hosts/systems inside an office network. The access layer characteristics allow the ethernet switch to deliver power-packed performance, meeting the current needs of modern small businesses.

The Juniper EX2300 offers a better user experience via GUI and CLI for network management and configurations. The EX2300 Ethernet switches have a compact design suitable for small offices. The EX2300 can be mounted or fitted in minimal space.

Its features include:

●          Supports L2/L3 routing protocols

●          PoE

●          Advanced security

●          Virtual chassis to stack switches

●          Up to 176 Gbps of switching capacity

●          Automated onboarding via Juniper MIST

●          Zero-touch deployment

●          "Commit" and "commit show" commands for comparison and validation

The EX2300 series is powered by Juniper MIST and Wired Assurance for easy management right from the cloud. The Juniper MIST empowers network administrators to deploy and onboard new devices in little time and hassle-free. The Juniper EX2300 supports both 1GBPS and 2.5GBPS interfaces. Furthermore, the virtual chassis empowers a combination of four switches to act and operate as a single unit. If you're looking for a power-packed, scalable, and performance small business switch, Juniper EX2300 is the deal for you.

For detailed features, you can CLICK HERE.

The bottom line:

·       The size of a company does not matter. What matters is how information or traffic flows inside and outside the organization and how secure it is.

·       Each business, regardless of its size, has unique goals and workflow. Network switches can redefine how communication is carried out inside and outside the company.

·       A good network switch improves communication between hosts, servers, and applications.

If you want to get further assistance, you can CONTACT our support team for any inquiries.