Tough Switch Vs Unifi Switch- which one is a more effective switch?

Switches are a simple method of consolidating all your connectivity needs when you want to get the internet to various devices in your office or at home.

Investing in a switch is an effective way to ensure that all your business devices that use the internet have been catered to. Devices such as printers, servers, access points, and PCs can all be connected to the switch and here you will enjoy seamless resource sharing, complete with high-speed information exchange. We have been providing switch products to most of our customers and from experience; we can tell that most of them are happy with both the Tough Switch and the Unifi Switch.

What are the differences between Tough and Unifi Switch?

Model	Tough Switch	Unifi Switch (Winner)
Number of Ports	5, 8, and 16	8, 16, 24, and 48
Rack Mount	yes	No
Software	Uses a configuration interface	Downloadable software
Action	Check Price	Check Price

Tough Switch Vs Unifi Switch

Capacity

The tough switch delivers power over Ethernet via the equipped 10/100/1000 ports, that have been configured for (PoE). The capacity of a switch is indicative of the total data exchange capability of the switch in bps, so the best way to determine the capacity of a switch is by looking at the number of ports then multiply it by the rate of the port then by 2, and the answer that you get is the total sum of the capacity of the switch.

Tough switch PoE pro is widely adopted for industrial purposes; the unit has been equipped with up to 150 watts of power that can be used to power a 48 or a 24v device, however you need to understand that the output voltage is mainly controlled by the incorporated software.

The Tough switch PoE has been designed to simplify deployment by eliminating the 8 Power cords, the 8 power outlets, and the 8 PoE adapters. The replacement of the above by the Tough Switch PoE pro will obliterate the possibility of failure points, troubleshooting will be minimized and maintenance issues will also be greatly reduced.

On the other hand, the Unifi Switch offers users a forwarding capacity that enables seamless processing of traffic on all ports at the line rate without necessarily encountering packet loss. The Unifi switch model “us-8-150W” can, therefore, effectively cater to all the port bandwidths, at the same time and in full capacity.

The maximum amount of data that can be transmitted between a switch interface card and a data bus is 20 Gbps and the number of packets per second that the switch can process is 14.88mpps. Once you decide to adopt the Unifi switches, you will have to integrate switch functionality with the Ubiquiti network management through the Unifi Network controller and at the same time ensure to provide PoE output to the power access points

And as concerns, the capacity of power consumption each of the Unifi switch is unique thus an important factor to consider if you plan to power numerous Unifi devices through PoE. And to prevent the wattage from going past the recommended ensure that you have information on the device’s power consumption.

Network Topology Requirements

As you plan to set up your Unifi switch and integrate it with other devices, you have to first ensure that it is fully functional, therefore, the first thing would be to have a DHCP enabled network which would then ensure that all and any device can attain the IP address. You will then need an Unifi cloud key, which will help you manage your Unifi networks whether on campus or across the globe.

Alternatively, you could set up a management station to run the Unifi controller software. The above is for ease of management and allows the admin of the unit to monitor and configure the Unifi devices through a graphical user interface.

Whenever you set up a network topology there are some tenants that are crucial to your setup, for starters you will begin logically and physically segmenting the various network areas to control traffic by getting the relevant hardware and initiating the right device configuration.

Consider the bandwidth, and this is for the long haul as you aim to enhance efficiency, while avoiding traffic. Once your first design is complete, you will have to review the product data sheets and check if the recommended hardware matches the requirements of the relevant network. The network requirements come in about 4 unique categories.

The first one being the routers or switches that sit at WAN as dedicated hardware or boundaries of networks. We then have the second part where you will find the high-performance switches and routers that are relevant to layer-3 packet functions. You will then distribute the routers or other high-performance switches to handle traffic for the important functions or services.

And for the last part, you will connect the switches, which will be used to connect data devices and the users of the network.

Software Installation and other support systems

After u have installed your Unifi and Tough Switch hardware you will need to install software that will help you operate the unit. Both Unifi and Tough Switch have different operational modes, with Unifi you will have to install software and if you are using Tough switch there is a configuration interface that you will access to get your unit up and running.

Important to note is that before you continue with the software installation process, you must first have in your system (Unifi), Mac Os X, Linux or Windows 7/8/10. Others are such as web browsers like Mozilla, Microsoft Edge, or Google Chrome among others. Now to proceed with software installation, download the Unifi controller software (latest version), remember, however, that different devices follow different installation processes.

For example, Mac users will have a different installation process from PC users. If you are using the latter then you will first launch the Unifi installer .exe. And then click install, however, if your computer lacks Java 1.6 or the Ubiquiti software then you receive a prompt to install which you will click to install.

Proceed to next and then on the prompt start Unifi controller after installation, check on it and then tap on finish, and if you find the above process hectic you could always install the controller from start then you proceed to All programs.

When it comes to Tough switch the process is a bit different but you will still be installing software, but through a very simple to use interface, and this is what makes it different from Unifi. Now for the individuals using either the Tough Switch PoE Pro or the Tough Switch PoE, you will directly access the configuration interface.

Before the latter first ensure that your host machine has been connected to the management port located on the Tough Switch. And using a static IP address you will proceed to configure the Ethernet adapter, which is on your host system. The type https://192.168.1.20 the above is done as you launch your web browser, in which case you will enter the above information on the address field, then proceed and click on enter or return.

You will then be presented with a login screen and here Tough Switch recommends that you enter the letters ubnt in both the username and password fields and then you can proceed to login. On the last step, you will be presented with a configuration interface where you are free to customize your settings. Keep in mind, however, that you must configure your Tough Switch PoE carrier.

Range and Capacity

Tough Switch has been designed to allow for a clean and less cluttered deployment. When you install one tough switch PoE port it will obliterate the need for the installation of an 8 PoE adapter, power cords and ethernet patch cables.

The above in turn enables for great efficiency, the failure points are minimized thus users won’t have to spend time troubleshooting their network. As regards capacity, the tough switch carrier has been equipped with 16 Gb PoE port and can manage up to 300w power output, and the configurable passive PoE is 24 or 48V.

For you to get your Unifi Switch up and running you have to connect the relevant devices and one that will help you achieve the best internet range are the Unifi access points. Therefore, according to Ubiquiti the Lite and Pro access points have been determined to offer the best ranges of up to 400 feet, whereas the LR can stretch up to 600 feet.

Structure and Design

The tough switch is available in three models with the smallest one being the Tough switch 5 port that features a simple design and an output of about 60 watts on every port. At the back, it has been equipped with six ports and that includes the SFP port and one USB port. The second model is the 8 port pro and offers up to 150 watts on all the 8 ports, but is not as mountable when compared to the 5 port.

Lastly, there is the 16 port carrier that produces up to 300 watts on all the 16 ports, the design of the carrier is a combination of two PoE ports installed on a rack.

The structure and design of the Unifi Switch are quite different from the Tough switch first because it has incorporated up to 24 ports in one unit without necessarily using a carrier, the unit has been made with mountable slots at both edges at the backside. The 24 port switch can offer up to 250w and 500w respectively, while the 48 ports offer 500 watts and 750 watts respectively.

Tough Switch vs. Unifi Switch- a Comparison Overview

 Ubiquiti Tough Switch Overview

The Ubiquiti Tough Switch is a great solution both for home or business use, by adopting this unit you will be able to access the advanced features like port monitoring. The unit offers a tree protocol and comes with configurable alerts. Getting it up and running does not involve a steep learning curve.

Pros

• Made with a tough metal and rubber casing
• Equipped with a 2.0 USB port
• Offers advanced port monitoring

Cons

• Needs constant resetting
• Switch not sturdy enough

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Ubiquiti Unifi Switch Overview

The Unifi switch offers impeccable performance with its forwarding capacity, which enables it to simultaneously process traffic on all the equipped ports at the line rate thus users will not experience any packet loss. The switch is also able to detect 802.3af/at devices thus they can automatically receive PoE.

And in case you want to expand your network then the Unifi switch offers fiber connectivity which enables users to easily expand their network. The unit has also been equipped with an Unifi controller which enables easy management and when used with the Unifi software then the admin can monitor and be presented with the functions of the switch and other incorporated devices in a graphical user interface.

Pros

• Users can access the statistics of the LAN throughput for each port on the selected switch
• When using software users can access centralized configuration management and that is inclusive of cloning
• Users are provided with the status of each of the ports

Cons

• The unit tends to run hot during use
• The power support is not durable neither is it reliable

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Conclusion

Both the switches can be adopted for home or business use, but are different in significant ways, and in terms of setting up the topology. Each of the switches comes with different ports, for example, the unified switches tend to have more ports at 24 and 48 thus allows the connectivity of more devices and offers more watts. If you are planning to go with Unifi then you should confirm the device that you are using to engage the right configuration process

Verdict: So which is better? The Ubiquiti Tough or Unifi switch

The 16 port Tough Switch is made of two separate units contained in a carrier while the Unifi switch turns out to be the best as it comes as one unit which makes it even easy to mount. However, when it comes to software installation, Unifi seems to be a bit complex because you will have to download and configure it with regard to the device that you are using. But for the tough switch, you will only need to interact with the provided interface to get your unit up.

FAQs

1. Can I use Java 9 on my Unifi switch?

Java 9 is not supported by Unifi, and you can, therefore, use Java 8 which must be installed in the system that hosts the controller software.

2. What can I do when I forget my password or when it stops working?

You could use the factory-set password, which is case sensitive, the password is ubnt and the username is root and you can also use the password in both slots.