Infrastructure for modern Wi-Fi: new Eltex multi-gigabit switches coming this summer

The latest wireless access standards have significantly increased the performance demands. The gigabit connection is no longer sufficient for Wi-Fi 6 access points, and new Wi-Fi 7 solutions require much more. Besides, there is a lot of other high-demand terminal equipment — servers, workstations, modern 4K PTZ cameras, and storage systems — for which a gigabit connection is also a bottleneck.

“Increasing wireless network performance requires more than just access points—a comprehensive infrastructure solution is required. Therefore, when developing multi-gigabit switches, we focus on ensuring they serve as a reliable foundation for Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 — delivering real, not just theoretical, data rates under the high user density and heavy load conditions typical of Russian businesses”. 
 

Roman Polukhin, Broadband Product Manager at Eltex

We are continuously developing the Eltex WEP and WOP series of enterprise access points based on Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 standards. However, each of these access points can reveal full potential as far as its connection infrastructure allows. That is why we are creating the Eltex product ecosystem for multi-gigabit access, where advanced wireless solutions are built on a powerful wired foundation.

This year, two new switches designed for these tasks will be released: MES2310-48DP and MES2310-12XU. Both models feature 25G SFP28 uplinks, but differ in their set of multi-gigabit ports and support different versions of PoE. Let's look at how they differ, what projects they are designed for, and which model is better suited to your needs.

The primary goal in developing MES2310-48DP is to connect a large number of Wi-Fi 6 access points without compromising their performance. There are plenty of switches with multi-gigabit ports on the market, but most of them offer 8, 12, or 24 ports. When a wireless network with a large number of access points is deployed at a site, administrator is forced to install more active equipment.

MES2310-48DP solves this problem. Its 48 RJ-45 ports operate at 2.5G and support PoE/PoE+ with up to 30 W per port, that is ideal for Wi-Fi 6 access points. The PoE budget with a single power module is 800 W, and with two power modules it is 1600 W. The switch bandwidth is 440 Gbps to handle traffic from all ports without blocking.

Four 25G SFP28 uplinks provide 100 Gbps in total for connecting to the upstream infrastructure. The 25G ports enable the deployment of higher-performance networks: MES5320-24 and MES5410-48 switches with 25G ports can be used at the aggregation layer. This topology provides bandwidth reserves for traffic growth and network scaling. The power system supports hot swapping and redundancy. Two hot-swappable vent panels provide effective cooling.

We recently shared some great news. WEP-550K, our flagship Wi-Fi 7 access point, will be available for mass production in April. It requires not only massive throughput but also a lot of power to operate. To ensure network infrastructure can fully utilize its capabilities, we developed the MES2310-12XU multi-gigabit switch.

Each of twelve RJ-45 ports operates at 10G speed and supports PoE++. Up to 90 W of power is sufficient for Wi-Fi 7 access points and other demanding equipment, such as PTZ cameras. The PoE budget is 400 W with a single power module and 800 W with two power modules.

MES2310-12XU can also be used to connect servers equipped with 10 Gigabit network cards. For such connections, SFP+ modules with a copper interface are typically used, which significantly increase the project budget. MES2310-12XU allows connecting a server directly to a switch port using a standard RJ-45 (Cat.6a) cable. This significantly reduces costs, especially when there are a large number of connections.

MES2310-12XU offers 440 Gbps bandwidth, and four 25G SFP28 uplinks provide 100 Gbps. This enables deploying higher-performance networks by using 25G-port switches, such as MES5320-24 or MES5410-48 at the aggregation layer. MES2310-12XU features redundant power supply system and two replaceable vent panels, both are hot-swappable.

The video below demonstrates testing the Wi-Fi 7 WEP-550K access point with MES2310-12XU switch.

Both multi-gigabit switches will be launched into mass production this summer. Final testing is currently underway, and the devices will be ready for deployment by the release date.

We are ready to discuss technical details, assist with engineering, and reserve new switch models for your specific needs. If you are planning Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7 deployment or constructing a server infrastructure with 10G connections over copper interfaces, please submit a request, and our specialists will contact you. In addition, we have a special testing program.

Contacts us for more details: foreign.sales@eltex-co.ru