Alcatel Pushes PoE To The Closet

Alcatel this week is launching a new line of Fast Ethernet switches that aims to make Power over Ethernet pervasive throughout enterprise wiring closets.

While much of the switching industry is fixated on Gigabit Ethernet technology, the new OmniStack LS 6200 switch family should help fill the needs of customers that want PoE to support their VoIP and wireless LAN deployments but don’t have the budget to put 10/100/1000 switches at the network edge, said Brian Witt, director product marketing for enterprise solutions at Alcatel, Calabasas, Calif.

Citing research from Dell’Oro Group, Witt said two-thirds of fixed-configuration wiring closet LAN ports are still Fast Ethernet, which on average cost one-third of their Gigabit counterparts. That makes the 10/100 switching space a still-vibrant market opportunity for solution providers.

In addition to PoE, the line of stackable Layer 2 switches offers other advanced features such as Quality of Service and security that are sometimes out of customers’ budgetary reach, he said.

List prices for the LS 6200 family, available now, are $1,595 for 24 PoE ports and $2,395 for 48 PoE ports. For models without PoE, prices start at $750.With its advanced features and low price point, the LS 6200 line should help Alcatel bolster its position in SMB accounts, said Ron Goodband, COO of Advance 2000, an Alcatel partner based in Buffalo, N.Y. PoE support is the No. 2 most-requested technology for clients that want to future-proof their networks, he said.

But at No. 1 on the future-proofing list is Gigabit Ethernet, so the LS 6200 family will not likely appeal to customers that will require Gigabit to the desktop anytime soon, he said.

Goodband said he is anxiously awaiting the addition of PoE to Alcatel’s OmniSwitch 6800 series of Layer 3 switches, expected in the December time frame. Launched earlier this year, the 6800 family of Fast Ethernet switches can morph into Gigabit switches via a software upgrade.