UniFi Long-Range Switch 8 PoE

Getting past 100 meters

Ethernet tops out at 100 meters, about 328 feet. When a camera or a gate is farther out than that, we’ve had three ways to reach it.

• Fiber with a power run. Ubiquiti’s Optical Data Transport carries PoE over fiber and a separate power cable, but fiber can be more complicated to run and terminate.
• A wireless bridge. Where there’s a clear line of sight, a UniFi Device Bridge needs no cable between the two ends, but the far end still needs power.
• Ethernet repeaters. Ubiquiti’s Long-Range Ethernet Repeater adds another 100 meters of cable, but it’s one more box to mount, and it passes on only 22.5W.

The switch and the endpoint

The Long-Range Switch 8 PoE sends power and data down a single Ethernet cable, much farther than a standard switch can. Each of its eight ports puts out up to 90W, with 630W to share between them, and it connects back to the network over a gigabit or SFP uplink. Ubiquiti lists the switch at $249.

At the far end of each run, an Outdoor Long-Range Endpoint mounts next to the camera or gate, and any run longer than 100 meters needs one. The endpoint is weatherproof, passes up to 60W on to the device plugged into it, and has surge protection built in, right at the device. Ubiquiti lists it at $99.

How far it reaches

Ubiquiti rates the switch to 800 meters (2,625 feet), but past 400 meters (1,312 feet) the link drops from 100 Mbps to 10 Mbps, and the power that makes it to the endpoint keeps falling the farther you go.

Where we’d use it

We expect to use the Long-Range Switch for a camera or gate that sits just past the end of a normal run, where there’s no clear line of sight or no power at the far end.

Within about 200 meters (656 feet), the switch can power any UniFi camera, even a PTZ. Beyond that, we’d usually look at fiber first.

What we think

The Long-Range Switch gives us one more way to balance cost and performance on each run, and the install is simpler. There’s one cable to each device and nothing to mount in between, and Ethernet is easier to run and terminate than fiber.

Fiber still wins on longer runs and anything that needs gigabit. For one or two far devices, an Optical Data Transport or a Long-Range Ethernet Repeater often makes more sense than adding a specialized switch.

If there’s a camera or gate on your property that your cabling doesn’t reach, book a call and we’ll plan the run with you.