I’m looking at setting up a shelf of IP phones and potentially calling it ShelfNet. Only problem is I’ve only got an 8-port unmanaged NETGEAR PoE switch that powered my previous office nook, and i’d like to be able to remotely reset a port if I believe a given phone is misbehaving.
Ideally, I’d like a managed 16 port unit to at least allow for some expansion; the less noise it makes, and the more idiot proof its control pane is, the better.
Anything come to mind, friends?
They’re a little bit pricey but I’ve had some good experiences with the D-Link web managed PoE switches for “outposts”. The one in my home office is a DGS-1210-10P which is silent (if it has a fan I’ve never heard it).
In addition to being managed it also supports LLDP so it’ll tell phones what the voice VLAN is and they’ll flick over to it automagically.
I have found once you hit 16-24 ports they start making more noise as there’s a bit of heat generated by supplying PoE.