Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE vs Zyxel XGS1210-12

Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›

all judged against network switches at a similar price

The Zyxel XGS1210-12 scores 6.9/10 overall, ahead of the Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE at 5.9/10.

The Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE leads on management and noise and efficiency.

The Zyxel XGS1210-12 leads on port speeds and port count and uplinks.

They score the same on poE and firmware and support.

The biggest difference is port speeds, where the Zyxel XGS1210-12 scores 8/10 to the Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE's 4/10.

Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE

5.9/10verdict: good, not the best

The UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE is for people already running, or planning, a UniFi setup who want a small, silent managed switch. It suits a desk, small office or home network with a few PoE devices such as access points or cameras. It is a poor fit for anyone who needs faster than gigabit speeds, fibre uplinks or lots of PoE power.

Typically about £111 in the UK when we researched itSearch Amazon UK

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

Zyxel XGS1210-12

6.9/10verdict: buy

The Zyxel XGS1210-12 is for homelabbers and small offices that want a quiet, fanless switch with a couple of faster links. It suits someone connecting a server or NAS over 2.5GbE copper or 10G SFP+ while the other devices stay on Gigabit. It is a poor fit if you need PoE or LACP bonding.

Typically about £125 in the UK when we researched itSearch Amazon UK

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE	Zyxel XGS1210-12
Port speeds	30%	4/10	8/10
Management	20%	8/10	6/10
Port count and uplinks	15%	5/10	7/10
Noise and efficiency	15%	9/10	8/10
PoE	10%	5/10	5/10
Firmware and support	10%	5/10	5/10
Overall		5.9/10	6.9/10

Specifications

Spec	Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE	Zyxel XGS1210-12
Ports	8 RJ45 ports in total, of which 4 are PoE+	12 total: 8 x RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps, 2 x RJ-45 100/1000/2500 Mbps, 2 x SFP+
Port speeds	10/100/1000 Mbps on all ports	8 copper ports 10/100/1000 Mbps; 2 copper ports 100/1000/2.5G; SFP+ cages take 1G or 10G optics
Management	Layer 2 managed, configured through the UniFi Network Controller, in-band Ethernet management	Web-managed; port-based VLAN, 802.1p and port-based QoS, IGMP snooping, static link aggregation, port mirroring, management VLAN, HTTP/HTTPS
PoE budget	52 W total PoE budget; up to 30 W per PoE+ port (802.3at)	No PoE
Uplinks (SFP/SFP+)	No SFP or SFP+ port; RJ45 networking ports only	2 x SFP+ (1G/10G)
Switching capacity	16 Gbps switching capacity; 8 Gbps non-blocking line rate	66 Gbps switching capacity; 49 Mpps forwarding rate
Cooling	Fanless; heat dissipation 27.3 BTU/hr excluding PoE output	Fanless

Strengths and weaknesses

Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE

+ Fanless and quiet, praised by owners
+ Layer 2 management with VLANs through UniFi Network Controller
+ Easy setup and quick provisioning, per owners
− Only four of eight ports supply PoE
− Gigabit only, with no SFP or SFP+ uplink
− 52 W PoE budget may strain demanding devices

Skip it if:

Buyers who need 2.5GbE, 10GbE or SFP+ uplinks
Anyone powering many or high-demand PoE devices
People who want L3 routing on the switch itself

Read the full Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE review ›

Zyxel XGS1210-12

+ Two SFP+ cages take 1G or 10G optics
+ Fanless, and owners praise it as quiet and compact
+ Two 2.5GbE copper ports alongside eight Gigabit ports
− Static link aggregation only; no LACP
− Owners report heat under heavy load
− No PoE

Skip it if:

Buyers who need LACP link aggregation
Anyone who needs PoE for access points or cameras
Buyers putting it in a warm, unventilated cupboard under heavy load

Read the full Zyxel XGS1210-12 review ›

More comparisons

Compare all network switches · Best network switches