Ubiquiti UniFi Pro Aggregation 25G Switch Review

[@digitalopt]

Hey Tom, I think you’ve changed the way you speak about things in your newer videos, and I like it! As always, thanks for your time and expertise!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Not sure what that means but since you like it I will assume its a good thing. Thanks!

[@ad4m1]

I can confirm that aggregating the sfp28 ports works really well, but with one caveat. Make sure if your aggregating two of these switches that they are both at the same firmware level. I upgraded one of our two switches and lost the aggregate link. The link came back up again though once the other switch was upgraded to the same level. Ps, nice to see my forum post used in the video ;) "Look mum, im on the telly." Lol I will however mention my forum post was about the total number of aggregations you can create on the switch and not the total number of ports you can put into an aggregation. I believe the total ports is still capped at 4 or 8 i think. On the older firmware you couldn't create any more than 6 aggregations. Now its been increased. I cant remember to what its now capped to though.

[@YehudaKatz1]

As of now, the UI store says sold out. I _am_ a Unifi reseller and I ordered one of these for a customer more than 2 months ago and it still hasn't made it to me yet, so your comment about things being available is super accurate.

[@scothetzel4844]

The issue with Port Aggregation on the Unifi Agg Pro wasn't the number of ports that could be assigned to a LAG group. Instead it was the number of LAGs that could be created (limited to 6 LAG groups). Firmware 5.64.8 increased the number of LAG groups for USW-Enterprise and USW-Pro series. For instance, if you were creating a number of LAG groups (each containing 2 Ports) on the old firmware, you were limited to 6 LAG groups. With newer firmware you could create up to 16 LAG groups (each containing 2 ports) on the Unifi Agg Pro.

[@JonDisnard]

I believe the fans on the back are Delta electronics 4pin pwm 15,000 rpm 12vdc 0.9amp. In my testing they capable of getting very loud at maximum, which appears to be in the range of 9,000 ~ 10,000 rpm. Was looking to swap in Noctua fans, but the specs are too far apart. Noctua fans only goes to ~5,000 rpm, so might not be enough fan for this switch. Then again, Noctua supposedly has more air flow.

[@diceman199]

Good timing for me as I’ve just looked at these for new backbone switches

[@amahashadow]

I have had one in production for the last month and it’s been solid so far. One of my complaints is that power cable though. If you want to ut a lockable c13 plug, fine, but either use one the standard lockable design, or supply a c13/c14 cable, not just a mains plugs. Most ups don’t have those for output. And yes, those rps cables are a pain to route.

[@dannythomas7902]

I like that he always finds the pos anyone can rip strips off something good, keep up good work Tom

[@FranckEhret]

Using it since months in my lab with several 10Gb/s devices (4x10 for the VM-NAS), overal very pleased but I'm not using the 25 GB/s ports (yet). UI support and firmwares were quite s***** at the beginning of the year but way better now. 😉

[@AviDrissman]

@7:16 “Aggravation Switch”, yes, I constantly read the name as that too

[@christopherolson2235]

Just bought one for our company. I love UniFi.....except for all the updates. Updating at remote sites always makes me a little nervous. lol

[@DJ-Manuel]

Still waiting until unify provides something like the unify leaf switch 🙁

[@RexinOridle]

Oh man, it was just some awesome lens distortion. The whole time I was thinking why would Ubiquiti build switches that sag like that?????

[@K0gashuk0]

I like the routers.

[@MikeHarris1984]

The RPS Redundant Power Supply Unifi does, it would be nice if you could POWER your entire rack with that and have the 120v outlet as a backup... clean up cabling and run off just the RPS rack and not use the 120v outlet if you dont want? That would be awesome. a single power cable going in one rack mount leaf and 12v power cables going out to each switch... so clean... But it only maintains power from dying PSU, that sucks...

[@Pabula]

Any chance of a video into what do you recommend for routers on 2021, its likely you like the netgate but what else do you recommend for consumers wanting to move toward better routers on 2021? Whats your opinion on mikrotik routers?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHqaq6dni8trrKc

[@garrettgordon1357]

MikroTik routers are exponentially better than anything Ubiquiti makes under both the UniFi lineup and Edgemax lineup. I use all MikroTik routers both at the core (CHRs) and at my PoPs (RB4011s). You won't find a better value than MikroTik/ROS but be aware that ROS is designed for professional network engineers and comes with a steep learning curve.

[@daviddeakin2172]

Don't know if anyone else thinks the same but I don't consider a 2nd psu for failure of the first as the main reason for a 2nd psu. I would only purchase/use a 2nd psu when I can provide two separate power feeds to a server or such. My main use is to bypass UPS batteries via the 2nd PSU as UPS units create more loss of power downtime than actual power cuts or power events.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Both are good reasons.

[@daviddeakin2172]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Hey, thanks for the reply!. You do have to wonder why they would go to the effort of adding the ability to connect a 2nd power source externally and not make this the default when power is applied to it - as assuming it is a DC power source this might exist for DC bus sharing reasons for of efficiency. Is this the first Ubiquiti switch to allow a 2nd power source you have used? I rarely use Ubiquiti for switches. For wifi however its Ubiquiti all the way.

[@eullin]

What sfp+ 25gbs in compatible with ubiquiti switch pro agregatte?? Thanks

[@engrpiman]

The review just started and we already have deal breakers. The power issue is a problem as it means that downtime is needed to fix a switch. Also the Auto negotiate on the 25 gig ports is kinda wonky. I foresee that causing problems. While I know the competition is more expensive having a core switch that is sacked and can fail over power and compute to the other switch is a lifesaver when your company requires uptime

[@kieranwilliams3052]

Not seeing the link for the FS DAC's and SFP28 Transceivers you used as indicated in the video.

[@123anonymous456]

I like the thorough reviews, but OTOH I think you could put some additional ads between all the existing ads to make every video run for a solid hour or so...

[@lewisjsuk1]

Hi Tom, I did have Link Aggregation working, but moving devices around between sites today, I've hit a problem, I don't seem to be able to select Aggregate as a port profile any longer on the latest version of the network controller 7.2.92 on a CloudKey Gen2+. Can you confirm if that's true or if there is a new method to do this? If the latter could you please do one of your excellent instructional videos to show how to do this in the new controller firmware? Cheers

[@rickendude]

Am I the only one who saw the Aggravation switch at 7:15? :)

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I misspelled aggregation when I was setting it up and figured it was a good enough description.

[@stephenreaves3205]

Can you do a video showing network switch failover? I thought unifi didn't support HA

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

It does not support HA, but you can plug a device with two NIC into two switches for redundancy

[@stephenreaves3205]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS wouldn't they then get two different IPs then? So no LAGG across devices?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@stephenreaves3205 correct, it would be used with something such as CARP (depends on how the device handles it)

[@nguyenatonio8248]

You can bonding beetwen two swiches with mode 6, or openVswitches instead of 802.3ad

[@jamieburch1147]

I've set up a few of these with layer 3 routing. The biggest drawbacks I've come across are that I still need a layer 2 vlan on the uplink for management (I wish I could prune the uplink to ONLY vlan4040 with no tag), I cannot get DHCP Relay working on this, and the onboard DHCP server won't serve any DHCP options for either TFTP Server or Unifi Gateway. Anybody else run in to similar issues? Otherwise I've been pretty happy.

[@thoughtscribe]

We ran into the exact same issue on a different model Unifi Pro, no DHCP Relay options in the GUI AT ALL!! Totally surprised by this. I didn't even consider that a possibility on a "Layer 3" switch. We had to move our DHCP to the switch instead of our actual server. The DHCP server in the switch is very basic. Currently debating our options as well.

[@solstice666]

Still miss that they didn't release the Unifi Leaf switch (100Gb) switch to official release

[@linerror]

Looking at this for the home network so I can have 40 gig links to all my machines now with an upgrade path to 50\100

[@keithygadget381]

What is the difference between this and the Enterprise XG24 switch, as they look exactly the same and they have the same ports.

[@backupaddict1356]

DAC cable, do I need anything special from this switch to a NIC of any kind?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Just a DAC cable

[@backupaddict1356]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Thanks Larence, I have been talking with FS and they say just to go with fiber as I'll have 25 of these and it will be a nightmare to keep clean and I'm going over 25"' in some cases.

[@bentheguru4986]

Great for the US if instock, rest of world never see for years later.

[@jimmymifsud1]

Weird, as my distributor in Australia have 60 in stock

[@bentheguru4986]

@@jimmymifsud1 Generalised comment dude. Only two disty's here in Aus, mine got none, just like "Talk" phones and other rare items.

[@MrTimMifsud]

So if you say, don’t buy the routers, what routers should we buy instead which are equivalent to a UDM pro se?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

They work well with pfsense

[@JonDisnard]

Is that switch loud? When you say relatively quiet, what does that mean? It's that relative to loud stuff, or relative to quiet stuff?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I show the decibel meter in the video.

[@DarkRider1768]

It's quiet. My homelab is running in my living room and it's whisper quiet from about 4 feet away. My NUCs are louder.

[@DavidCNavas]

50 dB at like 4" :>

[@keyboard_g]

The fabric power cable is so unnecessary.

[@andyrandy0815]

If someone is doing cabling work on the backside of an untidy server rack, it can happen a power cord plug slips out. Hopefully you are using servers and switches with fail over ac's included. Here comes the pricing difference between unify and other more expensive vendors.

[@rfekztjpkrpd4988]

Proprietary C13 power connector lock? Oh good lord, pleas no...

[@FranckEhret]

There is both C13-C14 and a normal cable in the box, so it's "OK"

[@snoww2009]

Is it correct to say the USW Pro Aggregation can do everything the US-16-XG does? I have the US-16-XG, not sure if it is worth it to upgrade.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

The aggregation pro has 25g

[@cool2180]

i have edgeswitch 16-xg works really good i wonder if this pro aggregation switch worth checking out

[@snoww2009]

​@@cool2180 I didn't get it because it is too deep and can't fit into my Leviton structured media enclosure. I plan to get a 8-port POE switch instead since my US-16-XG does not have POE. I am thinking of the 'switch lite 8 POE', but need to wait for it to be in stock.

[@LordSaliss]

The switch does 23-25gbps switching, but do you have any idea of its layer 3 routing performance? How much does that drop it?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I never recommend using UniFi for layer 3 routing.

[@andrewk8057]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS No improvement in performance in the year+ of firmware updates?

[@keyboard_g]

If you did 2 groups of 2x25Gbps aggregated ports, can it actually switch at 50Gbps? I'd be surprised if the CPU can handle it.

[@DarkRider1768]

CPU doesn't get involved in switching. Switching is handled in the ASIC which, in UBNT's case, can handle all of the ports loaded to 50% (or 50% of the ports loaded to maximum) in both directions at the same time. So it can definitely handle a LAG at 2x25 but maybe not if all the other ports are saturated at the same time.

[@keyboard_g]

@@DarkRider1768 Awesome explanation, thanks.

[@bopal93]

What's the idle power consumption of this? Can anybody measure this please? Without any ports connected?

[@Taras-Nabad]

Does anyone know how many copper SFPs this can handle? The 8 port aggregation switch can only handle 4 per the documentation.

[@Obmug]

What router do you recommend then if you don’t recommend UniFi routers?

[@andrewjohnston359]

We think the same as him. We use the edgerouter series for routing and the unifi series for switches and access points

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Pfsense and untangle

[@Obmug]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS thank you very much!

[@damionmorley661]

the exact same product you're talking about it's listed over $1,000 Canadian and but you need a network card that can support up to 25 gig and an Internet modem that will support up to 25 gig

[@insanehd2940]

When I run a Iperf test between to PC Both have 10G Mellanox cards and is connected via a MikroTik switch Iperf only shows me like 2-4 Gbit but when I transfer files it is the complete 10gbit anyone got an Idea?

[@alinm3634]

Loved the review, but you failed to tell us this is not a plug and play switch and needs a controller to configure the ports! I bought the switch and cannot use it, don't have the damn controller...

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

The controller software is free and is required for most all UniFi devices.

[@OK_ACME]

Does anybody know what the idle power consumption is on this device?

[@johnadams1976]

Have another in stock 😂🤣😂🤣 yah

[@theroc68155]

I'd like to buy your company...

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

🤔

[@tunintunin3417]

I have four that broke within 2 years.

[@garrettgordon1357]

What use is an aggregation switch that doesn't support dynamic routing? Until UniFi supports stacking, MC-LAG, OSPF, VRF, and VXLAN, they *do not* get to call their products enterprise class. A paid support plan is also a must. Do you really want a community forum when your entire network is down or a team of professionals dedicated to a resolution? They got close with the leaf switch, but discontinued it while it was still in early access (such is the Ubiquiti way). I begrudgingly use some of their AirFiber radios in my network, but I wont touch UniFi.

[@taylorwang3236]

Do they work with PFsense?

[@mrmookie]

Their routers are terrible. Thank you.

[@andrewjohnston359]

We find the edgerouter series to be fantastic value for money, performance is far better and reliability is as good as Cisco entry level routers (can handle way more VPNs, throughput and traffic analysis) and less than half the price

[@neosmith80]

there isn't a damn thing in this that justifies it having a $900 price tag! for that same price i can buy a 2u server with everything included!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

What switch with similar features would you suggest instead?

[@castform57]

Yeah, and you'll be paying about twice that much, because link speeds like these are limited to enterprise models usually. Heck, try buying new units straight from manufacturers like juniper, extreme, cisco, etc. as an individual. Most often you can't, because they're all purely B2B.

[@nathanadhitya]

​@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS I'd like to see this compared to CRS326-24S+2Q+RM. Afaik ROS v7.1 supports L3 HW Offload and it's 400$ cheaper.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@nathanadhitya that model is a QSFP+ not a SFP28 so not really the same.

[@nathanadhitya]

Mmh, you're actually correct. Comparing both of them might be wrong. Though, I see more old switches supporting QSFP+ and considering that the second hand market for QSFP+ transceivers are pretty large in my country. I find it a more compelling alternative budget wise.

[@kinkfitsunday]

I had two of these in play and both were restarting themselves every 24-48 hours completely dropping all traffic. After resetting them twice, changing every cable I could, and pulling my hair out I ended up replacing them with 2 (much more limiting) XG 16s and they have worked without flaw. Hanging onto the AGG Pros and testing periodically to see if it improves... Anyone else experience this? First time I've seen this with Unifi equipment.

[@klauswelch]

Yes, we had this same experience as did many people on the UBNT forums. The fix was in a firmware and a user who had the issue for months restarting everyday in an environment with roughly 500-950 users said it hadn't rebooted on him in almost a week the last I checked, which was unheard of for him. It appears it might be an issue with DHCP request spams. We had a similar issue in an environment with 350+ users. We applied firmware 6.2.11 and it's been solid since.

[@cLickphotographySEA]

Can the 4 SFP28 ports be trunked into two pairs (50Gbps) + (50Gbps)?