[Asterisk-Users] [OT] PoE switch question (Netgear FSM7326P works with Cisco)

[Kevin P. Fleming]

Sean Kennedy wrote:

> Jeeze, how can you NOT justify a 1000 bucks for a PoE switch that has QoS?
> I was under the impression that QoS was a requirement for VoIP.  Well, 
> not technically, but rationally, I wouldn't set any client up on a VoIP 
> system that didn't have a switch that couldn't push the VoIP packets to 
> the front of the queue.

Uhh, yeah, explain to my customers that have 6-8 phones, 6-8 PCs, a 
small NAS and a DSL connection that they need a $1000 switch. Go ahead, 
I dare you :-)

QoS on the internal LAN is not something I am at all concerned about. 
All the switches are 100Mb full duplex, and have switching fabrics 
capable of much more than that. Any traffic generated between the PCs 
and the NAS is not likely to affect VOIP at all. There are no queues 
being shared between the VOIP phones and any other devices on the 
network, except for traffic leaving the LAN.

Where these clients _do_ need QoS is on their router that connects to 
the ISP, but we can handle that, again without spending $1000.

So, I ask again: given the choice between a sub-$100 16-port full-duplex 
100Mb switch and external power supplies, and an over-$1000 12-port 
switch with internal power supply, which do you think is a better value 
for a small LAN? I can buy $20 3Com PoE bricks and hook them all up to a 
UPS for a lot less than $900, with the downside being that it will be 
ugly to look at (and the bricks aren't "real" PoE, but they are close 
enough for VOIP phones).