Every PoE switch gets a score from 0 to 100% built from six factors, which maps onto the 5-point rating shown on the site (a 0% score would be 1.5 stars; a perfect score, 5). Each factor is scored against fixed reference points, not against the other products in the list, so adding a new model never moves another model’s rating. Switches are grouped by total PoE budget (under 100 W, 100 to 199 W, and 200 W and up) and use the same scale in every group.
| Factor | Measures | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Value | price per PoE watt of total budget | 28% |
| PoE budget | total PoE power budget | 20% |
| Ports & speeds | PoE port count, port speed, per-port output and uplinks | 17% |
| Management | unmanaged, smart or fully managed, plus cloud management | 18% |
| Extras | fanless, rack-mountable, PoE auto recovery, 250 m mode, per-port PoE control | 7% |
| Warranty | warranty length, lifetime counting as full marks | 10% |
Where the numbers come from
PoE budget, port counts, speeds, management and warranty come from the maker’s product copy, including the maker’s own copy on a retail listing, and from the maker’s store page where one was read. Where one listing gives two figures that conflict, the lower is used and the product page says so. Prices are checked at Amazon, and the lowest price at a store the page links to is used.
The factors
Value is the current price divided by the total PoE budget, in dollars per watt, on a log scale, so halving the price always counts the same. $3.50 per PoE watt scores zero and $0.40 per watt full marks.
PoE budget is the total PoE power the switch can supply: 50 W scores zero and 400 W full marks, on a log scale.
Ports and speeds combines the number of PoE ports (4 scores zero, 24 full marks, 35% of this factor), the speed of the PoE ports (gigabit scores zero, 2.5G scores 70%, 30%), the highest per-port output the maker states (15 W zero, 60 W full, 15%) and SFP uplinks (none zero, one gigabit slot half, two gigabit slots 70%, any 10G SFP+ slot full, 20%).
Management is 0% for an unmanaged switch, 50% for a smart switch with a web interface and 80% for a fully managed switch with CLI, SNMP or routing, plus 20% when the maker lists cloud or app management.
Extras is 25% for a fanless design, 15% for rack-mounting, 25% for PoE auto recovery that reboots a hung device, 15% for a 250 m extend mode and 20% for per-port PoE control or scheduling.
Warranty is the maker’s warranty: 1 year scores zero and 5 years full marks. A lifetime warranty scores full marks.
What isn’t scored
Switching capacity, total port count, PoE standard, VLAN and QoS support, and release date are listed but not scored on their own.
Missing data
If a figure isn’t published, that factor gets the neutral middle score (50) and the product page marks it as estimated. Extras and features the maker doesn’t mention count as absent. The exception is warranty: a maker that doesn’t publish one gets no warranty counted, so that factor scores zero, the same as a one-year warranty, and is marked estimated.
Ties and discontinued models
Products are ranked by score within each group. Discontinued models stay listed but rank below every current model and can be hidden with the “Hide discontinued” filter.