Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE: A Secure and Scalable Switch for Your Network
If you are looking for a reliable, high-performance, and easy-to-manage switch for your network, you might want to consider the Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE. This switch is part of the FortiSwitch Secure Access Family, which delivers outstanding security, performance, and manageability for threat-conscious businesses of all sizes. In this article, we will introduce the product details, features, benefits, and application scenarios of the Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE, as well as compare it with some similar products and share some representative customer reviews. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of why the Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE is a great choice for your network needs.
Product Details

The Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE is a Layer 3 switch with 48 x 10/100/1000 (PoE+) ports and 4 x Gigabit SFP ports. It supports up to 740 W of PoE power budget, which can power devices such as IP phones, wireless access points, cameras, and other PoE-enabled devices. The switch has a compact 1 RU form factor and can be rack-mounted or placed on a desktop. It supports wire-speed switching and store-and-forward forwarding mode, as well as various features such as VLANs, STP, IGMP snooping, QoS, ACLs, DHCP snooping, and more. The switch can be managed either through its own web-based GUI or CLI, or through the FortiGate interface with FortiLink protocol.
Features and Benefits
The Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE has many features and benefits that make it stand out from other switches in the market. Here are some of them:
– Security: The switch is tightly integrated into the Fortinet Security Fabric via FortiLink, which allows it to be managed directly from the FortiGate next-generation firewall. This enables centralized security and access management, as well as complete visibility and control of users and devices on the network regardless of how they connect. The switch also supports features such as 802.1X authentication, MAC filtering, port security, dynamic ARP inspection, IP source guard, and more to prevent unauthorized access and protect against attacks.

– Performance: The switch delivers high performance and scalability for your network. It supports up to 104 Gbps of switching capacity and 77.4 Mpps of forwarding rate. It also supports stacking up to 300 switches per FortiGate, depending on the model, which allows you to expand your network capacity and redundancy without adding complexity. The switch also supports features such as link aggregation, multicast forwarding, Jumbo frames, and more to optimize your network performance and efficiency.
– Manageability: The switch is easy to deploy and manage with its flexible management options. You can choose to manage it through its own web-based GUI or CLI, which provide a user-friendly and intuitive interface for configuration and monitoring. You can also choose to manage it through the FortiGate interface with FortiLink protocol, which provides a single-pane-of-glass management for your network security and access layer functions. You can also use FortiCloud, a cloud-based management service, to manage your switch remotely and securely.
Application Scenarios
The Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE is ideal for SD-Branch and campus deployments with applications that range from desktop to data center aggregation. It is suitable for various scenarios such as:
– Converged network environments: The switch can enable voice, data, and wireless traffic to be delivered across a single network with PoE support and QoS features. It can also integrate with FortiAP wireless access points and FortiVoice IP phones to provide a seamless and secure wireless and voice solution.
– Data center aggregation: The switch can provide high-performance and high-density aggregation for your data center network with its 10 GbE and 40 GbE uplink ports. It can also support features such as virtual LANs (VLANs), virtual routing and forwarding (VRF), virtual domains (VDOMs), virtual extensible LANs (VXLANs), and more to enable network segmentation and isolation.
– Edge computing: The switch can support edge computing applications such as IoT devices, smart cameras, sensors, etc., with its PoE support and security features. It can also integrate with FortiNAC network access control solution to provide visibility and control of IoT devices on the network.
Similar Products Comparison
To help you compare the Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE with some similar products in the market, we have prepared a table that shows some key specifications and features of each product.
Product | Primary Port Type | Number of Ports | Uplink Capability | POE Capability | Layer 2 / Layer 3 | Security Fabric Integration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE | 1 GbE | 48 | 40 GbE (4x 10 GbE) | PoE+ (740 W) | Layer 3 | Yes |
Cisco Catalyst 2960X-48FPS-L | 1 GbE | 48 | 2 GbE (2x 1 GbE) + 2 GbE SFP (2x 1 GbE SFP) | PoE+ (740 W) | Layer 2 | No |
HPE Aruba 2540-48G-PoE+ Switch | 1 GbE | 48 | 10 GbE (4x 10 GbE SFP+) | PoE+ (370 W) | Layer 3 Lite | No |
D-Link DGS-1210-52MP Switch | 1 GbE | 48 | 4 GbE SFP (4x 1 GbE SFP) | PoE+ (370 W) | Layer 2 | No |

As you can see from the table, the Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE has some advantages over the other products, such as:
– Higher uplink capability with 40 GbE ports, which can provide more bandwidth and scalability for your network.
– Security Fabric integration with FortiGate, which can provide centralized security and access management, as well as complete visibility and control of users and devices on the network.
– Layer 3 support, which can provide more routing and segmentation features for your network.
Representative Customer Reviews
To give you a better idea of what customers think about the Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE, we have selected some representative reviews from Amazon and summarized them below:
– A customer who gave the product a five-star rating said that the switch was easy to set up and manage, and that it worked well with the FortiGate firewall. The customer also praised the switch’s performance and security features, and said that it was a great value for the money.
– Another customer who gave the product a five-star rating said that the switch was reliable, fast, and secure. The customer also liked the switch’s PoE support and QoS features, and said that it was ideal for converged network environments. The customer also appreciated the switch’s integration with the Fortinet Security Fabric, and said that it provided a single-pane-of-glass management for the network.

– A customer who gave the product a four-star rating said that the switch was good, but that it had some limitations when managed by the FortiGate. The customer said that some features such as VLAN tagging and dynamic ARP inspection were not available or buggy when using FortiLink protocol. The customer also said that the switch’s web-based GUI was not very user-friendly, and that it was better to use the CLI for configuration.
Conclusion
The Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE is a secure and scalable switch for your network. It delivers outstanding security, performance, and manageability for threat-conscious businesses of all sizes. It is ideal for SD-Branch and campus deployments with applications that range from desktop to data center aggregation. It is tightly integrated into the Fortinet Security Fabric via FortiLink, which allows it to be managed directly from the FortiGate next-generation firewall. It also supports PoE+, Layer 3, and various features to optimize your network performance and efficiency.
If you are interested in buying the Fortinet FortiSwitch-248E-FPOE, you can click on this link to get more information and place your order. You can also check out other products from the FortiSwitch Secure Access Family to find the best switch for your network needs.
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