TP-Link Omada SX3832MPP review | IT Pro

TP-Link’s Omada SX3832MPP is geared up for SMBs looking to make the move to high-performance Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 networks. Stepping up as the flagship member of TP-Link’s Access Max series, this 1U 32-port Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch has what it takes to handle the latest access points (APs) as it offers 24 10GbE multi-Gigabit ports each capable of delivering up to 90W of 802.3bt PoE++ power.

It can easily cope with a high density of powered devices (PDs) as it delivers a generous PoE budget of 770W. It’s also aimed at businesses that want to build a complete 10GbE network as the last eight ports are the 10GbE SFP+ variety for high-speed uplinks over long distance fibre.

At its foundation, the SX3832MPP is a Layer 2 (L2) switch with basic Layer 3 (L3) routing capabilities. Often referred to as ‘L2+’ or ‘Layer 3 Lite’, it supports static IPv4 and IPv6 routing, but not the dynamic routing found in more expensive full Layer 3 switches.

Management options are in abundance as smaller businesses can deploy the switch in standalone mode and use its local web interface. Those planning on hanging other TP-Link devices off the switch such as its APs, will prefer cloud management and there are a wide range of choices available.

TP-Link Omada SX3832MPP review: Hardware features

The switch is solidly constructed with an all-steel chassis and employs four cooling fans in the left-hand side which are audible but hardly intrusive. It also incorporates 6kV surge protection circuitry making it a good choice for powering outdoor PDs such as APs and IP cameras.

The SX3832MPP has the capacity to handle a high data throughput as it’s endowed with a speedy 640Gbits/sec backplane. Combine this with a high 240 million packets per second (Mpps) forwarding rate and you have a switch that easily has the measure of more expensive 10GbE SMB products.

Visual operational cues are plentiful as along with status LEDs for power and system, you have one that warns if you’re reaching the maximum power budget and another for fan failure alerts. Each port has two LEDs showing the negotiated speed and whether PoE delivery is active. Should you wish to delve into its CLI (command line interface), the switch offers USB-C and RJ45 serial ports.

TP-Link Omada SX3832MPP review: Standalone mode

In standalone mode, the web console sensibly requests the default administrative password to be changed on first contact and then opens with a system overview. This presents a graphic of the switch showing which ports are active and moving to the PoE view reveals how much of the budget is in use, which ports are supplying power and the amount in Watts.

A menu across the top provides easy access to all L2 and L3 features with the latter offering options to create static routes plus DHCP servers and relays. L2 features are in abundance and include port, MAC and protocol-based VLANs, QoS traffic prioritisation, port mirroring plus static and LACP link aggregation groups.

VoIP networks are covered as the switch identifies traffic from IP phones using their OUI (organizationally unique identifier) and automatically prioritizes it by dynamically creating voice VLANs. Security features are plentiful too, and include 802.1X port-based authentication, DoS defenses, and access control lists.

The big power budget makes some of the switch’s PoE features redundant, although if you’re worried about exceeding it, you can assign priorities to individual multi-gig ports. Assign one of three priorities to each one and if the drain reaches the power threshold, those with the lowest priorities will be switched off first.

There’s a nice surprise for switch monitoring as along with support for all SNMP versions, the switch has an internal sFlow agent for sending packet sampling data to a collector device. We pointed the agent at our lab host running the WhatsUp Gold 2024 network monitoring software which reported back on switch port utilization, traffic throughout, the top detected apps, and all endpoint conversations.

TP-Link Omada SX3832MPP review: Cloud management

TP-Link offers plenty of cloud management choices with hardware and free software on-site controller appliances plus cloud-based versions. We opted for the latter and tested the free Omada Essentials cloud controller which provides a base set of management and monitoring features for small businesses.

We run multiple Omada cloud controllers which can be selected from the portal’s organisation view. Choosing our Essentials controller took us to its own portal which offers a dashboard view of all managed devices but, unlike the Standard version, this can’t be customised.

We added the switch to our site using the Omada iOS app to scan its barcode and selecting it from the portal’s device page provided a graphic to the right showing active ports, their connection speed, and those providing power. An overview below reveals the available power budget and tabs are provided for assigning profiles to each port, rebooting powered devices, and viewing attached clients.

One drawback of cloud management is that a few features such as port PoE priorities and the sFlow agent can’t be accessed from the Essentials or Standard portals. The switch’s local web interface is disabled when the cloud controller manages it, so you’ll need to configure these features in standalone mode first and apply a cloud profile that instructs the switch to keep its existing settings after adoption.

Omada’s new IntelliRecover feature will appeal to support staff. Currently in beta phase, it can be used to monitor powered devices and automatically reboot them if they fail to respond.

TP-Link Omada SX3832MPP review: Is it worth it?

Costing around £1,800 excluding VAT, TP-Link’s Omada SX3832MPP delivers an impressive range of features for the price along with plenty of management choices. It teams up a high density of 10GbE multi-Gig ports with full PoE++ services and its generous 770W power budget makes it a great choice for SMBs deploying high-performance Wi-Fi 6/7 services.

TP-Link Omada SX3832MPP specifications