NETGEAR M4250-26G4F-PoE+ AV Switch (GSM4230P)

The M4250-26G4F-PoE+ (NETGEAR part GSM4230P) is the 24-port workhorse of the AV Line: twenty-four gigabit PoE+ ports at 30 W each sharing a 300 W budget, two further gigabit copper ports, and four 1G SFP cages for fiber uplinks. Read the budget carefully, because it is the number that decides the design: 300 W across 24 ports is sized for a room full of modest PoE endpoints such as Dante-powered audio, ceiling microphones, and control panels, not for 24 simultaneous 30 W draws. Ports face the rear so the rack front stays clean.

The AV Line software is the reason integrators pick this over a generic 24-port managed switch. Port profiles ship for Dante, Q-SYS, AES67, Crestron NVX, AMX SVSI, and NDI, with mixed audio/video/control profiles for shared segments, so the VLAN, QoS, and multicast settings that each protocol demands get applied as a single choice rather than typed by hand at 2 a.m. NETGEAR IGMP Plus provides Layer 2 multicast management across interconnected switches without requiring PIM, which is what keeps AV-over-IP video from flooding the LAN. AVB is available under an electronic license. It runs fanless when thermals allow, and at 34 dB at 25 C when the fan engages it is quiet enough for a rack in the room. Covered by NETGEAR's limited lifetime hardware warranty.