NETGEAR GS728TXUP – 24-Port PoE++ Smart Switch

Product Overview

The NETGEAR GS728TXUP is a 24-port Gigabit smart switch with a 420W PoE budget, eight 802.3bt PoE++ ports rated to 60W each, sixteen PoE+ ports, and four dedicated 10G SFP+ uplinks. It is a 1U access-layer switch for commercial AV and IT deployments where some endpoints draw more than PoE+ can supply — PTZ cameras with heaters, multi-radio access points, powered displays and AV-over-IP encoders — and where the uplink has to be fibre rather than copper. Optional NETGEAR Insight remote and cloud management sits alongside the local web interface and CLI.

Product Description

The distinguishing feature of the UP variant is the split PoE arrangement. Eight ports support 802.3bt PoE++ at up to 60W, and the remaining sixteen support PoE+. That layout matches how AV rooms actually load a switch: a small number of high-draw devices and a larger number of ordinary ones. Specifying a switch where every port can deliver 60W would be paying for capacity that no realistic device population uses at once, and the 420W shared budget is the real constraint in any case.

The four SFP+ ports are dedicated rather than shared with copper ports, so populating fibre does not cost access ports. Two matter for capacity and two matter for resilience: NETGEAR supports uplink redundancy and failover across them, which is the difference between a single fibre fault taking a floor offline and it not doing so. The switch fabric is 128 Gbps with a 95.24 Mpps forwarding rate.

Layer 3 capability is static rather than dynamic — 32 IPv4 and 32 IPv6 static routes — which is enough to route between VLANs at the edge without carrying the traffic back to a core router, and not enough to participate in a routed campus. For AV-over-IP that is usually the right level: keep multicast local, use IGMP snooping to stop flooding, and hand everything else upstream. PoE self-healing will power-cycle a port whose endpoint stops responding, which removes a common truck roll.

Where 60W ports are not required, the GS728TXP is the same chassis with a 190W PoE+ budget. For twice the port count in the same family, see the GS752TXP 48-port model. For a managed 24-port PoE+ switch without the 10G uplinks, the GS724TP covers that case.

Key Features

• Eight 802.3bt PoE++ ports — Delivers up to 60W per port for PTZ cameras, heated enclosures and multi-radio access points.
• Sixteen PoE+ ports — Covers ordinary powered endpoints from the same 420W shared budget.
• 420W total PoE budget — Sized for a mixed load of high-draw and standard devices on one chassis.
• Four dedicated 10G SFP+ uplinks — Provides fibre capacity plus uplink redundancy and failover without consuming copper ports.
• 128 Gbps switching capacity — Forwards at 95.24 Mpps across the full port count.
• Static Layer 3 routing — Routes between VLANs locally with 32 IPv4 and 32 IPv6 static routes.
• PoE self-healing — Power-cycles a port when its endpoint stops responding, avoiding a site visit.
• Insight remote and cloud management — Optional cloud and mobile management alongside the local web GUI and CLI.
• 1U rack mount — Fits standard AV and comms racks at 30.5 dBA.

Typical Applications

• Conference room
• Boardroom
• Auditorium
• House of worship
• Government space
• Training room
• Multi-purpose room
• Commercial meeting space

Technical Specifications

Specifications sourced from NETGEAR published documentation for this model. Confirm PoE budget against the connected device load before specifying.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many 60W devices can this switch actually power?
Eight ports are capable of 60W, but the shared budget is 420W. Eight simultaneous 60W loads total 480W, which exceeds the budget. Add up the real draw of the intended endpoints rather than counting capable ports, and leave headroom for the devices that draw more at startup than in steady state.

What is the difference between this and the GS728TXP?
Same chassis and same four 10G SFP+ uplinks. The TXP has a 190W PoE+ budget with no 802.3bt ports; the TXUP has a 420W budget with eight ports capable of 60W. Choose the TXUP only if specific endpoints exceed what PoE+ supplies, otherwise the TXP is the more economical fit.

Can it route between VLANs without a separate router?
For static routing, yes. The switch supports 32 IPv4 and 32 IPv6 static routes, which handles inter-VLAN routing at the access layer. It does not run dynamic routing protocols, so it cannot participate in a routed campus as a peer.

Is a cloud subscription required?
No. The switch is fully configurable from its local web interface and CLI. NETGEAR Insight remote and cloud management is optional and layered on top for estates where central visibility is worth the subscription.

Do the SFP+ ports take copper transceivers?
The four ports are dedicated 10G SFP+ cages. Confirm the specific transceiver or direct-attach cable against NETGEAR's compatibility list for this model before ordering, as support varies by module type.

Is it suitable for AV-over-IP multicast?
It supports IGMP snooping and multicast handling, which is the minimum requirement for keeping AV-over-IP streams from flooding a VLAN. For large encoder and decoder counts, confirm the stream count and bandwidth against the 128 Gbps fabric and the 10G uplink capacity during design.

What does PoE self-healing do?
The switch monitors whether a powered endpoint is still responding and power-cycles that port if it is not. It resolves the common case of a camera or panel that has locked up but is still drawing power, without anyone attending site.