Dell PowerSwitch E3248P-ON PoE+ Switch

The Dell PowerSwitch E3248P-ON is a 1RU edge switch with 48 auto-sensing 10/100/1000Mb RJ45 ports delivering IEEE 802.3at PoE at up to 30W per port, four 10GbE SFP+ uplinks and two integrated 100GbE QSFP28 uplinks, forwarding at 800 Mpps across a 576 Gbps non-blocking fabric under Enterprise SONiC Distribution by Dell Technologies.

It is the volume model of Dell's E3200 edge line: gigabit to the desk, PoE+ to the ceiling, and uplinks sized for a network that has already moved past 10 gigabit.

What this switch is for

Almost every access port in almost every building is a gigabit port serving a device that will never exceed a gigabit - a desk phone, a printer, a badge reader, a laptop dock, a fixed-position camera, a 30W access point. That is not going to change quickly, and it is why a 48-port gigabit PoE+ switch remains the single most-installed piece of network hardware in an enterprise.

What has changed is everything above the access port. The building above this switch is now full of 802.3at devices that expect their full 30W, and the network above it runs at 25 and 100 gigabit rather than at 1 and 10. The E3248P-ON is built for that specific position: unremarkable, correct access ports, and an uplink and control plane that belong to the current generation rather than the last one.

802.3at PoE+ across all 48 ports

Every one of the 48 copper ports supports IEEE 802.3at PoE at up to 30W. That covers, without qualification, the overwhelming majority of what gets powered over Ethernet: VoIP handsets, fixed and dome cameras, most wireless access points, LED luminaires, video conferencing endpoints, door controllers, sensors and signage. Dell names most of that list in the E3200 specification.

The budget question is answered by the power supplies rather than by a single published figure. One 1050W 80 PLUS Platinum hot-swappable supply ships with the switch, the chassis takes a second in the adjacent bay for redundancy and headroom, and Dell's external power shelves - the MPS-1S for one supply and the MPS-3S for up to three - exist specifically to extend the PoE budget on this model and its multigigabit sibling. Dell publishes no single system PoE budget number, which is a fair reflection of the fact that it depends entirely on what you plug in.

The practical method is to total your actual load. Forty-eight ports at 30W is a ceiling nobody reaches; a realistic floor of handsets, a dozen cameras and a scattering of access points sits far below it. Send the device mix with your quote request and we will confirm what the supply configuration needs to be.

One boundary worth stating plainly: this model is 802.3at, capped at 30W. If you are deploying Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 access points with multiple high-power radios, or 90W multi-sensor cameras, that is E3248PXE-ON territory - the 802.3bt model in the same series. Buying 30W for a 60W device does not half-power it; it makes it behave unpredictably.

Why the uplinks are 100GbE on a gigabit switch

Forty-eight gigabit ports present 48 Gbps of access bandwidth, which four 10GbE SFP+ uplinks carry comfortably. So the two rear 100GbE QSFP28 ports are not there for the access traffic. They are there so an access switch can attach directly to the same spine as everything else in the building, at the same speed, using the same optics and the same cables.

That is a bigger deal operationally than it looks. It removes the need for a separate intermediate aggregation tier whose only job was speed conversion, it means one optics inventory rather than two, and it means the access layer stops being a second-class fabric that everything else has to step down to reach. Both port types are line-rate and non-blocking for Layer 2 switching and Layer 3 routing, so there is no oversubscription trade-off hiding behind the port count.

The SFP+ uplinks take 10GBASE-SR optics or passive 10GBASE-CU direct-attach copper. The 100GbE ports are offered with 100GBASE-CR4 passive DAC; if you need 100G over distance, that is a sourcing conversation to have at quotation rather than a menu selection.

Enterprise SONiC on an access switch

The two 48-port PoE models in the E3200 series run Enterprise SONiC Distribution by Dell Technologies, and that is the most consequential thing about this switch.

SONiC is an open-source network operating system built for large-scale data-centre fabrics, containerised, with a configuration model designed to be driven by automation rather than typed at a console. Dell's enterprise distribution provides supported builds and enterprise management features on top of it. If your estate is already described in code - if switch state is asserted from a pipeline rather than configured by hand - then running the same operating system at the edge means the access layer stops being the one tier that is managed differently from everything else.

If your team manages switches from a CLI, be deliberate. SONiC is not Dell's campus CLI and the habits do not transfer. That is a reason to choose consciously, not a reason to avoid the switch - but it should be a decision rather than a discovery after delivery.

A note on software: a Dell software entitlement is bound to the unit's service tag and to a Dell account and does not automatically transfer on the secondary market. A refurbished unit may arrive with a working image installed and without an active entitlement or support contract. We do not promise a transferred Dell licence, a software subscription or a support contract with a refurbished switch. Tell us what you intend to run and we will confirm the state of a specific unit before it ships.

Layer 3, VRF-lite and MLAG

This is a full Layer 3 switch. Under Enterprise SONiC it carries advanced IPv4 and IPv6 routing - BGP, VRF, BFD, PIM-SM/DM/SSM, IGMP/MLD, RIPv1/v2 and OSPFv2/v3 - plus VXLAN for carrying Layer 2 segments across a routed underlay.

VRF-lite is the feature that gets used most at this position in the network. It partitions one physical switch into several virtual routers with isolated control and data planes, which is how one access switch carries corporate, guest, building-management and security networks without another box in the rack and without relying on VLAN discipline alone to keep them apart.

MLAG is the availability story. There is no stacking on this model - the two 100GbE ports are uplinks - so redundancy comes from pairing two switches into an active/active MLAG domain with no spanning tree and firmware upgrades that do not take the segment offline. For a wiring closet that serves a floor of people, that last property is usually the one that decides the design.

The security feature set is the one an access layer actually uses: authentication tiering, which orders 802.1X, MAC Authentication Bypass and Captive Portal by priority so a single socket can serve a laptop, a printer and a guest; private VLAN extensions and Private VLAN Edge; AAA authorization with TACACS+ accounting and RADIUS; broadcast storm control, port mirroring and flow-based port mirroring.

Built to be installed somewhere without an engineer

Dell positions the E3200 series for large enterprise offices, branches and edge networks, and the deployment features follow from that.

USB auto-configuration lets the switch configure itself from a flash drive with no TFTP server, no DHCP option plumbing and nobody dispatched to a remote office. Someone on site racks it and plugs in a drive. Across an estate of branches that is the difference between a rollout and a travel budget.

Dual firmware images on-board give a failed upgrade somewhere to fall back to. Hot-swappable supplies and redundant variable-speed fans make a component failure a part swap rather than an outage. Dell Fresh Air compliance to 113 F (45 C) means a warm comms cupboard is not automatically a problem.

To be clear about what it is not: this is a commercial-temperature switch, rated 32 to 113 F (0 to 45 C), actively cooled, with no industrial or extended-temperature rating. It belongs in a comms room, wiring closet or distribution frame - not on a plant floor or in an unconditioned outdoor cabinet.

Airflow

The E3200 series is built one way: I/O panel to power supply. Every Dell power supply for it is an I/O-to-PSU part and the only spare fan module is the I/O-to-PSU module. There is no reverse-airflow variant to specify or to get wrong - a genuine simplification next to the S-series data-centre switches, where choosing the wrong direction is a recurring and avoidable mistake.

Common questions

Can I stack two E3248P-ON switches?

No. The two 100GbE QSFP28 ports are uplinks on this model. Pair two switches with MLAG for active/active redundancy without spanning tree. If you specifically need a campus stack, look at Dell's N-series - the N3248TE-ON uses its 100GbE ports as a 400 Gbps stack interconnect.

How much PoE can it actually deliver?

Dell does not publish a system budget figure, because it depends on the supplies fitted. The switch ships with one 1050W supply; a second supply and the optional MPS-1S or MPS-3S shelf raise the ceiling. Send us your device list with the quote request and we will size it.

Should I buy this or the E3248PXE-ON?

Port speed and PoE class decide it. This model is gigabit copper with 802.3at 30W and 10GbE SFP+ uplinks. The E3248PXE-ON is multigigabit copper (2.5G/5G/10G) with 802.3bt 90W and 25GbE uplinks, on a fabric nearly three times larger. If the devices on the floor are 30W and gigabit, this is the correct and cheaper-to-power switch. If you are buying ahead of a wireless refresh, buy the multigig now rather than the switch twice.

What if I need fibre to the desk rather than copper?

That is the E3224F-ON, the fibre model in this series - 24 SFP ports of gigabit fibre, no PoE, same 10GbE and 100GbE uplinks, running SmartFabric OS10 rather than SONiC.

Is it TAA compliant?

Dell states TAA compliance under the Trade Agreements Act for the E3200 series. Flag the requirement with your quote request so it can be verified against the specific unit.

Where it sits in the E3200 series

Availability, condition and how to buy

This model is supplied to order. Power-supply count, PoE budget, optional power shelf and uplink attach are confirmed at quotation, so use the quote request on this page and tell us what the site needs - the device mix you are powering matters more than the port count.

Every unit is refurbished, professionally reconditioned, powered up, inspected and functionally tested before it ships, and it ships with warranty coverage. If you need a specific Enterprise SONiC state, or a matched pair for an MLAG domain, say so with your request.

Specifications