Old Cisco routers (e.g. C4507s) are very cheap and very capable. They are also very large and very noisy (serious trays of fans). You can get them with various

Old Cisco routers (e.g. C4507s) are very cheap and very capable. They are also very large and very noisy (serious trays of fans). You can get them with various combinations of cards for $300++ (plus $150++ shipping) for something that probably cost $20,000-$70,000 new. They have more than their share of limitations, but for the money they are hard to beat. The 4507 has dual redundant power supplies. The "R" model has dual redundant supervisor cards, and the "7" indicates it has seven card slots for plug in modules. You can get 48 port PoE (be careful you get standard PoE, not the earlier non-standard Cisco PoE) for around $100. Random examples * $50 + ??? S/H: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-Catalyst-4507R-2-Power-Supplies-2-WS-X4516-5-WS-X4148-FX-MT-TESTED-/401052369074 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-Catalyst-4507R-2-Power-Supplie... * $450 and "free" S/H: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-WS-C4507R-E-Cat4500-E-Series-7-Slot-Chassis-1YearWarranty-2-Available-/272162151936 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-WS-C4507R-E-Cat4500-E-Series-7... Non comprehensive list of limitations: * The switches and software are no longer supported. Cisco won't talk to you (but that's OK, you cannot afford to talk to Cisco). * They (should) come with software (and likely the previous owner's switch configuration :-O), but the software will not be properly licensed to you. Getting a proper license (and thus upgrading) ain't happening. There are also several different capability levels of software, the more expensive versions having more capabilities. Better sellers will give you a clue about what you are getting software-wise. * Cisco's OS security has lots of known holes. If you are using it for security purposes, you want the console on a serial port (or the dedicated ethernet port on the supervisor card) that has physical restrictions, do not put it on a network port that one of your malicious IoT devices can reach. * Very annoying: the 48 port GigE cards that are remarkably cheap don't support jumbo frames. :-( There are GigE cards that support jumbo frames. Some are 6(?) port, there may be 48 port ones.