Belden Introduces Entry-Level Industrial Ethernet Switches for Harsh Environments

The switches have stable metal housing, can withstand extreme heat and cold, and are approved for use in environments with a high explosion risk. A second power supply may also be connected to further increase operational reliability. The switches, which can be mounted on a DIN rail and activated quickly via plug-and-play functionality, are suitable for connecting to the backbone or for networking linear and tree topologies.

“These two SPIDER switches provide cost-effective solutions for data communication in harsh industrial environments,” says Product Manager Sebastian Preiss, adding: “Thanks to the high port density, they also offer an excellent price/performance ratio.”

The 16TX/2DS-S EEC variant offers two optical dual-speed uplinks, which can be equipped with Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) transceivers for different optical fiber types. These uplinks, which support Gigabit Ethernet, ensure that no bottlenecks develop – even for applications with high data volumes – thus, guaranteeing smooth communication at all times. The switches can be cascaded as often as required, permitting implementation of decentralized networks with short transmission paths and hence considerably reducing the cost of cabling.

The switches each feature 16 RJ45 ports, which support fast Ethernet (10/100 BASE-TX). The version with optical uplinks additionally has two dual-speed ports (100/1000 BASE-FX) for Fast or Gigabit Ethernet SFP transceivers, which are also available as bidirectional (BIDI) variants and allow data to be transmitted in both directions over a single fiber. Distances of up to 120 km can be bridged with the uplinks via single or multimode fibers. Gigabit speed ensures that sufficient bandwidth is available even for applications with high volumes of data. 

Other features of the two switches include an extended temperature range from -40°C to +70°C, high EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility), shock and vibration resistance, a redundant 24V power supply, and stable metal housing, which allows space-saving assembly, thanks to its compact dimensions (66 x 138 x 111 mm). The switches also meet the requirements of industrial protection class IP30.