CE Pro June 2023 - 29

SPONSORED CONTENT
Why NETGEAR's AV-Centric Switches
Trump IT-Focused Devices
Distributor/consultant says NETGEAR's pre-configured switches for various AV protocols
eliminate the need for labor-intensive IT specialty work.
A
s Chris Scanlan prepared to host 50
dealers for three-day training event at
Industry Tech Sales is based in Mendota
Heights, Minn., he was nervous. Th e distributor's
network kept dropping offl ine.
" We have an AV-over-IP system in the
office, and it just wasn't working properly, "
recalls Scanlan, account manager/
sales engineer at Industry Tech Sales. " Finally, at 5 o'clock the night
before the training we decided to pull that switch offl ine and install
a NETGEAR unit. We went into our inventory, grabbed a NETGEAR
switch and installed it. Within 5 minutes it was racked, confi
gured, and up and running, and we walked out the door. Th e next
day the training went off without a hitch. It was a lot of fun talking
about that for the next two days with the group! "
As far as Scanlan is concerned, the success of that NETGEAR
switch during the training event is a microcosm of how well the
entire product line, including the new wireless access points, works
for AV integrators. And he should know... in addition to his role
at Industry Tech Sales, Scanlan owns CS Consulting, an engineering-based
consulting fi rm that off ers advanced technical services
about it... it just works. "
Scanlan notes that some of the large IT-centric switches are hard
to set up for AV applications.
" When it comes to AV protocols, I have ripped out a lot of
switches from other brands. Setting those up for AV is harder, and
we often can't get the QOS to work perfectly, or get the signals to
pass properly. We put in the NETGEAR and it fi xes the problems, "
he adds.
In some applications, he uses NETGEAR to handle an AV subnetwork
within a main network with another switch.
While Scanlan praises NETGEAR's AV switches, he says their
large 10G switches are also workhorses on the IT side. " Th ey really
took thought into the physical manufacturing of the switches. Th ey
are massive, robust switches, " he describes.
NETGEAR Tech Support, Margin Protection
One of the integrator-friendly elements Scanlan points to from
NETGEAR is tech support from Pro AV and Pro WiFi Design Services.
" It's not just tech support. Th ey have engineers on the same
email chain so when you send an inquiry into them you are getting
well beyond Level 1 support. You are getting the engineers, the
Chris Scanlan, owner of CS Consulting and account
manager/sales engineer at Industry Tech Sales in
Minneapolis, says pre-configurations in NETGEAR
switches for Dante, AV-over-IP, Q-LAN, NDI for video,
and ARCNET for lighting save time and money.
for dealers, including pre-sales support, writing bid specifi cations,
creating scope-of-work system designs, project management and
network confi guration.
" Other switches are built for the IT world, but NETGEAR
built its switches focused on AV applications, " he says. " Th ey have
taken a lot of the IT-specialty work out by setting up the necessary
AV protocols for Dante, AV-over-IP, Q-LAN, NDI for video,
and ARCNET for lighting. NETGEAR built in pre-confi gurations
where you can identify the VLAN for a device and it sets up all the
QOS [Quality of Service], IGMP [Internet Group Management
Protocol], the multicast, the jumbo frames, etc. Th ey have tailored
it nicely for the dealer. It just works. Th at is the easiest thing to say
account managers and the sales engineers. Th e support is amazing, "
he exclaims.
Other dealer-supportive aspects from NETGEAR include maintaining
the integrity of the product margins, protection from being
" price-shopped, " and fl exible mounting options that take into
account multiple applications, such as the ability to mount the
device from the front.
Lastly, the company's multi-gig access points are following in the
same footsteps as the switches in terms of their dealer-friendly facets.
" NETGEAR has learned a lot from their AV switches on how
they go to market and their pricing. Now they are emulating that
with their series of Wi-Fi access points, " he notes.
CE Pro June 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro June 2023
