Luminex introduces touring grade GigaCore ethernet switch range at Prolight + Sound

Kyla Werrett

A.C. Lighting Inc. & A.C. ProMedia - Kyla Werrett
Genk, Belgium, 19th of April 2023] — Luminex, the leading manufacturer of professional AV networking solutions, has announced the launch of additional GigaCore models to its 10 Gigabit Ethernet line of switches at Prolight + Sound. The new models; GigaCore 20t, 18t and 16t, are specifically designed for Professional touring applications in lighting, audio and video with a frequent tear-down & built-up requirement or for any other application where ruggedized connectivity is necessary. These new switches come with all features the GigaCore family is well known for in the Professional AV market, and join the GigaCore 30i that has been well received among users around the world since its launch last year.

GigaCore 20t, 18t and 16t at a Glance

GigaCore 20t, 18t and 16t are an excellent choice for touring professionals in the event production and entertainment industry who require reliable and robust networking equipment with port speeds up to 10 Gigabit These switches are made to meet the demands of touring featuring a ruggedized construction, built to withstand the rigors of transport, set-up, and tear-down.

Luminex’s new 10Gb Ethernet switches are dedicated to converged networking out of the box. Now with 10Gb connectivity options, the GigaCore range allows full network convergence of audio, lighting, intercom, (compressed) video and more. Pre-configured Quality of Service (QoS), IGMP multicast, and PTPv2 settings will assure a responsive and extremely stable network environment for the most demanding time-critical audio protocols like Dante™, AES67, Q-SYS, and many others. Furthermore AVB/MILAN is supported out of the box on the management group (VLAN) and can operate simultaneously with the aforementioned PTPV2 applications in a converged network on multiple Groups (VLANS). Without the need of any IT knowledge and without having to make compromises.

Luminex is looking forward to meeting all visitors and customers face-to-face and demonstrate its future-proof advanced networking solutions.

Visit the Luminex booth 12.0 C42 at Prolight + Sound to experience how AV networking can be made easy.

Prolight + Sound details:

Date: April 25th – 28th, 2022

Location: Messe Frankfurt, Congress Center Messe Frankfurt

Luminex Booth: ProLight Hall 12.0 C42

Luminex products are available in North America through A.C. Lighting Inc. and A.C. ProMedia.

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About Luminex Network Intelligence

Luminex Network Intelligence is a Belgium-based manufacturer of data distribution equipment for professional lighting, audio and video applications, focusing mainly on the entertainment industry. Luminex offers a complete range of network switches which are validated for interoperability in many ecosystems. Providing AV designers and technicians with cutting edge technology to build a complete data distribution system from small setups to big events or large venues. Our commitment is to make it as easy as possible to deploy a professional AV network, even without any IT knowledge. Products are completely pre-configured to transport all commonly used lighting and audio protocols, such as Art-Net™, MA-Net, sACN, AVB/Milan™, Dante™, AES67, PTPv2 and many more.

https://www.luminex.be/
 
Its a press release--so I get it, but I see nothing in this that tells me why I should switch from pathport, or Cisco, or a Netgear gs108P for that matter.
 
Its a press release--so I get it, but I see nothing in this that tells me why I should switch from pathport, or Cisco, or a Netgear gs108P for that matter.

I didn't see the point of Luminex until I started using them fairly regularly. The interface is very much "networking for dummies" but they provide a few things you aren't getting with the other models of switch you highlighted. The two huge things in my world that I need are PoE++ and PTPv2 support which are both things Luminex does without thinking. Pathport's literature doesn't say if they are PTP compliant which is huge on modern large-scale digital audio and video networks. Araneo is also a great piece of software when your network gets sufficiently complex and is in flux.

1. Luminex over Pathport - Pathports VLAN just as easily, but on a Luminex I can go, "This VLAN is Dante" or "This VLAN is AES67" and things will just work. Additionally the Luminex ports are color-coded so I can tell the local hands, "Hey you need to plug X device into X colored port" and there is no thinking. If they run out of one color they can radio whoever is on networking control and with two button clicks the port VLAN has changed and they can see that.

2. Luminex over Cisco - I love Cisco switches. When I'm setting up a rig only I will use, then it'll be all Cisco all day just because of the value proposition over the cost of a Luminex switch. However if I need to send a system that I know will need to be field-reconfigured I need to consider who knows how to re-program a Cisco. They are not intuitive to program.

3. Luminex over a Netgear GS108P - Look I love GS108's but they aren't even in the same league as the other switches. 80% unmanaged, no support for SFP's which makes them unsuitable for broadcast, limited PoE budget, it's just not even a fair comparison. They live as end-points in my systems, usually when I need something cheap to throw down in a place with a lot of Helixnet or something with low PoE requirements.

On a lot of my shows these days I am usually integrating Luminex, Ciscgo SG-350P, and Netgear GS108P's into a fully coherent network. My pre-built kits that never change are already configured to trunk appropriately to the Luminex trunking scheme, and the Luminex switches sit at the center of the network and at end-points that need a handful of VLAN's that may need to change.

My biggest complaint with Luminex is that they need a switch with more than 6x SFP ports, hopefully that'll happen one day.
 

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