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| Ubiquiti's new EAV switches start at $2,999 in the US |
Ubiquiti has just dropped a bombshell for professional AV integrators and large-scale venue operators. The networking giant quietly listed several new enterprise switches in its official US online store this week, and these aren’t your typical data center hardware. These specialized models are engineered from the ground up for one demanding job: distributing crystal-clear audio and video signals across massive spaces like stadiums, concert halls, and convention centers.
The headline feature? Internal software fine-tuned to keep latency to an absolute minimum. In the world of live events, where a 40-millisecond delay between video and audio can ruin the fan experience, this is a game-changer. Ubiquiti claims its new switches eliminate a possible source of audio synchronization issues that have plagued large-scale installations for years. Imagine a packed soccer stadium: the home team scores, the Jumbotron shows the replay, but the crowd hears the roar a full second later. Those days may be numbered.
Two Models, Two Very Different Missions
Ubiquiti is launching two primary SKUs under what appears to be a new "Enterprise AV" (EAV) sub-brand. Both are set to start shipping in May 2026, and neither comes cheap.
The more accessible entry point is the Ubiquiti EAV-Fiber, priced at $2,999. It’s an optical-focused beast featuring 24 SFP+ slots running at up to 10Gbps per port. For uplinks, you get QSFP28 ports capable of handling 40GbE or 100GbE. This model is clearly designed for long-distance signal distribution across sprawling venues where fiber runs are the only practical choice.
On the other end of the spectrum sits the Ubiquiti EAV-XG-24-PoE (2150W). With a price tag of $3,999, this model swaps fiber density for serious copper power delivery. It packs 24 PoE (Power over Ethernet) ports and an eye-watering optional power budget hitting 2,150 watts—that's enough to drive high-end PTZ cameras, touch panels, and Dante/AES67 audio endpoints simultaneously. Ubiquiti achieves this by supporting two 1,200-watt power modules in shared mode. For mission-critical redundancy, you can run the system in failover mode, which dials the available budget down to roughly half—still a hefty 1,200 watts.
If you're already planning your next deployment, you can check out the official listings and full spec sheets over at Ubiquiti's store.
Why Stadiums Are the Real Target Here
Think of a modern NFL or FIFA venue. You’ve got ribbon boards around the mezzanine, corner-mounted speaker arrays, replay screens at both end zones, and a distributed PA system. Historically, integrators have had to over-provision enterprise switches or kludge together pro-sumer gear just to keep audio and video frame-aligned. Ubiquiti’s new EAV switches reportedly use timestamp-aware packet processing and hardware-level queue management to ensure that a voice announcement from the booth reaches the south stands at the exact same millisecond the captions appear on the auxiliary displays.
Latency-sensitive protocols like AES67, ST 2110, and Dante are the unspoken focus here. While Ubiquiti hasn't published specific jitter figures yet, the product positioning screams "we're coming for the pro AV market currently dominated by Luxul, Netgear M4300, and Cisco's Catalyst lines."
Availability and Early Verdict
Both the EAV-Fiber and the EAV-XG-24-PoE (2150W) are listed as "coming soon" with a firm May 2026 release window for the US market. Given Ubiquiti's history of inventory fluctuations, venues planning summer installations would be wise to pre-order through authorized distributors as soon as the window opens.
Are these switches overkill for a small restaurant AV setup? Absolutely. But for a 65,000-seat arena where every millisecond of AV sync matters? Ubiquiti just made a compelling $3,000-to-$4,000 argument. The only lingering question: will the famously software-driven company deliver the polished network management interface that AV techs actually need? We’ll know in about six months.
Source: Ubiquiti