10 Gbps to the Edge: Inside SeraphimGate’s UniFi XG & E7 Test

At SeraphimGate Systems we don’t just read spec-sheets—we buy the gear, wire it into our production rack, break it, fix it, and only then tell you what’s worth your budget. Our latest field upgrade pairs Ubiquiti’s flagship UniFi E7 Wi-Fi 7 access point with the brand-new UniFi Pro XG 10 PoE switch, giving our lab an end-to-end 10 Gbps path that’s already stressing every benchmark we can throw at it. Below is the quick story of why we jumped, what we learned, and how those lessons translate into faster, more resilient networks for our clients.

Why We Keep Jumping Ahead

Business networks rarely fail in the center—they fail at the edges where aging switches and over-subscribed APs throttle new workloads. AI model training, 4K video review, and massive cloud sync jobs can saturate a 1 Gbps link in seconds, and analysts expect AI traffic alone to push enterprise fabrics to 10 Gbps and beyond within two upgrade cycles. Cat 8 cabling makes those speeds trivial over the short runs typical inside an IDF or office pod.

First-Look: UniFi E7—A “No-Compromise” Wi-Fi 7 AP

Key wins

• 10-stream Wi-Fi 7 radio with a dedicated 10 GbE uplink and redundant 1 GbE port for high availability.

• Multi-Link Operation (MLO) simultaneously bonds 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz lanes for extra-sturdy throughput.

• Built-in spectrum analysis lets us see interference in real time—perfect for crowded campuses. Tech Specs

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In side-by-side testing the E7’s 6 GHz radio delivered ~18 % higher throughput and measurably lower latency than our previous champ, the UniFi U7 Pro Max. Ubiquiti Store For dense offices, that margin is the difference between “good Wi-Fi” and “why are the uploads stuttering?” For those bushiness who rely on wifi the extra cost of moving up to the E7 is easy to justify.

Backbone Matters: UniFi Pro XG 10 PoE

A single bottlenecked uplink can undo every wireless gain, so we yanked our 8-port 2.5 GbE switch and slid in the new Pro XG 10 PoE:

Spec	Value	Why It Matters
10 × 10 GbE PoE+++	400 W budget	Powers Wi-Fi 7 APs at full tilt today—and PoE cameras tomorrow.
2 × 10 G SFP+	Fiber or DAC to core	Protects investment if we outgrow copper.
Layer 3 routing & “Etherlighting™”	Visual port telemetry	Faster troubleshooting when minutes = money.

A 40 ft Cat 8 trunk now feeds our test bench at the full 10 Gbps line-rate, leaving headroom for AI pipelines that already expect 10–100 Gbps at the server edge.

Real-World Lab Results

• File copy (NVMe → NAS): 8.4 Gbps sustained vs. 2.1 Gbps on the old 2.5G path.

• Stable Wi-Fi: Latency spikes on large 6 GHz transfers dropped by 35 %.

• Power headroom: Even with one APs and two PoE devices, the XG 10 reports only 25 watts PoE budget used—room to grow.

  
  

  

  
  

• Mini PCs such as our MINISFORUM NAB9 ship with 2.5 GbE NICs; plugging them into 10 Gbps ports eliminates the “now-the-switch-is-the-bottleneck” problem before it starts.

Why Edge-Routing Matters

Most Dream Machine Pro Max owners see ~8–8.5 Gbps ceiling speeds when the gateway handles routing by itself—and that’s with all IDS/IPS features disabled. Moving routing tables and DHCP to the Pro XG 10 PoE eliminates that ceiling because the switch is a true Layer 3 device with hardware-assisted inter-VLAN routing. Broadcast domains stay local, reducing chatter and latency spikes.

Solid real world results but we are still investigating lower than expected upload performance

What We Gain

• Full 10 Gbps east-west traffic. Workstations on different VLANs now move data at wire speed without detouring through the gateway.

• Headroom for security services. The Dream Machine can re-enable IDS/IPS without throttling critical transfers.

• Simpler scale-out. Need a second switch? Up-link it via 10 G SFP+ and let OSPF or static routes propagate automatically.

What This Means for Clients

1. Future proof without forklift upgrades – deploy multigig switches today, phase in Wi-Fi 7 as devices arrive.

2. Wire once, forget for years – Cat 8 or OM4 fiber uplinks you install now will carry the next two Wi-Fi generations.

3. PoE+++ everywhere – fewer mid-span injectors, cleaner racks, faster installs.

Continue the Journey

• Hardware Highlight: UniFi Enterprise 8 PoE Switch – How the old switch paved the way.

• Wi-Fi Is Love, Wi-Fi Is Life – Our design philosophy for wireless that just works.

• MINISFORUM NPB6 Review – Edge compute tested with multigig links.

• GMKtec G3 & G5 Review – Tiny desktops that still crave high-speed copper.

Ready to Go Faster?

Whether you need a single AP refresh or a ground-up network redesign, SeraphimGate Systems has already paid the tuition in new gear so you don’t have to. Contact us today and let’s build the backbone your next decade of workloads deserves.

Sources

(1) UniFi E7 Tech Specs UniFi Cloud Gateways - Tech Specs(2) UniFi E7 Store Listing Ubiquiti Store(3) Wi-Fi 7 MLO deep-dive – Cisco Cisco Blogs(4) Wi-Fi 7 MLO overview – Ruckus RUCKUS Networks(5) UniFi U7 Pro Max datasheet Ubiquiti Store(6) UniFi Pro XG 10 PoE Tech Specs UniFi Cloud Gateways - Tech Specs(7) UniFi Pro XG 10 PoE Store Listing Ubiquiti Store(8) Networking for AI workloads – UFiSpace ufispace.com(9) Cloud interconnect speeds for AI – Google Cloud Google Cloud(10) Cat 8 distance guidelines – r/networking Reddit