Moxa EDS-316-MM-SC-T 16-Port Unmanaged Industrial Ethernet Switch

The Moxa EDS-316-MM-SC-T is a compact, 16-port unmanaged industrial Ethernet switch designed for plug-and-play deployment in demanding automation and process control networks. It provides 14 10/100BaseT(X) RJ45 copper ports for connecting PLCs, HMIs, sensors and other field devices, plus 2 100BaseFX multi-mode fiber ports with SC connectors for extending the network over longer distances or through electrically noisy environments.

Rugged Design for Harsh Environments

Housed in an IP30-rated metal enclosure, the EDS-316-MM-SC-T is built to withstand the vibration, dust and temperature extremes typical of industrial control rooms, outdoor cabinets and process plant environments. The -T variant is rated for a wide operating temperature range of -40°C to 75°C, making it suitable for unheated enclosures, outdoor installations and regions with extreme ambient conditions. The switch is DIN-rail mountable for straightforward installation inside standard control panels and junction boxes.

Reliable Power and Fault Monitoring

The switch accepts dual DC power inputs (12 to 48 VDC) for redundant power configurations, protecting network uptime if one power source fails. A built-in relay output provides a dry contact alarm that can be wired into a SCADA or PLC monitoring system to alert operators immediately of a power failure or port link-down condition, without requiring a managed switch or SNMP polling.

Multi-Mode Fiber Uplink

The two 100BaseFX multi-mode SC ports allow the switch to be used as a fiber-to-copper media converter or as a network segment extender, connecting remote I/O cabinets, skid-mounted equipment or outdoor junction boxes back to a central control room over fiber runs that are immune to electromagnetic interference and support significantly longer cable distances than copper Ethernet.

Typical Applications

The EDS-316-MM-SC-T is widely used in factory automation cells, water and wastewater treatment plants, oil and gas facilities, power substations and building automation systems where a reliable, maintenance-free unmanaged switch is needed to connect a cluster of field devices to the plant network. Its unmanaged, plug-and-play operation means no configuration is required at commissioning, reducing engineering time for straightforward network segments that do not require VLANs, redundancy protocols or SNMP management.

Standards and Certifications

The EDS-316 series complies with FCC, UL and CE standards for industrial networking equipment, and is designed to meet the electromagnetic compatibility and safety requirements expected in industrial control and automation installations. Its all-metal housing and conformal-coated PCB (depending on variant) provide additional protection against dust, moisture and corrosive atmospheres found in many industrial settings.

Network Segmentation and Scalability

Because the EDS-316-MM-SC-T offers a high port count in a single unit, it is often deployed as an aggregation point for a group of field devices located in a single panel or equipment room, reducing the number of home-run cables required back to a central network cabinet. When more ports are needed than a single switch provides, multiple EDS-316 units can be cascaded together, or connected back to a managed core switch, to build out larger plant-wide Ethernet networks while keeping the edge-level connections simple, unmanaged and low-maintenance.

Fiber vs. Copper Considerations

Selecting a variant with multi-mode fiber ports, as in the MM-SC configuration, is appropriate when the required fiber run is within multi-mode distance limits (typically up to a few kilometers) and cost is a greater concern than maximum distance; single-mode variants are available in the EDS-316 series for longer backbone runs. Fiber connections are also preferred in installations near high-voltage equipment, variable frequency drives, or other sources of electromagnetic interference that can degrade copper Ethernet signal integrity, since fiber is immune to EMI and provides galvanic isolation between network segments.

Deployment and Commissioning

As an unmanaged switch, the EDS-316-MM-SC-T requires no IP configuration, VLAN setup or firmware management at commissioning, making it well suited for straightforward network segments where devices simply need to communicate without advanced traffic control. This reduces both the initial engineering effort and the long-term maintenance burden compared with managed switches, at the cost of not supporting features such as port mirroring, VLAN segmentation or SNMP-based remote monitoring, which should be considered when the network topology requires more granular control or centralized visibility.

Alarm Relay Integration

The dry-contact relay output on the EDS-316-MM-SC-T can be wired directly into an existing SCADA alarm panel, PLC digital input, or building management system, allowing a power or link failure on the switch to trigger the same alerting workflow used for other critical plant equipment, without needing to poll the switch over the network. This is particularly valuable in unmanaged network segments where no SNMP-based monitoring is otherwise available, giving maintenance teams an immediate, hard-wired indication of a network fault at the panel level.

Seven Star LLC can also advise on compatible SC fiber patch cords and media converters to complete a full fiber uplink installation alongside the switch.

Why Choose Seven Star LLC

Seven Star LLC supplies genuine Moxa industrial networking equipment, including the EDS-316 series of unmanaged Ethernet switches, to industrial automation integrators, EPC contractors and plant operators across Oman and the wider GCC region. Our team can help confirm the correct port configuration, fiber type and temperature rating for your application, and can support broader Moxa networking, serial device and wireless product requirements.

We can also cross-reference legacy Moxa EtherDevice switch models against current EDS series replacements for plant upgrade projects.

Get a Quote

Contact Seven Star LLC for pricing, lead time and technical specifications on the Moxa EDS-316-MM-SC-T unmanaged Ethernet switch, or for other Moxa industrial networking and communication products for your automation infrastructure.