What a bad situation in the market, PC / MiniPC / routers / NASes / ISP modems, all changed to 2.5Gs, but there are not many switches. And I'd in fact like 25gbit+2.5gbit ideally. For that one, I will have to wait for decades. Vendors also don't care about density what people want, they're busy bringing "cloud" nonsense. That is so unnecessary, like
@flipper203 said. Also some are busy with poor security (on top of insecure cloud), injecting hardcoded passwords. It all smells "retail".
Aliexpress unmanaged, or thrash software infested, low quality, exploding power adapter garbage is out of question. I'd much rather have their MiniPC than a switch because of the software.
So these are our choices:
- Zyxel XMG1915-10E(P) alt. XGS1210-12 with too few 2.5g ports
- Tplink TL-SG3210XHP-M2
- Ubiqiti USW-Enterprise-8-PoE
- MikroTik CRS310-8G+2S+IN
- Qnap QSW-M2108-2C
APPS
Zyxel does run without cloud bs. And that's the only way to fully utilized the functionality. The Nebula means not just privacy nightmare, but also functionality reduction. The Android app sadly requires the cloud. Cloud can't be self hosted. => WebGUI
Tplink and Ubiqity app also depend on cloud. But what I read, also the whole operation depends on it. That is insane. It's just a switch! However the advantage is you can host SDN yourself. That would enable the mobile app probably. But the condition is "be online" if I hear correctly.
All I know about Mikrotik is they bring all functionality to the app. And their software is off limits.
PRICE
Ubiqity > Tplink > Zyxel > Mikrotik. Zyxel and Mikrotik are basically half price of the most expensive one.
ENERGY
Measuring all with no POE devices attached. Sadly, just the presence of POE means +50% higher readings.
Zyxel: 5-13w non POE and 8-20w for POE model (minimum to maximum) is VERY good. Very good specs, I can find even exact adapter data, and even power conversion rate. Offers both POE and nonPOE variants.
Tplink: 17W max is good.
Ubiquiti: they don't bother with specs, sadly. What my research shows is the idle consumption is shocking 21W. I don't know if the funny display eats that.
Mikrotik: again no environmental data, the maximum is 21w to 34w (with "attachments") which is mediocre. Hearing 2 RJ45 and 1 SFP generates 12.7w. Hearing the idle consumption is 10.5W. No POE on this model.
Qnap: 36w max, poor. No POE on this model.
NOISE
Zyxel: 0dB. Overheating status unknown. Lack of reviews.
Tplink: Reportedly 50db. 2 fans. Super noisy.
Ubiquiti: mostly 0dB. 1 fan. Overheating massively.
Mikrotik: mostly 0dB. Sometimes 46dB, reportedly. 1 fan.
SIZE
Zyxel is tiny, and low profile which is excellent. Tplink is huge. Ubiqity and Mikrotik are relatively small, but tall. Mikrotik is ugly as usual.
FUNCTIONS
All have VLAN, aggregation and lot of common functions. I didn't investigate further, but i guess Ubiqity, Mikrotik > Tplink > Zyxel, all with slight difference.
OVERALL
Seems Zyxel offer is the best. Smallest footprint, no noise, great price, newest of the batch. I could have POE version and still have great power consumption. If it's true. I have all cameras far from switches, so I'd buy POE version just "in case". They also have XS1930 model with 10gbit but the power reading escalate shockingly (and yet, you will hear folks bashing 2.5gbit like it didn't make sense).
Not much data for Qnap. I remember their NAS, and their infamous "security", it's so horrible I wouldn't bother checking. By the way, Zyxel could be the same, they also hardcoded passwords just recently. Well, Taiwan attitude: zero ***** given.
