20+ port 2.5G POE managed switch recommendation

[Starbomba]

I am looking to expand my home network, so far i've been happily using a Netgear GS316EP, but i am in need of more and faster ports, and i want a single big switch to avoid the hassle of managing multiple units. So far the only options i have seen that meet my criteria are the Qnap QSW-M2116P-2T2S-US and the Ubiquity USW-Enterprise-24-PoE, but i wanted to see if there are other options tolook at.

POE isn't much of a priority, if needed for my cameras and a couple other things i could keep using my Netgear unit, but it would be a last option result, as i do not want to have two switches.

Also, if there are no options other than the two i've listed, which would be the best to pick. The Qnap has less total ports but it has more 10G ports and all others are full 2.5G, the Ubiquity has more ports but not all are 2.5G, and it has less 10G ports, but i've never dealt with either of those brands in the past so i'd be going in blind with either.

 

[Dev_Mgr]

The 'bigger' switch vendors (Cisco, HPE, Dell, etc.) are very proud of their >1Gbit switches and want a small fortune for their switches.

Edit/complete: The switches that STH has been reviewing are useful, but for your needs, they are too small.

Excluding the older/used 10Gbit switches (that will be noisy, power hungry, and may or may not support 2.5 or 5Gbit speeds), I think the Qnap and Ubiquity offerings are probably the only way to go for now.

 

[blunden]

The 'bigger' switch vendors (Cisco, HPE, Dell, etc.) are very proud of their >1Gbit switches and want a small fortune for their switches.

The switches that STH has been reviewing are useful, but for your

Excluding the older/used 10Gbit switches (that will be noisy, power hungry, and may or may not support 2.5 or 5Gbit speeds), I think the Qnap and Ubiquity offerings are probably the only way to go for now.

Yes, they have decided that anything higher than 1 Gbit/s is "premium tier" for some reason. I don't necessarily think the switch chip manufacturers charge a huge markup.

Your second sentence got cut off. If you are talking about the cheap switches from China, the only ones that somewhat fit the requirements of the OP are probably that China-only TP-Link model they reviewed a while back and that unbranded LAN Cafe switch from Taobao. There might be other models they haven't reviewed too though I guess.

One thing for the OP to remember is that the Ubiquiti switches need their controller software for management, so it might be a bit inconvenient if one does not already have at least some other Ubiquiti gear.

 

[Starbomba]

Thanks for the replies @Dev_Mgr & @blunden

Yeah, all the 2.5G switches that have recently been reviewed recently are definitely not enough, port-wise. And the only switch that has been reviewed so far that interested me was the esports cafe switch because the only thing it lacked was POE (and all my POE things can be on a single VLAN so it doesn't matter if i use my current switch or buy POE injectors), the other TP-Link 24 port was good... until it had no management. And i know having L2/L3 support costs a bit more, but i want it and am willing to pay for it, but like Patrick says, if others can do those features for $500, why can't we have nice things over this side of the pond?

It is not that my budget is that low, but other than the two options i've been eyeing, all i see are true professional-grade switches that are double, if not triple the price, and those are definitely outside my budget.

Also, i am totally aware of the Ubiquity-wants-to-be-Apple thing and their walled garden, but if it works and the prices are reasonable, i am willing to invest into their hardware. I've been wanting to also upgrade my Wifi 5 APs by december, so i thought if i go that route, i could get all Ubiquity. But yeah, my first option is the Qnap switch, the thing i like the most is that it has 10G POE++ for (future) Wifi 7 APs and still has other two 10G SFP for uplink and NAS. Not that i need THAT much bandwidth since my house is not that bandwidth needy (my router is an Aliexpress wonder box with four 2.5G LAN ports, my internet is 500Mbps fiber and i've hapily lived with 1G for years now) but now with a couple planned upgrades down the line, it is better to have the bandwidth than not.

 

[rocketpanda40]

I use a Cisco 3850-24XU for this purpose. It's certainly more expensive than a 'standard' 3850, but as multigig switches from real enterprise vendors go, it's not bad. If you can live with 12 multigig ports, 3850-12X48Uor 3650-12X48U are also options. The newer stuff (9200/9300 series are still astronomical though). But if you're willing to pay the price for those, I'd just go with Juniper – something like a EX4300-24/48MP.

Of course with any of these, you'll also be paying the power tax.

 

[sic0048]

2.5gb is currently very expensive. Much more expensive than 1gb or 10/40/100gb. I certainly wouldn't buy a 20 port 2.5gb switch just because I didn't want to have two switches. I would recommend buying whatever 2.5gb "capacity" you actually have a need for now and that's it. If the OP really has 20 2.5gb devices, then that's one thing. But I doubt the OP really needs 20 ports of 2.5gb switching.

When it comes to electronics like this, "future proofing" is another way of saying "I overpaid because I wanted to have access to some new technologies that I can't even use yet". It will always be cheaper in the future when you actually need "it".

 

[Starbomba]

2.5gb is currently very expensive. Much more expensive than 1gb or 10/40/100gb. I certainly wouldn't buy a 20 port 2.5gb switch just because I didn't want to have two switches. I would recommend buying whatever 2.5gb "capacity" you actually have a need for now and that's it. If the OP really has 20 2.5gb devices, then that's one thing. But I doubt the OP really needs 20 ports of 2.5gb switching.

When it comes to electronics like this, "future proofing" is another way of saying "I overpaid because I wanted to have access to some new technologies that I can't even use yet". It will always be cheaper in the future when you actually need "it".

It is true i don't need 20 ports, but i need between 8 and 11 ports. So i would be getting back to "having too little ports" with an 8-port switch that, while cheaper, it would still add more complexity to my home network. And no, i don't count the uplink port as being into the 2.5G ports i need, that would be a separate thing.

That is the reason i did consider the Ubiquity switch. It's a 24 port switch where only 12 ports are 2.5G, but that would've suit me just fine.

 

[juddle14]

@Starbomba What's your budget? I have a used Juniper QFX5100-24Q-3AFI that would give you more than enough with 24 QSFP+ ports.

 

[Starbomba]

@Starbomba What's your budget? I have a used Juniper QFX5100-24Q-3AFI that would give you more than enough with 24 QSFP+ ports.

Yeah, that beast is definitely WAY more than what i need. My budget is anywhere from $600 to $800, but for the right thing i wouldn't mind stretching to $1000... but that would also need to include the cost of breakout cables to at least SFP cables, if not RJ45, as my whole home is already wired up with CAT6.