$25 - Netgear GS308E Managed switch

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zer0sum

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Mar 8, 2013
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eduncan911

The New James Dean
Jul 27, 2015
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I had a similar 16 port model once. The management part barely qualifies as layer 2. I just remember the VLAN assignment parts being very limited.

Also, no SSH - it's all web gui so I couldn't add it to my Ansible stack.

That was a slightly larger 16 port model, not exactly this one. But I've also had the larger 24 and 48 port GS series, and they disappoint in exactly the same way. So I would assume this inexpensive model follows the same path.
 

Filez

Active Member
Feb 18, 2019
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I had a similar 16 port model once. The management part barely qualifies as layer 2. I just remember the VLAN assignment parts being very limited.

Also, no SSH - it's all web gui so I couldn't add it to my Ansible stack.

That was a slightly larger 16 port model, not exactly this one. But I've also had the larger 24 and 48 port GS series, and they disappoint in exactly the same way. So I would assume this inexpensive model follows the same path.
what do you use for managed switch? In the market for one.
 

USER189364

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Jul 17, 2020
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The TP-Link TL-SG108E (Amazon) is only 2 dollars more, and seems like a nicer interface, no? There are some quirks with all these cheaper managed Switches, but for a fast solution that is silent, they serve their purpose quite well.
 

eduncan911

The New James Dean
Jul 27, 2015
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what do you use for managed switch? In the market for one.
If you're asking for an alternative, I can't help at that price range. Best is around $100 and up to around $250.

For more info, hop over to one of the best threads on STH: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...s-cheap-powerful-10gbe-40gbe-switching.21107/

Read the first post in depth. :)

So depending on your needs, connections, 10G, 40G, etc, and your budget, you can decide on what you need.

Me personally... I previous had 2x ICX7250-48P (one POE, other non-POE) stacked with LAG to a few Proxmox servers (for fail-over). Far overkill for a homelab. Currently working/downgrading to a single ICX6610-24P I got for $95 ebay handling everything with it's 4x 40G ports and 8x 10G ports in my rack (some servers just have direct 40G connections to each other now, didn't need to go through a switch). It's almost maxed out in 1G ports, so I may be going for a $180-$200 ICX6610-48P soon.

I really prefer the ICX7250 line with its quiet fans and low-power ARM cpu that draws 1/2 the watts of the ICX6610s. But needed 10x 10G ports and a couple 40G for the big servers.

I do have a few ICX7150-C12P around the house with 10G uplinks. One near the kids room (one kid has several projects needing network connections). The other is in my office where i build/test things, especially for PoE testing.

I use Ansible to manage everything. Makes it super easy to switch between model lines (e.g. the move from 7250 to 6610).

To recap:

$95 for a switch that has 24x 1G PoE+, 8x 10G SPF+, 4x 40G QSFP+ (and two can be broken out to 4x 10G each)
$35-$50 for each Dual-Port 10G and 40G PCIe cards. (I like the 2x 10G and 2x 1G combo cards for $45)

Not to mention, that all of the above are true line-rate Layer3 switches that does not offload anything to the CPU like ACLs (like all lower-end switches, including Ubiquiti does!!).

It's really cheap to go 10G and 40G, and true Layer3 line-rate these days!
 
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hmartin

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Sep 20, 2017
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You can often find the HP 1810-8G for $25-$30 on eBay. The 1810-8G can be PoE powered from port 1.

It only has web UI management (no SSH/cli), but it's HP ProCurve with a real lifetime warranty. If you want a small managed switch, I'd choose HP ProCurve over Netgear any day.
 
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klui

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Feb 3, 2019
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You can often find the HP 1810-8G for $25-$30 on eBay. The 1810-8G can be PoE powered from port 1.

It only has web UI management (no SSH/cli), but it's HP ProCurve with a real lifetime warranty. If you want a small managed switch, I'd choose HP ProCurve over Netgear any day.
Thanks for the tip! After digging into higher speed switches I've neglected these types. I have a bunch of unmanaged 5-port purchased a long time ago and it'll be nice to swap them out with these PoE-powered (1810-8G, 1820-8G) ones.
 

unmesh

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I would do the same as @klui except that I haven't migrated to PoE yet and these switches are most commonly sold without DC adapters
 
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klui

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Feb 3, 2019
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I didn't realize most don't have adapters on eBay now. Mine had it included. The 1820-8Gs use mini barrel plugs--not standard.