A cheap but good small managed gigabit switch for homelab

[Thinkcat]

Hello

I used search, but could not find an exactly matching thread. So here is a new one.

I am looking for a
* fanless,
* managed
* 8 to 12 port switch with
* VLAN support (32 will do fine),
* link aggregation and
* STP support.

I do not need PoE or QoS. I think I'll rather buy two small switches than a single big one if I need more ports later. All 16 port switches with the same feature set are far more expensive and usually rack sized anyway.

All I need is gigabit speeds. I think that going to 10 Gbps in any port will at least double, often quadruple the price.

It'd be wonderful if the switch would run on 12 V, since I have a ready supply of that, although it is easy and cheap to convert it to 24 V or 48 V. Bonus points for nice administration and monitoring GUI.

My candidates so far are
* Ubiquiti UniFi US-8, 93 EUR
* Netgear GS108T (Smart Managed Pro), 62 EUR
* Netgear GS108E (Smart Managed Plus), 37 EUR
* TP-Link TL-SG108E, 33 EUR
* TP-Link TL-SG2008, 65 EUR
* D-Link DGS-1100-8, 30 EUR

I did notice Cisco SG300-10, but it is pricey compared to what I'd need of it. Finding out about the differences between Netgear's fully managed, smart managed pro and smart managed plus switches is too difficult to do quickly.

Alternatively, I could be on the market for a 16 port fanless switch, with or without 10 Gbe SFP+ ports, preferably four but two will do, and preferably but not necessarily 12 V power input. But to fulfill all my requirements I think it will be easier to go with two smaller switches than a large one.

OTOH a TP-Link T1700G-28TQ would be loads of fun for 264 EUR (24 gigabit ports, 4 10 Gbe SFP+ ports, fanless, internal power supply).

 

[dandanio]

Something like a Dell PowerConnect 2816? Have one in my basement.

 

[Stephan]

Why the focus on 12V input? Is this for an off the grid solar installation?

Otherwise look for a Dell PowerConnect 2816 in ebay. Good price, fanless, integrated PSU, managable, quality Marvell switching chips and decidedly more solid build quality than the mentioned TP-Link, D-Link, Netgears for < 40 Euros.

As for more expensive switches from TP-Link, I'd stay clear because the software support with updates for bugs is just not there. See
TP-Link Easy Smart Switch security question for example. Talk about taking a shortcut. No thanks.

If I had to choose from your list, I'd take at least a Netgear. If price is not that much of an issue, I'd pick a ProCurve from HP.

 

[K D]

I can vouch for the GS108T.

 

[EffrafaxOfWug]

More moolah that the GS108T but the M4100-D12G is a good bet too IMHO; all the management features you can shake a stick at, twelve gigabit ports, fanless and chews bugger-all power, powerable by either PoE or external DC brick (don't know if it's 12V or not though).

Personally I evaluated 10GbE and found it too expensive, power hungry and above all noisy for my needs, so I'm waiting to see if 2.5 or 5Gb over ethernet come to anything. Only really needed for onsite backups for my workload.

 

[hjfr]

Dlink DGS-1210-10 (8 ports + 2 SFP but internal AC) ?
Or more futur proof: DMS-1100-10TS (8 ports 2,5 Gb + 2 SFP+) ?

 

[DanAnd]

What about the Zyxel GS1900-24 ?

I bought one for 90 Euro just two days ago. It still waits to be installed at the coming weekend.

 

[Evan]

Dlink DGS-1210-10 (8 ports + 2 SFP but internal AC) ?
Or more futur proof: DMS-1100-10TS (8 ports 2,5 Gb + 2 SFP+) ?

I wonder what chipset the 2.5G switch uses and if we will see other vendors release same, looks like a nice switch... fanless would have been better but still a step in right direction.

 

[hjfr]

I don't know.
For example, Netgear propose an another approach (switch with mutiple speed ports: 1gb/2,5gb/5gb/10gb): Multi Gigabit 5 Speed Switches | High Speed Internet Switches | NETGEAR . An not only 2,5gb like dlink.

 

[Thinkcat]

Hello again. And thanks for your contributions. It seems like the perfect solution would be the M4000-D12G, but I don't want to afford it at the moment. My best bet, to current budget and all other requirements, would be the better 8-port Netgear, that is GS108T.

I use a 12 V system, based on a single Mascot switching power supply, at my desk at home to curtail the proliferation of extension cords and wall warts. I currently power a desktop computer (using a PicoPSU), an USB hub, a cable modem, a wireless router and sometimes one or two external hard disks from it. I have a nice analog ammeter to see that I will not overload it. My current unmanaged 8-port D-Link switch takes in 5 V, so that is excluded.

 

[mstone]

the gs108t probably has the most bang for the buck. I'd get that, and wait to see if 1/2.5/5/10 turns into something easy to buy in a NIC. (I really wish it would, home/small business users could really use something between 1G and 10G.)

 

[Thinkcat]

Are there any serious management features in GSM5212-100NES ProSafe M4100 that are missing from GS108T?

I think my final setup will include two GS108T connected together with two links, giving me 12 ports in a very nice form factor. But I'll start with one.

 

[duro]

Don't want to open an extra thread since I'm looking for something similar:
I need a cheap switch for a homelab. The basic tasks will be traffic monitoring.

* 24 ports should be enough, most of them can be 100mbit, at least 3 should be SFP ports for gbit (otherwise I would need to buy additional media converters)
* no POE
* ideally fanless or at least very quiet
* many to one port mirroring, ideally every port can be mirrored to a single monitoring port at the same time
* VLAN support
* low power consumption
* <100$, I could maybe go higher

Currently I'm considering the following models though some either don't have enough SFP ports or are very noisy. I'm also not sure about how many ports can be mirrored for some models. I also did not yet take a look at the other requirements.
Current favorite: Netgear gs724t (v3 version seems to be fanless and costs ~ 50$, only 2x SFP though)
Netgear gs724ts
Netgear fsm7328s
Dell PowerConnect 5324
Cisco ESW 540

Are there any alternatives?

 

[blood]

I have a Linksys SRW2008 that I think fills all the criteria of the original post - and it's pretty old, so is probably cheap if you don't mind used. Only real complaint is that the web interface is terrible but you can drive it via CLI if you follow this.

 

[Thinkcat]

Hello

Bumping this to revisit this question. I think this is the correct way to do it, instead of starting a new thread.

I eventually got a Netgear GS108Tv2. It is
1) fanless,
2) runs off a 12 V supply,
3) supports VLANs and
4) supports LACP.

I could have survived with GS308T becase I don't have any PoE equipment. This is, after all, just a small home lab.

Now the problem is that the design of the web user interface is quite lackluster. Are there any other similar devices, even slightly but not too much more expensive, with better usability?

 

[dandanio]

Now the problem is that the design of the web user interface is quite lackluster. Are there any other similar devices, even slightly but not too much more expensive, with better usability?

Any Mikrotik running their SwOS would be more than adequate.

(WTG! OP all the way back from 2018! )

 

[sko]

Throwing in the FS S2800S-8T [1] and S2805-8TF [2] switches. Both have 8 ports, the 2800S has some more advanced L2 capabilities ("L2+"), while the 2805S has 2 SFP uplinks (and "normal" L2 capabilities).
Price is 69EUR +VAT for both.

From what I've seen on other FS gear so far, their web interfaces are intuitive and clear, but as with all web interfaces by far not all configuration options are available. Cant tell you much more because I only use CLI on such gear, and their CLI is very close to cisco, so absolutely no mysteries to solve here - especially if you only need basic L2 functions.

[1] FS 8-Port Gigabit Smart Managed Switch with 8x Gigabit RJ45 - FS Germany
[2] S2805S-8TF, 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet L2 Switch, 8 x Gigabit RJ45, with 2 x 1Gb SFP Uplinks, Fanless - FS Germany

 

[Rand__]

Lol - not posting much, are we