Advice on budget homelab switch, Mikrotik vs Ubiquiti

[gyrogearloose23]

I'm looking to upgrade my main switch in my homelab. Currently I'm using a simple unmanaged 16 port switch.

I've got two offers, one for a Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch 48 Lite and one for a MikroTik Cloud Smart Switch 326-24G-2S+RM.
Both for roughly the same price (Mikrotik for 100€ and the Ubiquiti for 125€).

My requirements are 16+ gigabit ports, at least two SFP+ ports, basic L2 functionality (VLAN and LACP).

The mikrotik is more modern but the Ubiquiti has more room for future expansion.

Any advice of which to pick? Or other options with the set requirements and budget (I don't mind for second hand)?

 

[i386]

what about the brocade stuff? https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...s-cheap-powerful-10gbe-40gbe-switching.21107/

 

[pricklypunter]

Yea, I agree, used Brocade, Arista, HP or Cisco is where I would be putting my money....

 

[CyklonDX]

i would question how loud it can be - if it doesn't matter look at cisco nexus or dell (you can get 32x10Gig sfp+ port switches for under 150 usd)

 

[That_Tate_Guy]

Between the two models you asked about, I'd go with the MikroTik hands down. Ubiquiti's Edge family of routers and switches isn't bad (they're certainly much better than their UniFi line) but RouterOS on the MikroTik is going to give you tons more features if you have any desire to learn enterprise or service provider level networking. As you grow your skills I'd recommend looking into Juniper and Arista. I use Juniper a lot in the ISP space, and Arista will give you a nice Cisco-like experience but at a more reasonable price than actual Cisco gear.

 

[BlueLineSwinger]

Also, Ubiquiti has pretty much abandoned the EdgeMax line. Some models are still for sale, but no new models have been introduced in quite some time and firmware updates for existing models are few and far-between. I can see no reason to buy into that line, even used, unless you already have some of that gear, want consistency, and are willing to risk the lack of security updates (admittedly less of an issue on switches relative to the routers).

 

[MountainBofh]

Between Unifi and Mikrotik - Mikrotik all day. Much better support, much better management.

 

[gyrogearloose23]

i would question how loud it can be - if it doesn't matter look at cisco nexus or dell (you can get 32x10Gig sfp+ port switches for under 150 usd)

Unfortunately this matter due the homelab being in the basement and the wife-approval factor. So noise and power consumption is a big factor.

Between the two models you asked about, I'd go with the MikroTik hands down. Ubiquiti's Edge family of routers and switches isn't bad (they're certainly much better than their UniFi line) but RouterOS on the MikroTik is going to give you tons more features if you have any desire to learn enterprise or service provider level networking. As you grow your skills I'd recommend looking into Juniper and Arista. I use Juniper a lot in the ISP space, and Arista will give you a nice Cisco-like experience but at a more reasonable price than actual Cisco gear.

This was what was making me hesitate on Ubiquiti, my brother just threw out his unifi setup from his homelab after to many complaints from the wife and kids, and replaced everything with TP-Link amada stuff.

Due note that the CSS326-24G-2S+RM is limited to swOS and compatible with RouterOS. But this still plenty for me, the only thing missing is POE for when I upgrade the AP's but that can be solved with injectors or a small 5 port POE switch.

So the choice will probably the Mikrotik

 

[That_Tate_Guy]

I don't want to be overly critical of UniFi since I'm sure there are plenty of folks here who like those products but yeah, my own experience with Ubiquiti's UniFi line is that the APs are decent but when it comes to routers / firewalls and switches, they're super limited. I'm not impressed with the UniFi security products either.

Due note that the CSS326-24G-2S+RM is limited to swOS

Sorry, I overlooked that you said "Cloud Smart Switch" in your OP rather than "Cloud Router Switch." Definitely a big difference there!

EDIT: A brand new CRS326-24G-2S+RM can be had from Getic for ~150€ if you're interested.

 

[nexox]

For what it's worth, I've been very happy with SwitchOS, it's one of the simplest config methods I've used to do VLANs and LACP, on the other hand, I break my RouterOS configs about half the time I attempt to adjust them, because I don't work on it often enough to remember all the little details.

 

[pricklypunter]

Quite a few of our business customers have small Mikrotik routers. They work great, for 6 months on their own, less if there's a twitchy admin nearby, then begin generating all sorts of trouble tickets for us that are not our problem but become our problem. We rip out Ubiquiti gear and file it somewhere appropriate, whenever and wherever it is discovered