[Amazon] 10Gbase-T Copper SFP for $40 with 5% off

[hmw]

Amazon is offering the Ipolex 10G SFP+ module (https://www.amazon.com/ipolex-10GBase-T-Transceiver-SFP-10G-T-S-Supermicro/dp/B01M5LIUK5/ ) for $41 with a 5% discount, taking it to $39. I have one of these on my ICX-6610 and it will do 10 GbE over Cat5E if it's a short run. Note that the 5% discount only works for one item count at a time, I just purchased twice separately ...

Considering that ServeTheHome's favorite Wiitek is @ $47 (thanks @Patrick for making it famous ) I'd say the Ipolex is a good buy.

 

[madbrain]

Read reviews on those yesterday. A lot of hardware failures reported. 30 meters really isn't so hot also. Should be able to do 100 meters on CAT6A. In my home the 30 meters might be problematic for a few runs.

 

[ske4za]

Read reviews on those yesterday. A lot of hardware failures reported. 30 meters really isn't so hot also. Should be able to do 100 meters on CAT6A. In my home the 30 meters might be problematic for a few runs.

If I'm not mistaken, all 10GBASE-T SFP+ transceivers are rated at 30m. Even everyone's favorite fs.com 10GBASE-T transceivers (full disclosure, I've never bought from them) have a note saying it's only supported 30m on a 10G link.

 

[hmw]

30 meters really isn't so hot also. Should be able to do 100 meters on CAT6A.

Do you know of any SFP+ 10GBase-T/copper transceivers that do > 30m with Cat6A? Please share ...

 

[Dev_Mgr]

The fibre store (fs.com) has a model that supports up to 80m (but at that point CAT6A or better is probably a requirement and CAT5E probably won't cut it).

Cisco SFP-10G-T-80 Compatible 10GBASE-T SFP+ Copper RJ-45 80m Optical Transceiver Module - FS.com

Cisco SFP-10G-T-80 Compatible 10GBASE-T SFP+ Copper RJ-45 80m Optical Transceiver Module, Product Specification:Cisco Compatible - SFP-10G-T-80 , Vendor Name - FS , Form Factor - SFP+ , Max Data Rate - 10Gbps, Power Consumption - ≤2.5W , Cable Distance (Max.) - 80m@Cat6a/Cat7 or Better

www.fs.com

 

[hmw]

The fibre store (fs.com) has a model that supports up to 80m (but at that point CAT6A or better is probably a requirement and CAT5E probably won't cut it).

Cisco SFP-10G-T-80 Compatible 10GBASE-T SFP+ Copper RJ-45 80m Optical Transceiver Module - FS.com

Cisco SFP-10G-T-80 Compatible 10GBASE-T SFP+ Copper RJ-45 80m Optical Transceiver Module, Product Specification:Cisco Compatible - SFP-10G-T-80 , Vendor Name - FS , Form Factor - SFP+ , Max Data Rate - 10Gbps, Power Consumption - ≤2.5W , Cable Distance (Max.) - 80m@Cat6a/Cat7 or Better

www.fs.com

Good find! Sadly all my runs are Cat5E, so this one would probably not work with the existing wiring. But been looking for copper transceivers that do > 30m for a while now ...

 

[madbrain]

Guess I'll stick with non-SFP+ switches - straight RJ45.

 

[mimino]

Guess I'll stick with non-SFP+ switches - straight RJ45.

What's wrong with fiber?

 

[madbrain]

What's wrong with fiber?

I really don't know enough about fiber. Have no idea what type of cable I should run.

Most of my PCs already have Aquantia AQN-107 NICs which have RJ45 jacks.
Already have one RJ45 switch also - Trendnet 7080-ES.

At the moment, cables in the walls throughout my house are just CAT5 so not good enough for 10 Gbe. Most of my 10 Gbps equipment is in a single room. I'm looking to possibly upgrade the cables in the walls to CAT6A.

Seems like CAT8 is supposed to work with 10/25/40 Gbase-T also. Not sure it would actually work with my existing NIC and switch at 10 Gbps.
Apparently CAT8 has fewer pairs of conductors than CAT6A ...

 

[mimino]

I really don't know enough about fiber. Have no idea what type of cable I should run.

Most of my PCs already have Aquantia AQN-107 NICs which have RJ45 jacks.
Already have one RJ45 switch also - Trendnet 7080-ES.

At the moment, cables in the walls throughout my house are just CAT5 so not good enough for 10 Gbe. Most of my 10 Gbps equipment is in a single room. I'm looking to possibly upgrade the cables in the walls to CAT6A.

Seems like CAT8 is supposed to work with 10/25/40 Gbase-T also. Not sure it would actually work with my existing NIC and switch at 10 Gbps.
Apparently CAT8 has fewer pairs of conductors than CAT6A ...

Well, if you upgrade to fiber then you don't have to worry about what the next CAT_N might bring. Ever. I did that over a year ago, best decision ever.

 

[madbrain]

Well, if you upgrade to fiber then you don't have to worry about what the next CAT_N might bring. Ever. I did that over a year ago, best decision ever.

One year and it's already the best decision ever ? What happens when you want 100Gbit or Terabit fiber ?
Also, serious question. Don't most of your end devices in the end still have to use Ethernet ?

My Raspberry Pi 3B, two smart TVs, 7 AVRs, 15 Chromecast Audio, Chromecast Ultra, Fire Stick 4K, 3 printers and 40+ other devices scatted accross 17 different rooms don't have any sort of fiber interface. They mostly have some form of Ethernet or Wifi. The Wifi is too slow as it doesn't penetrate walls very well. I have had a single 13x19 color print take 30 mins due to the dumb printer connecting to one of the farthest wireless APs. Only 2 of my 4 Ubiquiti NanoHD APs are wired right now - the other 2 are using wireless bridging. For some end devices it might be possible to buy $$$ USB SFP+ interfaces. But does that really make sense ? Many of these devices cost less than a transceiver & USB SFP+ interface.

 

[mimino]

One year and it's already the best decision ever ? What happens when you want 100Gbit or Terabit fiber ?
Also, serious question. Don't most of your end devices in the end still have to use Ethernet ?

My Raspberry Pi 3B, two smart TVs, 7 AVRs, 15 Chromecast Audio, Chromecast Ultra, Fire Stick 4K, 3 printers and 40+ other devices scatted accross 17 different rooms don't have any sort of fiber interface. They mostly have some form of Ethernet or Wifi. The Wifi is too slow as it doesn't penetrate walls very well. I have had a single 13x19 color print take 30 mins due to the dumb printer connecting to one of the farthest wireless APs. Only 2 of my 4 Ubiquiti NanoHD APs are wired right now - the other 2 are using wireless bridging. For some end devices it might be possible to buy $$$ USB SFP+ interfaces. But does that really make sense ? Many of these devices cost less than a transceiver & USB SFP+ interface.

Yes, it is. I don't have to think if I should upgrade my cat5 to cat6 or cat7, or maybe wait for cat8. Fiber is also a lot cheaper (thanks to the second hand market). You upgrade the speed by replacing transceivers/media converters/switches/network cards but NEVER touch the cables berried underground or run inside the walls. There is no faster medium than fiber (google 43Tbps over fiber).

As to the end devices, some of them use optical transceivers, others are connected with DAC cables, but 10G is mostly run between the switches, servers and storage. Only my main workstation has 10G, not all devices need it or can even handle it.

 

[madbrain]

mimino,
So how many switches do you end up using in your home ? How many rooms ? How many devices do you have that are plugged in via ethernet ?
I have only about 6 devices that can really benefit from >1 Gbps local network speed at the moment, but I expect that number to grow.

 

[mimino]

mimino,
So how many switches do you end up using in your home ? How many rooms ? How many devices do you have that are plugged in via ethernet ?
I have only about 6 devices that can really benefit from >1 Gbps local network speed at the moment, but I expect that number to grow.

I only have two switches, but they're on the opposite sides of the house. One is Ruckus ICX7150-C12P and the other is Aruba s2500-24p (both acquired thanks to this forum). Ruckus handles 4 IP cameras and 2 Ruckus WiFi APs (so basically all wireless clients in the house, and there's lots of those). Aruba handles my proxmox VM server, two storage servers, and my main workstation, taking all SFP+ ports. Aruba is an overkill, but it's the cheapest 4x10 SFP+ switch I could find at the time. There are 2 wired NVidia shields, but they're obviously on 1Gb copper.

Now, I don't have 6+ physical devices that need 10Gb. If I did, I would be looking for a pure 10G switch, and that's a completely different ball game. I do have 10+ VMs though, and they all benefit from this 10G link. Do you have that many servers in your homelab? Did you consider virtualizing/consolidating them?

I think this topic might get flagged if we continue this discussion here. Feel free to shoot me a PM if needed.

 

[nemesishere]

From this post I bought two. I plugged them into the SFP+ ports in my Ubiquiti switch and it was a flawless setup. I went ahead and bought two Intel 10GBe cards for my Power Edge servers and connect to these two adapters. No issues for me.