Cheapest way to get Fibre into an iMac?

[Kevin Peters]

I'm very close to starting a little lockdown project to deploy some fibre in my house. This has been driven by two things: 1. the cat5e cable to my study only connects at 100Mbps (can't find anything wrong with it.) and 2. I have just bought a new NAS with 2.5 Gbe and a PICe that could host a 10Gbe SFP+ card.

I have settled on a Zyxel XGS1010-12 switch (£130).

My 2017 iMac has a 1Gbe Ethernet port and the one thing causing me to pause is how I can get any fibre above into it faster than 1Gbe?

I see affordable 2.5 Gbe and 5Gbe (limited to 3.5Gbe) ethernet USB 3 adapters (e.g. Sabrent NT-SS5G: £60). I see relatively expensive Thunderbolt SFP+ adapters (Sonnet Solo 10G: £250). What I don't see is a relatively affordable USB SFP+ adapter at 1Gbe, 2.5Gbe, or 5Gbe.

At this rate running a Cat6A cable and buying a Sabrent 2.5Gbe USB3 adapter (£32) seems far more cost effective!

 

[Tom5051]

Qnap and Sonnet both make Thunderbolt 3 10Gbe one model has 1x RJ-45 and the other has 1x +SFP which can take a fiber transceiver or DAC cable. The Sonnet does not have a fan, which makes it better than the Qnap. I have the Sonnet +SFP and is does everything on the box, gets mildly warm.
10G is the way to go, it is much easier to get equipment that is just works.

 

[AdditionalPylons]

The QNAP QNA-T310G1S (Thunderbolt 3 to SFP+) does not have a fan. Note the S in the end, which is for SFP+.
This is in contrast to the QNAP-QNA-T310G1T (Thunderbolt 3 to RJ45 10Gbase-T) which has a fan and has many user complaints about being loud.

 

[Kevin Peters]

Thanks guys, I guess that answers my question that the two options I listed are what I need to choose from. As suggested elsewhere I think I will run both types of cable and use copper in the short term.