Gotta say I have an Asus rt-ac66u and it is rubbish (despite what everyone says) I haven't found any ac gear I like yet..
Last edited:
Gigabit + 10Gb Switches under $550
- Thread starter MiniKnight
- Start date
Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
The Dell 5524 and 5548 switches seem to be worth considering too. I've seen as low as USD250, though they seem to be more generally double that so you have to hunt around, and 48 ports seem to be more popular than 24.
So let's say USD500 seems to get you
1Gbase-T - 24 / 48
10Gbase-T - 0
1/10Gb SFP+ - 2
HDMI (stacking) - 2
Power Consumption Max (Watts): 5524 (29.4W); 5524P (380W, all ports as PoE); 5548 (48.8W); 5548P (542.1W, All ports as PoE)
So let's say USD500 seems to get you
1Gbase-T - 24 / 48
10Gbase-T - 0
1/10Gb SFP+ - 2
HDMI (stacking) - 2
Power Consumption Max (Watts): 5524 (29.4W); 5524P (380W, all ports as PoE); 5548 (48.8W); 5548P (542.1W, All ports as PoE)
Last edited:
Agree, they are nice switches if you can get one in good working order. I have one sitting in my room at home that I pulled out of production network. The HDMI stacking is a very unique feature, still not sure why it didn't become more popular (I assume latency issues perhaps).
The only thing I really don't like about that line of switches is the PoE setup. The default 5548 PoE switch only provides PoE to 24 of the 48 ports. Even if you have low power devices, which most VoIP deployments would have, and you had plenty of power left over you can't push that out the other 24 ports. To do that you have to purchase the MPS-600 power module (or MPS-1000 or RPS720). This takes up another 1U of rack space as well. I think you can probably find that for pretty cheap now on ebay, but a few years back it was still a bit expensive. And I don't think it is very "power efficient" because of this limitation either.
Last edited:
I would hesitate recommending mikrotik gear unless you are really familiar with it, or it will be supported by a Mikrotik trained resource. Documentation and patching is less than where is should be. Paying someone by the hour to support will soon strip away the cost advantage if they are learning Mikrotik as they go.
That being said, I bought one (crs226) myself, and still use it. In the year since I bought it I have personally been impacted by a few bugs, and I really only use it as a layer 2 switch. I also bought a mikrotik 5 port poe switch for its low cost, and it had a port die within a few months. no issues with warranty replacement thou, that was a plus. Dead ports are not always defect (sometimes its more like damaged) so take it with a grain of salt.
That being said, I bought one (crs226) myself, and still use it. In the year since I bought it I have personally been impacted by a few bugs, and I really only use it as a layer 2 switch. I also bought a mikrotik 5 port poe switch for its low cost, and it had a port die within a few months. no issues with warranty replacement thou, that was a plus. Dead ports are not always defect (sometimes its more like damaged) so take it with a grain of salt.
I found this solution which is not mentioned much on this forum. It's a bit over $550. Total is ~ $604, second hand.
1 x Dell PowerConnect 6224 24-Port Layer 3 Ethernet Gigabit Switch ~ $300 (can be had for ~ $250)
Dell PowerConnect 6224 24-Port Layer 3 Ethernet Gigabit Switch w/ GM765 LOT A
2 x Dell PowerConnect 10GbE XFP Dual Port Fibre Stacking Module FJ727 PD111 ~ $100 x 2 = $200
DELL POWERCONNECT 10GE XFP Dual Port Fibre Stacking Module FJ727 PD111 Warranty
4 x XFP Transceivers FTLX8511D3 for Dell Stacking Module FJ727 ~ 4 x $26 = $104
NEW SEALED DELL FORCE10 FTLX8511D3-FC GP-XFP-1S MFGR4 XFP 10GB SR transceiver
Total ~ $604
This solution gives you 4 x 10Gb fiber all in one box. Gotta buy 4 x fiber cables.
What do you guys think?
I really like the DLink DGS-1510-28X as it's brand new for only around $500 bucks and you get 4 x 10Gb SFP+, but what about reliability and performance? How long would it last?
1 x Dell PowerConnect 6224 24-Port Layer 3 Ethernet Gigabit Switch ~ $300 (can be had for ~ $250)
Dell PowerConnect 6224 24-Port Layer 3 Ethernet Gigabit Switch w/ GM765 LOT A
2 x Dell PowerConnect 10GbE XFP Dual Port Fibre Stacking Module FJ727 PD111 ~ $100 x 2 = $200
DELL POWERCONNECT 10GE XFP Dual Port Fibre Stacking Module FJ727 PD111 Warranty
4 x XFP Transceivers FTLX8511D3 for Dell Stacking Module FJ727 ~ 4 x $26 = $104
NEW SEALED DELL FORCE10 FTLX8511D3-FC GP-XFP-1S MFGR4 XFP 10GB SR transceiver
Total ~ $604
This solution gives you 4 x 10Gb fiber all in one box. Gotta buy 4 x fiber cables.
What do you guys think?
I really like the DLink DGS-1510-28X as it's brand new for only around $500 bucks and you get 4 x 10Gb SFP+, but what about reliability and performance? How long would it last?
Last edited:
Patrick, it would be awesome if you could do a review on it as right now, it's the most cost effective solution for labs or small deployments since it has 4 x 10GbE sfp+. I spent many days looking and this switch is so attractive on many fronts, except for the brand. 
I think the most important tests are compatibility (i.e. Sfp+ brands that works) and of course performance. Maybe noise level? Not important for me as it will be used in the server room at work.
As for performance test, I suppose all the usual standard ones like latency, max bandwidth, etc, compared to other popular switches. Maybe even put it up against an all copper 10GbE switch or the ones on the OP?
I searched the net and there are absolutely zero in-depth review on this switch. I think you will get some nice traffic once the review is up.
Thanks Patrick! STH site is aewsome!
I think the most important tests are compatibility (i.e. Sfp+ brands that works) and of course performance. Maybe noise level? Not important for me as it will be used in the server room at work.
As for performance test, I suppose all the usual standard ones like latency, max bandwidth, etc, compared to other popular switches. Maybe even put it up against an all copper 10GbE switch or the ones on the OP?
I searched the net and there are absolutely zero in-depth review on this switch. I think you will get some nice traffic once the review is up.
Thanks Patrick! STH site is aewsome!
Right now it is on my list for the week of Nov 30th content.Patrick, it would be awesome if you could do a review on it as right now, it's the most cost effective solution for labs or small deployments since it has 4 x 10GbE sfp+. I spent many days looking and this switch is so attractive on many fronts, except for the brand.
I think the most important tests are compatibility (i.e. Sfp+ brands that works) and of course performance. Maybe noise level? Not important for me as it will be used in the server room at work.
As for performance test, I suppose all the usual standard ones like latency, max bandwidth, etc, compared to other popular switches. Maybe even put it up against an all copper 10GbE switch or the ones on the OP?
I searched the net and there are absolutely zero in-depth review on this switch. I think you will get some nice traffic once the review is up.
Thanks Patrick! STH site is aewsome!
Patrick,
Maybe on the review, you could go one step further and offer the whole solution that includes the whole kit (i.e. 10GbE SFP+ NICs, OM3 cable, Transceiver and Dlink switch) so that any 10GbE / Fiber newbie who doesn't know what part to get can just refer to your article with a title something along the line... "Cost effective 10Gb fiber networking solution"
I know that the above info would have saved me so much time since I didn't know much about the fiber world but do now after a lot of reading info that are scattered all over.
This is what I am planning to get for my lab at work and the whole kit is very affordable for any one serious about getting into 10GbE. The 4 x 10GbE is ideal for virtual lab as one can test classic 1 x SAN/3 x Hosts, Or HyperConverge with 3 x Hosts on fast 10GbE backbone.
How about testing out RDMA feature on the Mellanox NICs? SMB3 multi-channel? I think I saw your articles on those before, but I don't know if the Mellanox below supports RDMA as there is a need to upgrade to newer firmware.
The whole kit:
Switch:
- Dlink DGS-1510-28X ~ $500
- 4 x SFP+ transceiver. ~ $20 each. I don't know if the generic fiberstore or Finisar would be compaticle. So your article would be very helpful as I am sure you got all kinds of transceivers lying around.
NICs:
- 4 x Mellanox ConnectX-2 10Gb SFP+ NICs. MNPA19-XTR. ~$20 each on eBay
- 4 x SFP+ transceiver. ~ $20 each.
Fiber cable:
- 4 x LC-LC OM3 cables. ~$20 each?
Critical Features for virtualization lab:
- 10Gb backbone
- Layer 3 routing
- VLAN
- LACP some 1Gb ports together for some bonus fun.
Maybe on the review, you could go one step further and offer the whole solution that includes the whole kit (i.e. 10GbE SFP+ NICs, OM3 cable, Transceiver and Dlink switch) so that any 10GbE / Fiber newbie who doesn't know what part to get can just refer to your article with a title something along the line... "Cost effective 10Gb fiber networking solution"
I know that the above info would have saved me so much time since I didn't know much about the fiber world but do now after a lot of reading info that are scattered all over.
This is what I am planning to get for my lab at work and the whole kit is very affordable for any one serious about getting into 10GbE. The 4 x 10GbE is ideal for virtual lab as one can test classic 1 x SAN/3 x Hosts, Or HyperConverge with 3 x Hosts on fast 10GbE backbone.
How about testing out RDMA feature on the Mellanox NICs? SMB3 multi-channel? I think I saw your articles on those before, but I don't know if the Mellanox below supports RDMA as there is a need to upgrade to newer firmware.
The whole kit:
Switch:
- Dlink DGS-1510-28X ~ $500
- 4 x SFP+ transceiver. ~ $20 each. I don't know if the generic fiberstore or Finisar would be compaticle. So your article would be very helpful as I am sure you got all kinds of transceivers lying around.
NICs:
- 4 x Mellanox ConnectX-2 10Gb SFP+ NICs. MNPA19-XTR. ~$20 each on eBay
- 4 x SFP+ transceiver. ~ $20 each.
Fiber cable:
- 4 x LC-LC OM3 cables. ~$20 each?
Critical Features for virtualization lab:
- 10Gb backbone
- Layer 3 routing
- VLAN
- LACP some 1Gb ports together for some bonus fun.
Last edited:
I own a few del6224/6248 with stacking modules. Would the 4 x XFP Transceivers FTLX8511D3 for Dell Stacking Module FJ727 ~ 4 x $26 = $104
Simply plug into the stacking modules then I can use the sfp to go into my 10gbe cards?
@alex,
Here is how the connections are made for the Dell 6224/6248.
Dell 6224/6248 Switch <> FJ727 Stacking Module <> XFP Transceiver <> LC-LC Fiber cable <> SFP+ Transceiver (on NIC) <> NIC <> Server.
Of course, you can uplink to another switch. SFP+ and XFP are different types of transceiver. I suggest you look it up on the internet, not complicated at all. There are SFP, SFP+, XFP, QSFP+(quad channel SFP+), etc.
@Keljian, sure OM4 would be fine too as long as it's LC-LC connection. The differences between OM3 and OM4 is that OM4 can have longer run. Are you uplinking to another switch that is on another floor of a building or another building? OM3 is good for distances around the same server room. Just looking up the differences.
Here is how the connections are made for the Dell 6224/6248.
Dell 6224/6248 Switch <> FJ727 Stacking Module <> XFP Transceiver <> LC-LC Fiber cable <> SFP+ Transceiver (on NIC) <> NIC <> Server.
Of course, you can uplink to another switch. SFP+ and XFP are different types of transceiver. I suggest you look it up on the internet, not complicated at all. There are SFP, SFP+, XFP, QSFP+(quad channel SFP+), etc.
@Keljian, sure OM4 would be fine too as long as it's LC-LC connection. The differences between OM3 and OM4 is that OM4 can have longer run. Are you uplinking to another switch that is on another floor of a building or another building? OM3 is good for distances around the same server room. Just looking up the differences.
Last edited:
I just got my own Dlink DGS-1510-28X about a month and a half ago. So far no issues and aside from lacking documentation it has been easy to use and configure. I just got a couple of ConnectX-3 cards and they should be here in the next few weeks. I'm really unsure of compatibility with both the switch and the ConnectX-3 cards that are IBP\Lenovo branded. I was going to do DAC but might try fiber due to price\length. I'm looking forward to Patrick's post thanksgiving article, whatever it may contain.
Long time lurker / first time poster and I am looking for at least a 4 port 10G Solution as well. I've seen / considered a few of the Dell Switches but I've had some past experience with them and their SFPs and they were very picky about them. The good news is that mine isn't mission critical, it is for my home network which does need to be stable but can withstand some downtime.
So I am posting here / following looking for a good solution like others. Thanks for all of the information / posts everyone.
~ Pete
So I am posting here / following looking for a good solution like others. Thanks for all of the information / posts everyone.
~ Pete
Once you need more than 2 SFP+ ports pickings get slim. These seem to be the switches within reasonable lab prices with 4 SFP+. I can't speak to the reliability or compatibility of them but they seem to be the go to's. I have the D-Link and its reasonably quiet and i've had no issues however, i haven't done 10G yet. There are also others like the Dell you mentioned.
NETGEAR ProSAFE 24-port (GS728TXS)
D-Link DGS-1510-28X
Zyxel XGS3700-24
NETGEAR ProSAFE 24-port (GS728TXS)
D-Link DGS-1510-28X
Zyxel XGS3700-24
Add in the desire to replace my Cisco SG300-28p Switches and that means a whole different ballgame (from what I am seeing) when it comes to POE with Four 10G Ports. The Cisco SG500x-24p is a nice switch but way too expensive for my blood.
What would you say would be my best 4 Port 10G Switch with SFP+ when it comes to noise level? I know that most Dells are Loud so I can only assume the 10G ones are up there as well, I've heard that the Cisco 500X is also pretty loud to the point were people are actually replacing the fans in them. How about the D-Link or Netgear? Any others that I am missing that has 4 ports?