Gigabit + 10Gb Switches under $550

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fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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even if they do support cumulus, you're looking at several thousand dollars per year for a cumulus license to be able to use it
 

pcmoore

Active Member
Apr 14, 2018
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@CJRoss:
I am not sure if this has been posted yet, but the Dell N1100 series might be promising. N1124T-ON and N1148T-ON have 4x 10G SFP+ and 24/48x 1G and cooling is passive!
Regards
As a point of reference, I've been running two of these in my office for some time now without problem. They don't have all the same L3 features as some of the larger N-series switches, but the web UI and CLI are the same as their big siblings. If you've never used Dell's N-series web UI, it is not too bad; I still need to hit the CLI on occasion to configure some things, but if you are just checking stats the web UI is quite nice.

If you only need a couple of 10GBASE-T drops, you can consider a media converter. Most of the 10GBASE-T converters are pretty pricey, but PLANET makes some (XT-705A) which aren't priced too badly.
Between the N1148T-ONs and the XT-705As I've got silent setup, with 10Gb uplinks, and a familiar (to me anyway) interface.
 
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TS440

New Member
May 6, 2019
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The Dell N1100s look like an interesting option. I don't need/want L3 features and the GUI seems better than the Brocade and Aruba options (I want to avoid the cli). I have two questions for those using these
1) is the console cable a regular USB cable or is it proprietary like the Brocade 7250?
2) How noisy are the 24port POE fans? Thinking it may not be too bad since only 12 ports are powered.

Thanks
 

pcmoore

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Apr 14, 2018
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1) is the console cable a regular USB cable or is it proprietary like the Brocade 7250?
It has been a while since I needed to connect to the console over the USB port, but when I did I belive I just grabbed the closest micro-USB cable and it worked without problem.
 

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
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I am/ws interested in the ICX 7150-C12P switch, but it's way too expensive, especially because of shipping and customs cost (EU), so I'm looking for viable alternatives.
I just want something that's fanless and has at least two SFP+ ports. I don't even need more than 16 ports total (if at all). Some management would be nice (I don't know anything about that sort of networking yet, but I like to learn stuff and it also might come handy in future), and I'd like PoE if possible.

It's for home use only.

Any ideas?
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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I am/ws interested in the ICX 7150-C12P switch, but it's way too expensive, especially because of shipping and customs cost (EU), so I'm looking for viable alternatives.
I just want something that's fanless and has at least two SFP+ ports. I don't even need more than 16 ports total (if at all). Some management would be nice (I don't know anything about that sort of networking yet, but I like to learn stuff and it also might come handy in future), and I'd like PoE if possible.

It's for home use only.

Any ideas?
If it doesn't need to be a layer 3 switch, then something like Mikrotiks CSS326 (CSS326-24G-2S+RM) or CRS326 (CRS326-24G-2S+RM) switches would be reasonable choices. They also make switches like the CRS328-24P-4S+RM that support PoE, but you also pay quite a bit more for that (still not that expensive, but around 100% markup over CRS326), I suggest at least considering use of injectors.

EDIT: btw, for what it is worth, I would pick CRS326 over CSS326, because it supports RouterOS (even if you won't be using the routing functionality - which you most likely shouldn't)
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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Injectors and related cable mess is the sole reason why I want a PoE switch.
Fair enough, then you may want the CRS328 (if you are going Mikrotik), it isn't fanless by the way, but noise/fan RPM depends on how you load it as this post suggests on Mikrotik's forum: CRS328-24P-4S+RM - 24x7 fans or temperature sensitive? - MikroTik

You may want to read that thread (if you are considering CRS328), it seems that the switch also might have some annoying issues with the fans ramping up and down a lot (I couldn't read from it if it was only for SwOS or also for RouterOS).

Have you considering using two switches? One for PoE stuff and one for the other components.
Or is that what you are already thinking? :)
 

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
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Two switches is something I totally don't want. Twice as high chance of something getting messed up.
Fans ramping up are out of the question, because the rack is directly next to my wife's desk :D
 

CJRoss

Member
May 31, 2017
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Has anyone looked at the Netgear XS505M and XS508M? Their spec sheet lists them as 22.7db which is 10+ db quieter than the other Netgear 10G switches.

Since I just need to hook together a couple of machines I don't need anything managed.
 

tkr

New Member
Nov 21, 2018
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Did you have time to use it and what are your impressions?
So far I am quite happy. The Dell N1124T is a solid L2 switch with a good CLI and works well (and silent!) in my small homelab with Cisco DACs and a UniFi UF-RJ45-10G, LACP links to other switches, couple of VLANs and all MTU 9000.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask. Frankly, I haven’t had time to look into the ONIE/Cumulus stuff but I don’t expect much as the N1100 is the L2-only series.

Regards
 
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saivert

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Nov 2, 2015
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Additionally, has anyone had any experience with this QNAP?

10GbE Switch: QSW-1208-8C - Features
If you need that many ports it is a truly unique product and has a good mix of SFP+ and 10GBASE-T which you don't see often on low port count switches.

I'm a bit dissapointed that they made it unmanaged at that price point. Even adding just VLAN and QOS capabilities would not have inflated price much (there is also a serial port on the back? hmm..). I'm sure they use a chipset that allows for it so at this point it is their product segmentation strategy at work. THe primary reason I want managed switch is for traffic monitoring, port status and configuration (sometimes you need to force a certain speed for combo ports). I don't need a ton of features.

There is also the new more consumer oriented QSW-308-1C which looks promising but they prioritize SFP+ over 10GBASE-T which I find odd (maybe QNAP's own NAS devices give them a bias). At home you are going to find a lot more 10GBASE-T devices at least going forward with all new motherboards coming with Aquantia chip for 10GBASE-T and cheap realtek 2.5GbE also with copper. At this point 2.5GbE has a higher chance of becoming a true replacement for gigabit than any of the higher speeds seeing as 10GBAST-T is only on the most expensive motherboards. You need it to be cheap enough that you don't notice when you do the upgrade during manufacturing. Intel also has a new 2.5GbE chip in the works.

Netgear's MS510TX also has a good mix of ports for home users. But far from the price point you are used to with unmanaged 8 port gigabit switches. Sadly it skimps on the number of 10Gbit ports so it would only work if you have one master workstation and a NAS that needs 10Gbit connection. Perhaps you could combine this switch with the Mikrotik CRS305-1G-4S+IN for the best port selection.

A switch with 4 2.5GbE ports (possibly 5GbE), 2 10GBASE-T ports and 2 combo SFP+/10GBASE-T ports would be the ideal home switch for the coming generation. I know 10GBASE-T is still expensive and power hungry enough that you are not going to see any medium to high port count switches in this segment.
 
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