HP 5120-24G noise

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

qqq

New Member
Feb 19, 2017
12
0
1
54
Does anyone here use HP 5120-24G switch, is it loud? I can't find any info on fan noise of this unit.
 

voxadam

Member
Apr 21, 2016
107
14
18
Portland, Oregon
From the data sheet:
"Fan-speed low: 41.3dB; Fan-speed high: 50.1dB"
The PoE variant is a bit louder:
"Low-speed fan: 41.5dB; High-speed fan: 51.1dB"

I have the 24 port H3C S5500 with PoE which, if I remember correctly, is the same exact switch and I can definitely say that it's not enjoyable to have sitting right next to you on the desk. The six 40mm fans are beyond grating, even at their lowest speed.
 
Last edited:

nerdalertdk

Fleet Admiral
Mar 9, 2017
228
118
43
::1
I have one (no poe), as voxadam says not a switch for the office.
have it in a rack in the basement, but its awesome switch, sadly the 10Gb moduls are exepensives
 

qqq

New Member
Feb 19, 2017
12
0
1
54
That's unfortunate, I intended to use non PoE variant in our office to consolidate whole network into singe switch (currently scattered over several switches). Any recommendations for something similar to HP 5120-24G? I was looking into buying HP 1920-24G, as it's fanless, but it's costs more and seems to have less features than 5120-24G.
 

nerdalertdk

Fleet Admiral
Mar 9, 2017
228
118
43
::1
actually had the same choice with 5120 and and 1900, took the 5120 since I had my rack in my basement.

feature wise, i think they have most of the same things, but 5120 is a little newer, do you need layer 3 ?
if not take an 1810-24
 

marv

Active Member
Apr 2, 2015
155
34
28
38
Dont forget that 5120 EI is old line of switches that reached EOL. They are rebranded 3com 4210G. Because of this they are so cheap. Successor line is 5130, and 24G-4SFP+ model has High-speed fan: 39.7 dB. And of course high price.

5120EI is switch with limited static routing and 2MB packet buffer, 1920 is switch with even more limited routing support, locked but unlockable CLI and 512kB packet buffer.

I have one 5120-24G EI including 10G modules and it works fine, although definitely wouldnt recommend to have it in office due to fan noise.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Jon Massey

voxadam

Member
Apr 21, 2016
107
14
18
Portland, Oregon
My 5500-SI does what I need it to for the most part. I wish it had IPFIX support but the EI and SI models are limited to sFlow, only the 5500-HI can do IPFIX. One of these days I'll get around to building myself a dedicated or semi-dedicated Linux or BSD based flow probe.
 

qqq

New Member
Feb 19, 2017
12
0
1
54
Thanks, everyone!
I know it's EOL, I am more worried about noise, but as long as it's not too loud it should be ok as it will be separated from office by plasterboard. Anyway it was too cheap to resist so I bought one. I should get it next week and I'll report back.
 

voxadam

Member
Apr 21, 2016
107
14
18
Portland, Oregon
Mine is currently sitting in the closet of my home office about two and a half meters from my desk and while it's not ideal it doesn't bother me.

What I'd like to do is disconnect a few of the fans in it. Between the fact that it's rarely over 75℉ here and that I don't demand much from the PoE unit I don't imagine it'd be an issue; plus I can always keep any eye on the temperature via SNMP. The only problem is that as soon as the damn thing notices that a fan has been disconnected, or even stalled, it shuts off. So, I'll have to throw something together to fake the tach signals to keep it happy.

In any case, I was in the exact same place as you when I bought it, it was simply too good of a deal to pass up (I paid something like US$38 for it).
 

qqq

New Member
Feb 19, 2017
12
0
1
54
I finally had some free time today to test the new switch and it is loud even on low fan speed. During work hours ambient noise masks it, but in the evening it was clearly audible and fairly distracting.
 

qqq

New Member
Feb 19, 2017
12
0
1
54
I am having strange issues with auto negotiation on this switch, it's reporting duplex mismatch on most ports and links going down and up twice in a row on random basis. Canon photocopier is most troublesome, it's connecting at 10 Mbps / half duplex and link is regularly going down and up every few seconds.

All devices (mostly Win 10 workstations and printers/plotters) are GbE capable and set to auto negotiate (including switch). Everything is currently connected by new cat7 and flat cat6 patch cables (length is between 5m and 20m) except connection to router that goes trough old in-wall cat5 installation. Switch is updated to latest firmware (R2222P01).