New 1.8 watt SFP+ RJ45 10GBase-T SFP+ Transceivers?

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CIR-Engineering

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It looks like Broadcom released a new chip that is using only 1.8 watts compared to the older chips that use 2.5 watts. I'm trying to get some of these as cheaply as possible. I'd like to get one that is coded to Mellanox and two that are coded to Brocade. fs.com has Brocade, but they are very expensive:


These I found on Amazon for Mellanox and are reasonably priced, but I wonder how I could prove, for certain, if I order one that it has the new Broadcom chip or not? Especially because in one place the description says 1.8 watts and in another it says 2.3 watts.


Does anyone know where these can be found reliably and cheaply yet? Does anyone know what chip they are using that is only consuming 1.8 watts? It's 28% less power so I would think about 28% less heat.

Worst case I can use one(s) coded to any brand as Mellanox and Brocade are both agnostic, but I would like to be able to get optics information and that requires the brands to match.
 
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Sjhwilkes

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I would ask FS.com all the above - they must be one of the largest 3rd party consumers of these parts and are usually very helpful.
Are the 1.8w parts only for 30M range though? in many cases that's fine but I think that's how the lower watt SFP+ manage it.
 

pcmoore

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Are the 1.8w parts only for 30M range though?
According to FS.com they support 10Gbit at 100m (!) on cat6/7 which is on-par with dedicated 10Gbase-T switches. If these transceivers actually live up to their datasheet specs in terms of both power and speed at distance these could be quite a hit.
 

ano

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honestly most of them doesnt do 30m+ regardless if they say 30m+ so if it actually does 30m at 1.8 its quite good.
 

CIR-Engineering

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Yeah, I kind of think 15 meters is the limit in reality. The only reason I want this is because if I take the wall apart in my 115-year-old Victorian again it will be major work to repair it this time. Really, fiber between switches would make a whole lot more sense.

One of these in my OPNsense router with 2-port Mellanox is my primary interest. That run is less than two meters between the modem and router and will only negotiate 5GB due to the router, so heat shouldn't be too bad.
 

Sjhwilkes

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With the proviso that I wish I'd just run single mode, I ran a 125M Cat7 from my closet out to my garage office, chopped the ends off and punched down into Cat 6 sockets, which then each have a 1M cat 6 patch into a SFP+ and am getting a solid 10G connection no issues. Must say I didn't expect to - my intent was to get 2.5 or 5 - and I may only be getting 5, Mac - Mac or Synology only hits 4 1/2 if I'm local on 10G anyhow. Switches don't have visibility of what multi-gig SFP+ are doing - they just report 10G regardless.
 

CIR-Engineering

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If I run iperf3 continuously at 10GB after +5 minutes the SFP+ transceivers will overheat and dropout. For normal use that isn't full throttle continuously they work fine but are always hot. However, if the transceiver negotiates 5GB instead of 10GB than they run much cooler. Still not like fiber, but MUCH cooler. Right now, I have one in my Brocade at 10GB and one at 5GB and it's easy to feel the heat difference. I'll put a laser thermometer on them later if I get a chance.
 

CIR-Engineering

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Found this
 
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CIR-Engineering

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That was pretty useless which I supposed was to be expected. This is the transceiver's readout. I don't think it's anything different or new. It does show temp and current, but they are not populated. It is also not actually Mellanox coded as it says "OPSTRAN"

Code:
root@OPNsense:~ # ifconfig -v mlxen0
mlxen0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        description: WAN
        options=8c00a8<VLAN_MTU,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,VLAN_HWTSO,LINKSTATE>
        ether [b]REMOVED[/b]
        inet6 [b]REMOVED[/b]%mlxen0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x6
        inet [b]REMOVED[/b] netmask 0xfffffff8 broadcast [b]REMOVED[/b]
        media: Ethernet autoselect (10Gbase-CX4 <full-duplex,rxpause,txpause>)
        status: active
        nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
        plugged: SFP/SFP+/SFP28 10G Base-SR (LC)
        vendor: OPSTRAN PN: SFP-10G-T-ME SN: FS2210260290 DATE: 2022-10-27
        module temperature: 0.00 C voltage: 0.00 Volts
        lane 1: RX power: 0.00 mW (-inf dBm) TX bias: 0.00 mA
root@OPNsense:~ #
Below is my ipolex transceiver that shows temperature and current in my Brocade switch, but nothing in the Mellanox board as per below:

Code:
root@OPNsense:~ # ifconfig -v mlxen0
mlxen0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        description: WAN
        options=8c00a8<VLAN_MTU,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,VLAN_HWTSO,LINKSTATE>
        ether [b]REMOVED[/b]
        inet6 [b]REMOVED[/b]%mlxen0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x6
        inet [b]REMOVED[/b] netmask 0xfffffff8 broadcast [b]REMOVED[/b]
        media: Ethernet autoselect (10Gbase-CX4 <full-duplex,rxpause,txpause>)
        status: active
        nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
        plugged: SFP/SFP+/SFP28 10G Base-SR (LC)
        vendor: OEM PN: SFP-10G-SR SN: CSF101L34485 DATE: 2021-03-05
root@OPNsense:~ #
Does anyone know any Mellanox tools commands to get more information on the optics from a NIC and not a switch. I have tried a lot of the switch commands with no luck but my syntax is likely wrong.
 

bleomycin

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Sorry for bumping an old thread. Has anyone found an alternative to the fs.com version of these? At $140/each they're a spicy meatball for a home gamer. I'm not super stoked on running the old versions that are so hot they can burn you so i'm likely to pull the trigger on the $140 fs.com version if nothing else exists?
 

blunden

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Sorry for bumping an old thread. Has anyone found an alternative to the fs.com version of these? At $140/each they're a spicy meatball for a home gamer. I'm not super stoked on running the old versions that are so hot they can burn you so i'm likely to pull the trigger on the $140 fs.com version if nothing else exists?
No, but I'm also considering buying 4 of these (2 links, one on each end) in the hopes of getting 10GbE from the basement of our building. Redoing those runs with fiber would likely be pretty cumbersome as we almost certainly aren't allowed to pull the existing wiring (to use as a pull chord).

Let me know if you find anything. :)

I did find an alternative to the 80 meter rated transceiver based on the Broadcom BCM84891. Those were also available from both Fiber mall (SFP-10G-TS80) and 10Gtek (ASF-10G-T80). Maybe they have models of the 100 meter model too.

I also found references from buyers on both FS.com and other forums that made it seem as though they really do support longer distances in practice compared to older models.
 

TonyArrr

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Redoing those runs with fiber would likely be pretty cumbersome as we almost certainly aren't allowed to pull the existing wiring (to use as a pull chord).
Not really the thread topic (sorry) but have you considered using the existing wiring to pull an actual pull cord through, then use that cord to pull back the fibre as well as the original wires into position? Gives you the original copper for non fibre users (I assume you’re in a rental or are crossing part of a common area or something) but gives you the freedom for fibre-y goodness!
 
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blunden

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Not really the thread topic (sorry) but have you considered using the existing wiring to pull an actual pull cord through, then use that cord to pull back the fibre as well as the original wires into position? Gives you the original copper for non fibre users (I assume you’re in a rental or are crossing part of a common area or something) but gives you the freedom for fibre-y goodness!
I don't own the infrastructure up to my apartment so I can't mess with it without approval. If I can get away without doing so, it would make things a whole lot easier so that's why I'm trying to avoid it.

Also, at least some of the holes in the floors where the cables run between each floor in the building also appear to be sealed with some type of foam or something which further complicates things a bit (especially if it was done for fire safety).

If I were to run fiber, that sounds like a good way to do it though. :)
 

bleomycin

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Nov 22, 2014
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No, but I'm also considering buying 4 of these (2 links, one on each end) in the hopes of getting 10GbE from the basement of our building. Redoing those runs with fiber would likely be pretty cumbersome as we almost certainly aren't allowed to pull the existing wiring (to use as a pull chord).

Let me know if you find anything. :)

I did find an alternative to the 80 meter rated transceiver based on the Broadcom BCM84891. Those were also available from both Fiber mall (SFP-10G-TS80) and 10Gtek (ASF-10G-T80). Maybe they have models of the 100 meter model too.

I also found references from buyers on both FS.com and other forums that made it seem as though they really do support longer distances in practice compared to older models.
Ubiquiti UACC-CM-RJ45-MG - So I haven't verified anything but judging by the max power usage (1.9w) and max cable length (100m) I'd guess these use the same chipset as the fs.com option for half the price? No idea if they will work with non-ubiquiti equipment though!
 
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