Switch Recommendations for apartment

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TonyArrr

Active Member
Sep 22, 2021
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Straylia
I'm working up to wiring Ethernet throughout my apartment, and am needing to start thinking about how it will all come together.

When it comes down to it, I think my minimum requirements for a central ethernet switch are going to be:
- at least 10 ports
- at least 4 supporting 10GBASE-T
- VLAN support

As much as I search for models, I keep getting caught up with search tools mixing the number of ports with the bandwidth of ports, so every time I think I am looking at something that fits the bill, I scroll down to the tech specs and find it has "10 ports, 1 with 10G" or "12 ports, plus 2 10G SFP+" and so on.

Feel like I'm going around in circles, so can anyone point me in the right direction?
 

Sean Ho

seanho.com
Nov 19, 2019
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Vancouver, BC
seanho.com
Perhaps MS510TXM or XS512EM? Certainly more options (and cheaper) with SFP+ than 10GbaseT, and access/edge switches typically would have only 2 10GbaseT ports for uplink.

Depending on where you're located, it might be cheaper to use an ICX6450 or Aruba S2500 plus ipolex/hifiber transceivers as needed. Those switches have PoE versions, too, often for about the same price.
 

A-W-A

New Member
May 14, 2022
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QNAP QSW-M1208-8C would give you a lot of flexibility with 4 * 10GbE SFP+ ports and 8 * 10GbE SFP+/RJ45 combo ports, the combo ports are NBASET and support from 100M to 10G including 1G, 2.5G and 5G

Andrew
 

msg7086

Active Member
May 2, 2017
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If you are remodeling your home, you may want to think about using fiber optics instead of copper ethernet cables. A bundle of OS2 will support your network all the way up to 100G and above.
 

TonyArrr

Active Member
Sep 22, 2021
129
66
28
Straylia
To you all, thanks for your answers! I wasn't expecting so many options to look at! Thanks!

Certainly more options (and cheaper) with SFP+ than 10GbaseT
If any pop to mind I'd love to hear of them! I know you can get SFP+ transceivers that then run copper, so if doing so saves a bundle on the switch while keeping us in 10G land I'm all in. I had heard that those sorts of transceivers can run a fair bit hotter than just regular 10G ethernet ports, is that true? Might pose a problem since the switch will be in the top of a cupboard, where the ISP comes in...
The MS510TXM and XS512EM both look stellar for this, though retail pretty much at the maximum of what I was hoping to spend. Are they old enough I'll be able to find second hand stock out and about for less do you think?

CRS312-4C+8XG-RM is rougly $600
Now that you posted it, I do remember reading a STH review of this, very nice. I need to snoop around to find better pricing clearly, cause everything I can find looking for this tonight is at 1k...

QNAP QSW-M1208-8C would give you a lot of flexibility
Wow no kidding. It would be ideal from a "could switch to fibre in the future/could revert to copper when I sell up" point of view. Looking around a bit at the moment I haven't found anyone local selling it, but I'll keep looking, given the options that would give...

If you are remodeling your home, you may want to think about using fiber optics instead of copper ethernet cables. A bundle of OS2 will support your network all the way up to 100G and above.
I would be very tempted to do so, though I had two things I was worried about on this front:
- that fibre can't bend as tightly as copper, and I have limited space in the roof between the tops of the walls and the cement slab above me, so not sure if minimum corner radius will kill this.
- that if I wire up just with fibre, it would be difficult to make it a selling point to future owners who may not... appreciate the finer things in (networking) life. The internet connection here is just VDSL2, without G.Fast (at least so far, it may be coming), so 90Mb is the fastest downlink. For me, all the speed I'm worried about is between my local devices, but other people may not see the point over sanded ethernet.

I was considering pulling both to everywhere while we're in there, so I can use the fibre and have a extra line if I want something isolated, and future owners can just use the ethernet if that's all they have tech for, if there is enough room up there for the bends in it... any advice there?
 
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Sean Ho

seanho.com
Nov 19, 2019
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Vancouver, BC
seanho.com
Bend radius should always be kept in mind with fiber; read the specs of the specific fiber you get. Most of the time it boils down to not kinking it.

Campus access switches with 4xSFP+ like ICX6450 and Aruba S2500 are very affordable if you only have one or two ports that need 10GbaseT transceivers (STH home did a series on the cheap Chinese ones that can do multigig). 10GbaseT runs hot, no way around that.
 
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LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
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Bend radius should always be kept in mind with fiber; read the specs of the specific fiber you get. Most of the time it boils down to not kinking it.

Campus access switches with 4xSFP+ like ICX6450 and Aruba S2500 are very affordable if you only have one or two ports that need 10GbaseT transceivers (STH home did a series on the cheap Chinese ones that can do multigig). 10GbaseT runs hot, no way around that.
I just buy bend-insensitive fiber and don't worry about it; you can wrap BI fiber around a pencil, no problem. Just don't crimp or kink it.
 
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mattventura

Active Member
Nov 9, 2022
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If any pop to mind I'd love to hear of them! I know you can get SFP+ transceivers that then run copper, so if doing so saves a bundle on the switch while keeping us in 10G land I'm all in. I had heard that those sorts of transceivers can run a fair bit hotter than just regular 10G ethernet ports, is that true? Might pose a problem since the switch will be in the top of a cupboard, where the ISP comes in...
The MS510TXM and XS512EM both look stellar for this, though retail pretty much at the maximum of what I was hoping to spend. Are they old enough I'll be able to find second hand stock out and about for less do you think?
It's typically a slight loss to buy a switch and then put transceivers in it. I think what Sean was referring to was using SFP+ NICs in the devices and using a DAC instead of transceivers.
 
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Sean Ho

seanho.com
Nov 19, 2019
768
352
63
Vancouver, BC
seanho.com
Yes, apologies if I wasn't clear; I was indeed suggesting SFP+ switches, and if possible SFP+ NICs, with DAC or fiber between them.

But I empathise that sometimes an SFP+ NIC isn't doable, whether because of insufficient PCIe slots (but onboard 10GbaseT), or because in-wall already has cat6, but running fiber would be too much trouble. In which case, 10GbaseT NIC to cat6 to RJ45/SFP+ transceiver to SFP+ switch might be an option to consider.