FINALLY! CHEAP 10GbE and 2.5GbE Switches for the Homelab or Office

We take a look at four switch models and show why these are the best 2.5GbE and 10GbE switches for the homelab, home, and office. With pricing in the $95-130 range and many options to choose from, we dig into these switches and how they work. This is the best cheap #homelab switch out there.

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Timestamps
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00:00 Introduction and Pricing Levels
02:06 Unboxing
04:48 Hardware Overview
07:33 Diagram of Realtek Switch Chips
08:36 Power Consumption and Noise
10:44 Performance
11:09 Key Lessons Learned - 4 of the Same
11:33 Amazon vs. AliExpress Brands and Pricing
13:53 The Scary One-Time Bug
14:36 A Call to Vendors on 2.5GbE Switches
16:09 Wrap-up

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Other STH Content Mentioned in this Video
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[ServeTheHomeVideo]

Sorry about the transition at 8:37 guys. I edited it. This is why I am usually not allowed to edit our videos.

[reidprichard]

Man enunciated "nicgiga" REAL carefully 💀

[keyboard_g]

2.5 and 10Gbps passively cooled for around $100 is a big deal even if you don’t want these. It’ll start to drive down the cost of other vendors.

[allhandsonberk]

Can you *please* start testing how the unmanaged switches handle VLAN-tagged frames? It's undefined for unmanaged switches in general, but some will e.g. strip VLAN tags out, others will pass them on, some could drop them, etc. Knowing how these unmanaged switchs react to being placed in a VLAN-aware environment may enable someone to mix them in even if they're unmanaged.

[qazwsxxswzaq]

Realtek announced a bunch of networking ICs last year at CES 2022. I think we are going to see more products using these solutions.

[iamthearmul]

Maybe Realtek has made a new switch chip seeing the low power figures. Good to finally see some progress on 2.5G.

[dmynerd]

This is exactly what I've been looking for! So many other switches you guys have been covering have only been 4 or 5 ports. With this you get 8 ports plus the SFP port (which I've also been looking for). Thanks Patrick and the rest of the team for working on this! :D

[maxbls]

I appreciate not having the rewind intro on this video

[lorddemancio]

I just had a conversation yesterday with my rep from Juniper Networks about their lack of 2.5 options on their SOHO and SMB devices. Its really time for vendors to make the transition. Especially when dealing with non - modular units

[mamborambo]

Glad to see 2.5gbe and 10gbe finally reach consumer prices! This will be the year for major upgrades

[Murderhoboh]

Nice, love a host with energy and passion, makes the media more interesting! And nicgiga is a bit hard to say lol. I have one of their 2.5gbe cards in my nas.

[andrewharwood]

I have been using a Horaco version for about a month. I was genuinely surprised when the blurb about power usage was proven to be true. I use the unit fully populated 6x 2.5, 2x 1gbit and the 10G SFP+ to my workstation. No issues at all so far. The only difference in my implementation is that I do not use the included power brick as this was supplied as US with a UK adapter. I just wish there was a larger version as the TP-Link TL-SH1832 is a massive pain to import.

[BrianThomas]

Got to be careful saying that NICGIGA switch or you'll offend someone unintentionally. Ha ha. Patrick talks wicked fast so that makes it even harder.

Great video Patrick I'm certainly going to be picked up one of these for my lab. I've been waiting for something like this for a while.

[bhcompy]

Thanks for making 2.5g vids. There's no way I can rewire my house from Cat5e to Cat6, so I appreciate the in depth reviews of something I can actually use

[popejohnny]

Switching still seems to be the biggest hurdle in multi gig networking. Especially with cable and fiber deployments doing 2.5 to 5Gb on modem/router ports. These with the 10Gb uplink seem to be the best options. Allowing the 2.5Gb WAN connection as well as a few 2.5Gb clients direct on the switch with 10Gb back to your rack machines. Since a lot of Prosumer/older enterprise gear still doesn't behave well with 2.5Gb links. Usually requiring trial and error or finding somebody that has already done with work finding SFP+ to RJ45 transceivers that behave with your gear at 2.5/5Gb.

[scabbynack]

I just got a couple of the Sodala ones so I could utilize the 2.5G ethernet on my new systems in my office and have a fiber uplink to my rack. Pretty much perfect for what I needed.

[LippoM]

I bought the Horaco one for 58€ based on the review. I bought it because of the very low energy consumption and the values from this test matches my own measurements. Thank you !

[chadramey]

Make sure to put a load on the switch while checking power consumption

[danman]

I'd definitely be interested in managed versions of these. That and PoE versions.

I see something like this can be a goal for TP-Link and Unify as they would get users into their Eco-system that then also would make them push those into their enterprise business use.