Ultimate CHEAP 2.5GbE Switch Guide

We bought 15x CHEAP 2.5GbE switches and found the best including ones that had 10GbE (10Gbase-T / SFP+), hidden PoE features, and even two managed switches. This was a huge effort so you can have a Buyer's Guide.

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Where to Find The Units We Purchased
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Where to Find STH
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Timestamps
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00:00 Introduction
01:52 5-port 2.5GbE Unmanaged Switch Hardware
01:56 QNAP QSW-1105-5T
02:54 Netgear MS305 and Netgear MS105
04:14 TRENDnet TEG-S350
05:00 Zyxel MG-105
05:38 Asustor ASW205T
06:37 MokerLink 2G041G
07:20 8-Port 2.5GbE Unmanaged Switches
07:37 TRENDnet TEG-S380
08:12 TP-Link TL-SH1008
09:37 10Gbase-T Uplink 2.5GbE Switches
09:57 TRENDnet TEG-S762
10:58 SFP+ 10GbE Uplink 2.5GbE Switches
11:11 QNAP QSW-2104-2S-A
12:56 MokerLink 2G05210GSM
13:28 Hasivo S600WP-5GT-2S+_SE PoE
15:52 Hasivo S1100P-8GT PoE+
16:44 Netgear MS108UP PoE++
17:47 Top Picks by Category
17:54 Best Low-Cost 5-Port 2.5GbE Switch
18:19 Best Low-Cost 8-Port 2.5GbE Switch (with PoE)
19:00 Best PoE++ 2.5GbE Option
19:23 Best 10Gbase-T and 2.5GbE Option
19:48 Best 10GbE and 2.5GbE Managed Switch with PoE+
20:30 Wrap-up

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Other STH Content Mentioned in this Video
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[drescherjm]

I want cheap and energy efficient 10GbE Switches! Come on, it's about time. I expected to have them a decade ago.

[MiniArts]

LOVING the new editing and thumbnail designs! Kudos to the editor!!

[jrherita]

Thank you for taking all of the time to find and review these STH team!

[pavgup]

We need the Ultimate CHEAP 10GbE Switch Guide! Heelllppp :)

[allanwind]

10+ GbE or GTFO (to industry not STH; and yeah, I see the uplink ports). I just wanted to say that I appreciate you how are blindly handed a switch at the edge of the frame and you talk about it without skipping a beat! :-)

[IgetTings]

Hi Patrick! Thanks for the continued great work in the space. Have you considered doing a video on a home router replacement setup? Something like the "Crazy Small" router unit, one of these 2.5gig switches, and an AP? The switch and internet plugged into the router, and the AP could be plugged into the switch so that all the local traffic is switched, and all the router has to do is get things to and from the internet.

[MelroyvandenBerg]

Yea thanks! Finally a video about important hardware. I was searching for a good and not too expensive 2.5 Gb/s ethernet switch for the past months. Thanks for the video! EDIT: With enough 2.5 ports as well.. AND Silent, so no fan!

[flahiker]

Thanks for the review Patrick, just picked up the Monker 8port 2.5gbe managed switch for a Proxmox cluster I am building (3 nodes, dual nic NUCs). Appreciate the very detailed review!

[nwdsc]

I purchased a SODOLA 5 Port 2.5G Ethernet Switch on Amazon for $87.99 this last December. I've been very happy with it.

[bitmaster]

Time to make use of my 10Gbit cable in the house. Been waiting for prices to come down and this review gave pretty good oversight about what's on the market, maybe not now in Europe but the time has come. Great Video as usual ! 👍👍

[DonaldMolter]

Man this video is right on time. I have been looking at a smaller switch for my computer area in the basement and wanted a 10 gig uplink with 2.5 gig copper ports. Thanks!

[cmuller]

It would be nice to have the same kind of summary for small switches with 10G capabilities: with at least 2 10G ports, ideally with dual mode 10G baseT and SFP+ ports.

[Dalewyn]

My only takeaway from this is 2.5gbps switches are still a bloody ripoff. I can't justify their cost unless they come down to somewhere in the ballpark of $40.

[JasonsLabVideos]

I have the Qnap, and love it, SFP+ from my wall from my rack to this switch and its ROCK solid stable !! Good Video Patrick !!

[danagoyette]

I have one of the TrendNet 5-port ones, and it seems like it just outright drops VLAN-tagged packets. I don't expect to be able to assign VLANs, but at least pass the packets through unaltered, come on!

[BenRook]

Great and timely review! Really good content from you folks in the past 12 months... kudoes!

[mikelovesbacon]

The Zyxel XGS1010-12 is also worth considering. Here in the UK it's only £10 more than the MG-105. It only has 2x 2.5GbE ports but it adds 2x 10GbE so could be very versatile in the home, for example if you have a server you want to connect at 10GbE but don't want the expense of a full 10Gb switch.

[gregwilm]

I bought the TP-Link TL-SG108-M2 8-Port 2.5 Gigabit in December 2021 for $182 and thought this was a great price. Normal price $200 at the time, now the price is $169 @ B&H
Everyday price. I do see it higher other places. Prices have come down some on 2.5Gbe but with all of the make and models you have shown maybe we will see prices come down with the competition.

[dazagrt]

Thank you for finding me the perfect switch for my current setup, it will fit in nicely between my preexisting 10 & 2.5Gbps networks. I am of course talking about the Hasivo S1100P-8GT PoE+ and it is on its way to me already, cheers!

[landwolf]

I got the QNAP QSW-M408-4C. It's a neat little switch with 8 1 gig switches and 4 10g combo ports (either ethernet or optics). It also has a management port. I've really enjoyed it and have used it to test model training over the network.