TP-Link Switch Overview - My Favorite Switches!

TP-Link has a TON of switches covering everything from the very small and cost effective all the way up to massive 10Gbps core switches. In this video, we talk about my favorite TP-Link switches, and the ones that I would use for most home and small business environments.

Product Links (some are affiliate):

COUPON CODE! Use coupon code: 10CSSWITCH

Coupon code gets you 10% off the following items between 3/28/2022 and 5/28/2022.

Omada / Smart Managed switches

Easy Smart switches

Unmanaged switches

Timeline
00:00 Intro
00:48 Three Categories of TP-Link switches
01:33 TL-SX3016F & TL-SX3008F - 10Gbps SFP+ switches
02:30 TL-SG3210XHP-M2 - 8-port 2.5Gbps + 2 10Gbps SFP+
03:17 TP-Link model naming explained
05:16 TL-SG3428MP - 24 Gbps Ethernet + 4 SFP uplink ports - 24 port powerhouse!
05:56 TL-SG2210MP - 8 PoE+ Ethernet + 2 SFP uplink ports
06:27 TL-SG2008P - 8 Gbps Ehternet (4 w/PoE+)
06:59 TL-SG1016PE - 16 Gbps Ethernet (8 w/PoE+)
07:30 TL-SG105-M2 - 5 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports
08:08 TL-SX1008 & TL-SX105- 8 or 5 10Gbps Ethernet ports
08:48 TL-SF1008P 8 Fast Ethernet ports (4 w/PoE)
09:27 TL-SG108 8 Gbps Ethernet
----------------------------

Follow me on Twitter: @crosstalksol

Connect with Chris:
Twitter: @CrosstalkSol

[AntoineFleuryGobert]

Go-to for the bag of tricks and helping hand: TL-SG105, not the 108. It can basically be powered (with the right adapter cable, ~2$ from 'mazon) from a USB power brick, battery, or even a computer USB port. Quite handy to add to a computer on the go.

[markbooth]

We've been using TP-link switches for years. We started with out with an TL-SG-1008E to tie our HP microservers to our unmanaged netgear switches and give our network L2 capabilities, and really liked the web management interface.

Then we expanded the network, pushing the 8 port out to the periphery and replacing it with a TL-SG1016PE as our core network switch, when we switched to a Ubiquiti Nano HD, and needed to power our VDSL router remotely from the UPS in the server cupboard.

Then, when we ran out of GigE ports, we switched to a TL-SG1024DE as our core switch, and tied it to the TL-SG1016PE with 4 aggregated channels.

One day we will upgrade to a 2.5G/10G core network switch, but for the moment more GigE is a better fit, given that we have 1x 2.5G capable machine on our entire network, but 3 servers with quad GigE + iLO/iDRAC ports. Maybe by the time we get around to having more 2.5G machines, and 10G machines, the price of 10G will be more reasonable. All three of our current switches cost less than a 5 port 10G switch would cost today.

[CatStroller]

We just finished ripping all the TP Link switches from our office network. At one point we had about 10 of their "Smart Managed" switches in production. They switched packets just fine, but their interfaces (GUI and CLI) were just too inconsistent across the different models. The CLI was close enough to Cisco's syntax, so I could fumble my way through managing them, but I would always have to do a 'show config' before making a change to make sure of the syntax it wanted. The GUI worked okay on most of them, but one particular model it was painfully slow to load. To be fair/honest, I prefer a CLI over a GUI, so I very rarely used the GUI anyway.

Some of the switches we had also supposedly supporting stacking, and the stack did work with an otherwise empty configuration. But once I put in the full configuration, the stack would never come together after a reboot. It didn't matter what ports, topology, or connections (10Gb fiber vs. DAC) I used for the stack, it just wouldn't come together. I ended up rearchitecting that part of the network to use them as individual switches instead of a stack.

They also supported basic layer 3 routing, which generally worked. But the switch that was doing the routing would just randomly stop routing (but still kept switching packets in their respective VLANs). The only fix for this was a power cycle.

The final nail in their coffin for us was the complete lack of firmware updates for any of the switches we had. A few weeks ago, I pulled the last one out of production.

PS - No disrespect to you Chris, but this video very much sounded like a paid advertisement for TP Link. I trust that it wasn't though, because you are always very clear when you are using something paid/provided/sponsored by a company/vendor.

[IamNerfDart]

The TL-SG3428X is an awesome 24 Port Gigabit switch since it has 4x 10GBe SPF+ ports. Absolute overkill for most networks, but in my case pairing it with the 2.5GBe switch you have in your video (TL-SG3210XHP-M2) makes it pretty worth it when it comes to non blocking capacity.

[bobdan]

I have had mixed results with TP-link over the years either the managed switchs work or the don’t and once they do a hardware revision you can forget about firmware updates to patch security flaws and issues with the firmware. There unmanaged switches with Poe for me have just worked for the most part.

[vpconroy]

Good my goto switches after Unifi and much more available these days. Also great where don't need the cross-device, centralized management which Unifi provides.

[gustersongusterson]

I wish tp link would put as much effort into their software updates as they put into their marketing campaign.

[christopherjackson]

I've had a pile of tp-link unmanaged switches over the years and never had any issues with any of them. Great value switch.

I've never tried any of their higher end models tho

[erichunter]

If I understood you correctly, I would not be able to manage anything with "Easy Smart" in the name through an OC200? So I'm comparing a
TP-Link TL-SG1428PE 24 Port Gigabit PoE Switch Easy Smart Managed...to TP-Link TL-SL2428P V4 | 24 Port Fast Ethernet Smart Managed PoE Switch. I want the TL-SL2428P if I want to be able to manage it with the OC200?

[theoriginalDJ_H]

I already tried the TL-SX3008F and it does NOT work with 10GBase-T transceivers. I need to use that for my copper ethernet in the walls. Switched to a Unifi Switch Aggregation (8-port) and all is well, even with Unifi's 4 copper transceiver power limit (*see their data sheet) since I only need two 10GBase-T ports and everything else can be DAC or fiber transceivers. Even so, I do like TP-Link's 8-port RJ45 1-GB switches and use them around the home since they cost less than Unifi's older 8-port models.

[dizthewize]

tp-link should release a few smaller form factor managed switches similar to the unifi flex mini. the omada stack seems to be lacking a smaller switch other than the SG2008P

[daveblorphy]

Was this TP-Link sponsored? It seems pretty much like an infomercial. I have TP-Link switches, but since this is "exclusively" TP-Link, if this is sponsored, you should indicate so. Otherwise, you have gone down a notch in my opinion.

[giovannifreyle]

Hi, great content. Thanks for sharing!! I´ve got a question: How would it work if I design a network using a TP Link switch with Unifi AC Mesh Pro access points in a highly corrosive (marine) outdoor environment? (all of them hardwired)

[raulacosta]

I have a hue bridge, lutron smart hub and a wireless camera home base that requires ethernet cord connection. Is it safe to connect to this tp switches ?or only for laptops or TV or gaming consoles. I wanted to get the tp SG108S M2.

[sunchabhai]

That tee is awesome. How do I get one for myself?

[jasonspector]

hi like your video i really like omada sdn switches and AP'S working to expand and fix my network at work and am looking to buy a tl-sx3024F switch for back bone are their ant thing i need to know about this switch to watch out for thanks for you time Jason S

[sekaf]

Great Video. Little overwhelming for me. So I live in southeast alaska, been waiting over a year but finally got Starlink. Went from 5-7 down to 330 down 35bup. I need a Ethernet hub that will be good for years. Apple TV, security cameras, Mac computers. 5-8 ports should be ok. Which model do you recommend that will be fast and a little future proof. Thank you!

[ElmerShox]

thanks great video; what are the advantages of the JETSTREAM series compared with the Smart switch version?

[droo]

Can I get the unmanaged switch, connect it to the net provider modem and us 2 or 3 access points with it like the EAP610 v2, what functions will I loose when I eliminate the controller and the vpn router?

[TazzSmk]

hmm so I guess the mess in naming is actually the fact there aren't all combinations/variations in each tier/port options, well explained anyway! :)