10Gb ethernet switch for home use?

So, it becomes more and more obvious that 10Gbe is a thing. SSDs are outperforming gigabit by … lets just say a lot. And 10 gig cards are actually not that expensive anymore. The one thing missing is a passively cooled (or at least very very quiet) 10Gbe switch.

Does that even exist?

There is this:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320323&cm_re=asus_10gb--33-320-323--Product

Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like it actually performs and gets very hot. It’s cheaper to do it over fiber with used enterprise gear, but if you really want 10gb over copper you’ll have to pay up. I’d be very interested if anyone has cost effective solutions for small 10Gbe switches though.

It’s all still pretty expensive and loud.

As far as I know, the Ubiquiti ES-16-XG is the cheapest, fully-featured 10GbE switch, and while it’s not a screamer, it’s definitely not passively cooled or whisper-quiet.

Mikrotik CRS328 and CSS317 are under $400 and silent if you’re happy with SFP+

Copper 10Gbps is more expensive but helps you reuse whatever copper cabling you might already have.

Hmm, so still nothing really. :disappointed_relieved:

Yeah, SFP+ exists but I don’t think that is gonna become the standard for home networks.
So I’ll just ignore that technology here.

What I would want is a quiet, unmanaged 10Gbe switch with … let’s say 5 to 8 ports. Something that makes sense basically, at least for the enthusiast. And let’s forget about the price for that matter.

Or how about building something? Would that be an option?

1 Like

I’m pretty sure there is no passively cooled 10Gbe switch. Best best is probably getting something with extra capacity and switch the fans to quieter ones. Or just modify the chassis to take larger, quieter fans. Cutting holes on top of the chassis right on top the heatsinks and putting 120/140 fans is probably a lot quieter than the std 40mm fans.

3 Likes

You could throw a bunch of cards in a box and bridge them together at layer 2 or route them together at layer 3. Its a bit more involved than an unmanaged switch, though.

I have experiences with these:

Quanta LB6m – noisy
Quanta LB8 – tolerable
Quanta LY3 – noisy
Cisco 350xg-2f10 – tolerable

The LB6m is the cheapest at $325. Unixplus sells these new, servethehome has a coupon as well (look in the forums). But, it is sfp+, no cheap cat6 option here.

I’ve had the Cisco 350xg in the garage, wired to all the rooms in my house for the last 3+ years, it hasn’t ever failed me yet. It is a bit quirky to set up, as it uses a Cisco like IOS interface, but it definitely is not IOS. All the Quantas use some variation of ICOS, a company that Broadcom bought some years ago. It’s also very quirky. I have experience with using Azure SONiC in BGP mode on other switches (particularily the Arista 7050QX) and OpenSwitch on a Dell S6000. Both of these are Debian based, so any Linux networking skills you have will translate to these platforms. I think that one day soon, we will see pfsense ported over to Debian and run on these switches as a management interface.

1 Like

came across this a few months ago. only has 2 actual 10Gbps ports so its pretty limited on devices to connect. but its gaming branded and has RGB so it must be good right? /s https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787JFFZ3/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Here is a list of some multi-gigabit Ethernet products. It is not an exhaustive list and some of the things on there only support 2.5 or 5 gigabit, but it seems to get updated regularly. It looks like the most promising one for what you’re asking for is the Buffalo BS-MP2008. I’m not sure if it is fanless, but the rated power usage suggests that it wouldn’t have to be noisy. It is an 8-port switch which is selling for around $500 on Amazon and Newegg.

1 Like

Interesting, looks similar to the Netgear 8-port:

8-port version is similar at around 40 Watts power consumption. Interestingly enough, the 16-port version has lower noise level compared to the 8-port, bigger heatsinks maybe? 33 dBA for the 16-port sounds tolerable.

$500 for that Buffalo though sounds very competitive, I don’t think the Netgear is that cheap. It isn’t around here, anyway.

The 708 is a managed switch, the 508 is the unmanaged model as far as I can see.
And that one is actually around 500,- Euro here in Germany.

1 Like

Been using the 8 port netgear 10g switch for the last couple of years. Works well, unmanaged, but not exactly quiet.

Not a data center howler either have a 40g switch for that :wink:

It lives in the basement so no one cares. If you can put it somewhere it can be a little loud that’s likely your best bet. It’s not as loud as an idling x3650 or 710 server.

Hmm, get one of those and mod it or wait for the next generation that might be a lot quieter?
Dammit.

Hard to say given 40G flowing downstream and SSD pushing NFS/SMB performance bottlenecks of 1G to the fore.

10G has held a bizarre position of “uses existing wires” (yes, but… those wires need to be really good) so it can cost the same or more to go to 40G as it does 10G if SFP doesn’t scare you off (i.e. you don’t need to re-use your copper runs).

Given that oddity, it could be the new boxes come out and are still overpriced.

If you only need a few machines, you could do point-to-point with dual-port 10G cards that are getting relatively cheap (though still overpriced considering the cost of 40GbE cards are the same or less - but require QSFP).

40G is also going to be harder to buy and setup in most cases, so you have to be ready for a little science experiment or know what you are doing already.

2 Likes

I get having everything at home hardwired no wifi. Deletes a whole attack vector. But then is it down to what speed do you need …A Nas with a extra 10G nic for your PC is usually enough. 1G everything else.

Still ex corporate network gear can come cheap if you a hunter.

3 Likes

That is basically what I am running today. And it really looks like it’s gonna stay like that for a bit longer.

I have both - wifi is fine for browsing and streaming. Less so for real data-work and NFS/SMB mounts. Particularly things like 5GHz and MIMO work great in an open area, but if you have things like “walls”, then throughput quickly gets less impressive.

The difference between a remote GUI app in linux over 10G and 1G is that 1G, you can still tell you aren’t running local. It’s "fine"TM, but… 10G, you generally cannot tell and when you need to move TB’s then you really really notice it.

Sadly that is a surprisingly accurate description of what is separating the rooms of my apartment.

xD

1 Like

I might be old and broken…But I am at the stage moblie phones data plans mean I can avoid adding them to my home network . Thus removing another attack vector from home.

While I am old and kids all grown up. If your young with kids will you get every cold . flu and wifi virus :slight_smile:

1 Like

Yeah, kid/family surfiing in ignorant bliss is as bad as pre-school for “bringing things home”.

That’s why I filter so hard at the router level and sneak around locking down their browsers lol…

As far as attacks from war-driving, we’re fortunate enough to make that high-effort where I live. I can imagine its much more of a problem in the city where you are cheek to cheek with all your neighbors’ networks.

1 Like