News TP-Link's Cheap 5-port and 8-port 10GbE Switches Now Available

[Admin]

TP-Link's TL-SX105 and TL-SX1008 10Gb switches start below $300.

TP-Link's Cheap 5-port and 8-port 10GbE Switches Now Available : Read more

 

[Johnpombrio]

This could be a game-changer in getting 10GbE ready for use at home.

 

[spongiemaster]

This could be a game-changer in getting 10GbE ready for use at home.

Not really. I bought a Netgear 5 port 10GbE switch for $350 over a year ago. This isn't that much cheaper. You can currently buy a name brand 8 port 1GbE switch for $20 from Amazon. The 8 port version announced here is $450. The 5 port needs to get under $100 before we start talking about game changing.

Edit, Looking at the price history of the Netgear models, the 5 port has been as low as $340 multiple times over the last year, and the 8 port has been as low as $450 multiple times. So this announcement isn't moving the pricing needle all that much lower.

 

[bernieo]

a quick look i found it for £299 at ccl .the 8 port.
only trouble is its not managed so vlan ,teaming , and qos maybe a problem .
but prices are getting better
unlike certain gpus

 

[Makaveli]

This looks good.

TP link if you are reading this please release a newer version of the

TP-Link MC220L Gigabit Media Converter

This is used to convert Fiber to Ethernet which is useful for those of us with Fiber internet connections so we can bypass the ISP provided modem and just run the fiber directly to the converter then ethernet to our own router.

However this device will only Support 1Gbps and I would like to see it updated to support atleast 2.5Gbps speeds. 5Gbps and 10Gbps would be nice to future proof the device but I understand it may increase cost and cooling requirements.

 

[w_o_t_q]

Expensive if look at https://www.balticnetworks.com/mikrotik-12-port-10g-rj45-and-4-port-sfp-cloud-router-switch-l5 it cost 500 usd and is an enterprise level product with affordable price number of ports are much larger plus better security, featured in Linus tech tips about cheap 10g if willing to invest in a cheap 10g go for microfiber 10g it possible to get 4 ports around 200 usd yes cheap tools for the fiber you will need buy, but after all fiber is future and much easies to install into walls

 

[InvalidError]

$60 per port is kind of steep when you can get 8x1G for under $30, still a long way away from becoming a mainstream commodity. That said, more choices for people who need/want it now doesn't hurt. I doubt I'll be bothering with more than 1G for another 5+ years.

 

[JamesJones44]

You would have to light my family jewels on fire before I bought anything from TP-Link... But I hope this starts getting other makers to start making more affordable multi gig switches.

 

[waltc3]

For unmanaged switches, I find them neither "reasonable" or "cheap"...😉

 

[Sparkie951]

Way too expensive... Fiber is the real way to go... Check out Mikrotic... Better product, never had any luck with TPLink! I shy away from them.

 

[velocityg4]

It's annoying that prices are still so high and adoption has been so slow. 10 GbE, the twisted pair variant, has been around since 2006. This is really old tech and prices are still high.

8-port Gigabit switches could be bought for $50 in 2006. Back then I'd have thought Fiber Optic 100GbE would be common place by 2021, at the $50 for 8-port price point, if not 1TbE. Given how quickly we jumped from 10 to 100 to 1000 MbE and how fast prices dropped for each standard.

 

[Sparkie951]

I just purchased A MikroTic 24 port coper for my slower stuff and an 8 port for my fast stuff... Still cheaper than this switch that has so much less.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Mqao5yf9jrjb4bJg7

I paid less for both units that one of the TPLink's version that in my book have never been good products.

 

[domih]

@Sparkie951

TP - Link: operated and still operating 16-port, 24-port and 48-port unmanaged switch. Never had a problem with them. So it might depend on what you expect from the switch (VLAN, LACP, etc...)

Microtik: using a 16-port x 10GbE SFP+. No problem either. Great product (for intranet use) and cheaper than the usual 800-pound gorilla brands. But for new user, read the online reviews and manuals for router use before spending your hard won kopeks.

---

Mellanox FDR 36-port 56Gbps: bought it used for $200, works AOK. Brings 40+ GbE. Amen.

 

[InvalidError]

It's annoying that prices are still so high and adoption has been so slow.

1GBase-T only got cheap because it delivered substantial benefits for many everyday uses like incremental daily backup and deploying cached updates across the network without having to spend a fortune replacing cat5e.

10GBase-T requires upgrading wiring at a time where most seats are still perfectly fine with GbE, so offices have no reason to upgrade typical seats. For companies, it makes more sense to pull fiber instead of cat6A for whatever seats may require 10GbE so they don't have to worry about upgrading wiring with every future speed upgrade. When something fails to achieve critical mass, it remains an expensive niche thing until it either drifts towards the mainstream or gets supplanted by something else and becomes obsolete. 10GBase-T will likely get supplanted by another 10GBase standard capable of running on cat5.

 

[domih]

Upgrading cabling to CAT6A or fiber is a reasonable argument. However, it is not a Yes/No story. Re-cabling cost depends on each case. It could cost almost nothing (just the hardware cost) for a start-up laying the cables themselves up to several thousand dollars for large size offices using a contractor.

I concur with @velocityg4: 10GbE is not "new", has been used for more than a decade in data centers and large corporations. The only "new" thing is usage by low-life "normal" users like us. There is no reasonable justification for having $100 - $400 10GbE NIC in 2021. Brands are just milking consumers.

As of this writing, if cost is the main factor, 10GbE SFP+ used hardware from for instance eBay is the way to go. Example: $20 for SolarFlare cards.

Any start-up, SOHO or individual handling multiple 1+ gigabyte files everyday has a strong incentive to switch from 1GbE and 10GbE a.s.a.p.

It's just a repeat story: when 1 GbE appeared while everybody still use 100 Mbps the same arguments were discussed. Nothing new under the Sun here.

 

[King_V]

You would have to light my family jewels on fire before I bought anything from TP-Link... But I hope this starts getting other makers to start making more affordable multi gig switches.

Out of curiosity, why?

I don't have anything close to EXTENSIVE experience with TP-Link, but I do have an 8-port 1Gb unmanaged switch, and a WiFi router from them, and have had no complaints.

 

[InvalidError]

It's just a repeat story: when 1 GbE appeared while everybody still use 100 Mbps the same arguments were discussed. Nothing new under the Sun here.

There is one huge difference between then and now: WiFi has become fast and reliable enough that most normal people cannot be bothered with running cables. I am the only person I know who still keeps nearly everything wired, most of my friends and family run almost entirely wireless.

 

[zeroidea]

Other options:

Netgear MS510TX ~$280 [2 x 10GbE, 2 x 5GbE, 2 x 2.5GbE, 4 x 1GbE]
MikroTik CRS309-1G-8S+IN $245 [8 x SFP+, 1 x 1GbE]
Zyxel XGS1210-12 $180 [2 x SFP+, 2 x 2.5GbE, 8 x 1GbE]
QNAP QSW-308S $140 [3 x SFP+, 8 x 1GbE]

I bought the MS510TX open box for $180, no problem linking at 10Gbe with flat 5E cables. Recently replaced with the above MikroTik (open-box again, ~$200) because I now have a bunch of cheap 10GbE server cards, and some RJ45 SFP+ modules to accommodate my earlier Aquantia-based hardware.