Thursday, November 17th 2022
Netgear Launches Two Unmanaged Multi-Gigabit Ethernet Switches
The number of devices, such as WiFi 6 access points and NAS, with multi-gig capabilities and speed is increasing. Also, the use of modern applications, increasing prevalence of BYOD and usage of more and more video requires companies to have more bandwidth to ensure smooth network traffic that just can't be handled by Gigabit connectivity anymore. Even the smallest firms are doing big business when it comes to the sheer volume of data that their networks are expected to handle, and this load will continue to grow as applications become more advanced.
To help businesses cost-effectively expand their networks with multi-gigabit speeds, we've introduced a couple of new 5-port Multi-Gigabit Unmanaged Switches, MS105 and MS305. The MS105 and MS305 Multi-Gigabit Ethernet switches come with five 2.5G ports in a metal case that can be placed on a desk or mounted on a wall. These switches are energy efficient, built to last, and rigorously tested to provide the reliability businesses need.
With these additions, we're expanding our comprehensive portfolio of highly flexible and scalable multi-gig switches built to fit every business need, each with best-in-class engineering, performance and security.
MS105 and 305 Key Features
Source:
Netgear
To help businesses cost-effectively expand their networks with multi-gigabit speeds, we've introduced a couple of new 5-port Multi-Gigabit Unmanaged Switches, MS105 and MS305. The MS105 and MS305 Multi-Gigabit Ethernet switches come with five 2.5G ports in a metal case that can be placed on a desk or mounted on a wall. These switches are energy efficient, built to last, and rigorously tested to provide the reliability businesses need.
MS105 and 305 Key Features
- Plug-and-Play with simple set up with no software or configuration needed
- 5 multi-Gigabit 2.5G Ethernet ports for faster and smoother productivity
- Small, sturdy desktop metal case and completely silent operation
- Flexible desktop or wall placement
- Easy monitoring with per-port LEDs for port activity and speed
- 802.1p traffic prioritization and jumbo frame support to allow for seamless integration with more sophisticated networks
- Energy efficient design compliant with IEEE802.3az
27 Comments on Netgear Launches Two Unmanaged Multi-Gigabit Ethernet Switches
5, 8, 16-port unmanaged gigabit switches typically work out to something like $2.50 a port.
Typically, most faster switches only have a couple of multi-gig ports, but those few that are ALL 2.5GbE are close to $20 a port. They're expensive enough that you might as well just buy a 10GbE switch at that point...
I'd heard that the issue was upcoming SoCs and PHYs were delayed because of COVID but that was almost 3 years ago now. Where are our cheap 2.5GbE switches?
2.5g is an attempt to re-think multi-gigabit transmission design except way less complex (so, it should be only slightly higher power than Gigabit, once you hit mass-production.) Imagine that if it can already hit sub $200 in small numbers, it may drop ton $50 for a 5-poort switch within a half decade
www.amazon.com/2-5G-2-5GBASE-T-Desktop-Mount-Entertainment-Networking/dp/B09VBSFQYC/
- Asustor Drivestor 2, 4, 2 Pro, 4 Pro - cheap 2 or 4 bay basic NAS with single 2.5GbE
- Asustor Lockerstor 2, 4 - dual 2.5GbE at moderate cost, but you can have up to 4 NVME drives for mechanical cache and/or dedicated SSD volumes.
- Asustor Nimbustor 2, 4 - dual 2.5GbE and you can bond them for a 5GbE link-aggregate.
- QNAP TS-364 - single 2.5GbE
- QNAP TS-462 - single 2.5GbE and PCIe slot for faster NIC
- QNAP TS-251D - comically-cheap 2-bay NAS with only Gigabit ethernet, but has a PCIe 2.0 x4 slot which is enough bandwidth for a single 10GbE or a dual 5GbE NIC
- QNAP TS-231P3 - also cheap 2-bay with single 2.5GbE
- There are probably more and other vendors, I only really keep up with Asus/QNAP/Synology
- You can repurpose any old potatoPC with storage and plonk FreeNAS, AKA TrueNAS Core on it. The only real cost is higher power draw of an x86 PC compared to a prebuilt NAS appliance
It's just Synology dragging their feet, really. They are the worst hardware and arseholes with proprietary garbage and vendor-locked nonsense infecting their entire product stack, but their software is arguably the best of the prebuilt consumer/SMB NAS OSes and for a lot of people that's all that matters. Hell, I'm begrudgingly using one at home because I'm too lazy to swap it out and I'm not really in need of fast storage for home. I'd like it, but my NAS doesn't have an SSD so the biggest bottleneck is the 80 IOPS of spinning rust.YES. Half a decade ago we were saying "it's $200 for a 5-port right now, but soon it's going to be cheaper."2.5GbE has been around for about a decade now, though affordable NICs from Intel/Realtek/Broadcom were only introduced to mainstream motherboards in 2015 or so.
We're still at $20 a port for 2.5GbE switches even though 6-7 years have passed since consumer 2.5GbE availability. It's dumb, and so bad that WiFi is actually faster than copper for most consumers.
Oh, it's Netgear, BUST anyway. If I wanted a name brand that works like a generic product, I'd just buy a generic product and save a few bucks.
www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/nas-enclosures/ci/26903?sort=PRICE_LOW_TO_HIGH&filters=fct_brand_name%3Aterramaster%2Cfct_interface_932%3A1x-rj45-2.5gbe%7C2x-rj45-2.5gbe%7C3x-rj45-2.5gbe%7C4x-rj45-2.5gbe
Hence why I think prices will always be high for the foreseeable future, there's not that much demand for 2.5gbps nic
Using multiple unmanaged switches in a network is a recipe for network problems. So for this reason, I think releasing a 5-port 2.5G switch is nearly useless; as one port is probably connected to a router, who has only 4 devices in their family home?
My issue in recent years is I need high speed on at least 3 devices, and have ~7 devices total. If I only needed two fast devices then there are switches like the AsusXG-U2008 and Netgear GS110MX which have 8 gigabit ports and 2 10G ports. Unfortunately, there are few (if any) 8-port 10G switches for the "semi-pro"/home market. Those that do exist are expensive and loud. (But if anyone know of a quality business 8+ port 10G Ethernet switch which are silent, let me know. I know there can be used stuff found for cheap.)
Well, you can make many switches silent just by replacing the fans with a couple of Noctua ones.
I recently ordered Mikrotik CRS326-24S+2Q+RM, because I started to use 40gbe on some of my PCs, just by connecting these directly. 10gbe is starting to be too slow for home use for me, LOL.
But there are other Mikrotik switches with just 4 SFP+ or 4SFP+/5SFP or 8SFP+ or 16SFP+. 10gbe with metalics (RJ45) has a couple of problems which are best solved going SFP+ (DAC/AIO/optics...)
PDF Link
www.marvell.com/content/dam/marvell/en/public-collateral/ethernet-adaptersandcontrollers/marvell-fastLinq-edge-aqc113-aqc113c-aqc113cs-aqc114cs-aqc115c-aqc116c-product-brief.pdfMutli-gigabit in this case refers to the fact that it supports speeds above 1 Gbps. It's what the general industry term is.
I try to stay away from SPF+ for home use, especially since the computers might be located differently in a future home, and there are some latency concerns.
But I do have a Mikrotik router though, and I might eventually get a switch from them too. I do have a price notification on CRS312-4C+8XG-RM, but I haven't looked into the specifics if this fits my needs. (I just know it's loud)
But if my 8-port gigabit switch died tomorrow, I'd probably buy a 8-port 2.5G switch in the meantime.In my experience, strange things tends to happen with two or more unmanaged switches, like degraded speed or lost connections. This may of course depend on the specific equipment, but I'm not talking about some cheap no-brand equipment, but products like Cisco's small business lineup.A pretty modern home will probably have a couple of desktops, a file server/NAS, a printer, probably a TV and a streaming box or HTPC, perhaps a gaming console, and up to several laptops (which needs wired connection for work or school work, plus any gaming).