network switch Looking for 2.5GB Network Switch Recommendations

[NCSGeek]

Hello! I'm looking for recommendations for an unmanaged network switch for my specifications and usage case. I'm looking for one to take my one ethernet port/cable from my wall and split it to my PC and a raspberry pi.

 

I'm looking for one that wont affect my ethernet speeds to my main PC (other than affecting it by the amount the raspberry pi is using, which wont be much at all). I'd greatly perfer one that is silent. I'm very sensitive to noise. My PC uses a 2.5GB connection so the switch will need to support that. Other than that, I'm just looking for a cheap but relatively quality unmanaged switch with 3-4 ports (any extra are nice but not worth spending more for to me).

 

So in summary:

• 2.5GB Speeds input and bandwidth (To not bottleneck my connection to my PC)
• Unmanaged switch. (I dont need a managed one. If it is managed for the literal same price, then sure I guess)
• Fanless & Silent
• 3-4 Ports
• As cheap as reasonably possible without comprimising on quality or reputation

 

Any recommendations/pointers is very appreciated! I've done some looking and research but as I've never bought networking hardware of this type before, I'd appreciate the opinion of others.

[johnt]

Ask and you shall receive. I own one and it worked flawlessly. $75 after coupon for me. 
 

https://a.co/d/gWZJYcD

[NCSGeek]

8 minutes ago, johnt said:

Ask and you shall receive. I own one and it worked flawlessly. $75 after coupon for me. 
 

https://a.co/d/gWZJYcD

Cool, thanks! It's fanless so I assume it's silent, right? Other than that, how's that brand's reputation? I'll also hear out other recommendations in case there is one cheaper, because I dont really need 8 ports.

[johnt]

1 minute ago, NCSGeek said:

Cool, thanks! It's fanless so I assume it's silent, right? Other than that, how's that brand's reputation? I'll also hear out other recommendations in case there is one cheaper, because I dont really need 8 ports.

Yeah it is fully silent. I wasn't sure about the reputation either but it's a solid stamped steel case.

[NCSGeek]

Just now, johnt said:

Yeah it is fully silent. I wasn't sure about the reputation either but it's a solid stamped steel case.

Sounds good. I'll see what others say but will keep that one bookmarked. Thanks a bunch

[OhioYJ]

1 hour ago, NCSGeek said:

Sounds good. I'll see what others say but will keep that one bookmarked. Thanks a bunch

Are you in the US?

[NCSGeek]

4 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

Are you in the US?

I am.

[ToboRobot]

2 hours ago, NCSGeek said:

Hello! I'm looking for recommendations for an unmanaged network switch for my specifications and usage case. I'm looking for one to take my one ethernet port/cable from my wall and split it to my PC and a raspberry pi.

 

I'm looking for one that wont affect my ethernet speeds to my main PC (other than affecting it by the amount the raspberry pi is using, which wont be much at all). I'd greatly perfer one that is silent. I'm very sensitive to noise. My PC uses a 2.5GB connection so the switch will need to support that. Other than that, I'm just looking for a cheap but relatively quality unmanaged switch with 3-4 ports (any extra are nice but not worth spending more for to me).

 

So in summary:

• 2.5GB Speeds input and bandwidth (To not bottleneck my connection to my PC)
• Unmanaged switch. (I dont need a managed one. If it is managed for the literal same price, then sure I guess)
• Fanless & Silent
• 3-4 Ports
• As cheap as reasonably possible without comprimising on quality or reputation

 

Any recommendations/pointers is very appreciated! I've done some looking and research but as I've never bought networking hardware of this type before, I'd appreciate the opinion of others.

https://www.servethehome.com/the-ultimate-cheap-2-5gbe-switch-mega-round-up-buyers-guide-qnap-netgear-hasivo-mokerlink-trendnet-zyxel-tp-link/

Good source for info on these.

Can your drives handle the speed of regular ethernet let alone 2.5?

[NCSGeek]

7 minutes ago, ToboRobot said:

https://www.servethehome.com/the-ultimate-cheap-2-5gbe-switch-mega-round-up-buyers-guide-qnap-netgear-hasivo-mokerlink-trendnet-zyxel-tp-link/

Good source for info on these.

Can your drives handle the speed of regular ethernet let alone 2.5?

This PC isnt a NAS so I dont need it to be able to keep up with a drive or vice-versa. When doing internet speed tests, I get about 1.8GB speeds. That's what I'm trying to not bottleneck or slow down.

I'll check out that link. Thanks!

[ToboRobot]

9 hours ago, NCSGeek said:

This PC isnt a NAS so I dont need it to be able to keep up with a drive or vice-versa. When doing internet speed tests, I get about 1.8GB speeds. That's what I'm trying to not bottleneck or slow down.

I'll check out that link. Thanks!

Doesn't matter if your PC is a NAS, server or gaming box. 

Your stated goal is "I'm trying to not bottleneck or slow down".  There are basically 3 parts of a computer, compute, storage, and data transfer (network).  You are thinking "I will make sure data transfer is fast to avoid bottle necks" but if the network is faster than the storage (or compute) your compute won't be able to handle all the data from the network fast enough and the network will become the bottle neck.

 

If you try to send more data to your computer than your storage or processor can handle, it doesn't matter how fast your network is.

I have a drive in my server that tops out at 5MBs.  My internet and network is faster, but I can only download and write files to the drive at 5MBs and yet my network is capable of 25 times that speed.

Speed tests are irrelevant, real work experience is different. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

11 hours ago, ToboRobot said:

Can your drives handle the speed of regular ethernet let alone 2.5?

You'd have to go back quite far to find drives slower than Gigabit.

 

HDDs have been able to saturate Gigabit probably from the late 90s, modern drives can saturate 2.5Gbit, all SSDs should surpass it.

 

2 hours ago, ToboRobot said:

I have a drive in my server that tops out at 5MBs.

Then there's something very wrong with that drive or you're just dealing with lots of small files.  That's ancient optical media levels of slow.

[ToboRobot]

33 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

You'd have to go back quite far to find drives slower than Gigabit.

 

HDDs have been able to saturate Gigabit probably from the late 90s, modern drives can saturate 2.5Gbit, all SSDs should surpass it.

 

Then there's something very wrong with that drive or you're just dealing with lots of small files.  That's ancient optical media levels of slow.

And yet my argument about bottle necks is still true.

[Alex Atkin UK]

6 hours ago, ToboRobot said:

And yet my argument about bottle necks is still true.

Yes, but you made it sound like there was an equal chance of being bottlenecked by the storage drive, which in my experience is rarely the case, even with HDDs.

 

The biggest bottleneck in my experience is IOPS at the network, which is also partly related to CPU power like you said.  Copying lots of small files for example is much slower over the network compared to say to a USB drive.  It becomes absolutely excruciating slow if you copy between two network drives.

But when moving large files, the raw bandwidth of the network does become key and this seemed to be what OP was referring to in trying to avoid bottlenecks.

 

In my case I have some SSDs and Gigabit Internet, so my NAS is connected at 10Gbit to reduce the chance of a network bottleneck slowing anything down.  Copying a large file to/from a HDD can easily max 2.5Gbit, a SATA SSD will be nearer 5Gbit and of course NVME can potentially max it out but is more likely to run into a CPU/IO bottleneck.

 

Its all rather moot given the OP said the client is a Raspberry Pi so is unlikely to be moving much data to begin with.  Using 2.5Gbit makes total sense as the Pi at most can hit Gigabit and is the most likely part to hit a CPU bottleneck.  The things you mentioned just weren't relevant to the OPs use-case.

[mariushm]

21 hours ago, NCSGeek said:

Hello! I'm looking for recommendations for an unmanaged network switch for my specifications and usage case. I'm looking for one to take my one ethernet port/cable from my wall and split it to my PC and a raspberry pi.

 

I'm looking for one that wont affect my ethernet speeds to my main PC (other than affecting it by the amount the raspberry pi is using, which wont be much at all). I'd greatly perfer one that is silent. I'm very sensitive to noise. My PC uses a 2.5GB connection so the switch will need to support that. Other than that, I'm just looking for a cheap but relatively quality unmanaged switch with 3-4 ports (any extra are nice but not worth spending more for to me).

 

 

You may have a 2.5 gbps network card in your computer, but it's backwards capable of 1 gbps and 100 mbps. 

If the modem or router or device your ISP gives you have only 1 gbps ethernet ports, your network card will be limited to 1 gbps, the speed of the device at the other end.

If you buy a 2.5 gbps switch your computer will have a 2.5 gbps connection with the switch, but will have a 1 gbps connection to the ISP device and the PI.

 

If your ISP doesn't give you more than 1gbps internet, there's basically no point in spending extra money for a 2.5 gbps switch - just get a cheap 10$ 1 gbps switch.

For example, 15$ for a new Netgear 5 port switch :   https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-5-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Unmanaged/dp/B07S98YLHM/

 

If you insist on 2.5gbps, 90$ gets you a 5 x 2.5g + 10g SFP+ : https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-2-5GBASE-T-Compatible-10-100-1000Mbps-TEG-S350/dp/B0CJ9F8RJF/

 - The SFP+ 10g could be useful to connect a NAS or something with a 10gbps card, and have the 4-5 computers with 2.5g transfer files from it at high speed.

 

A cheaper noname version would be this at $50, 4 x 2.5g + 2 x SFP+ 10g ports, same device different brands : https://www.amazon.com/Port-Umanaged-SFP-Compatible-YuanLey/dp/B0C64N2QN7/ or  https://www.amazon.com/VIMIN-Port-2-5Gbase-T-SFP-Ethernet/dp/B0C5D4MYRF/  or https://www.amazon.com/ienRon-Ports-2-5G-Unmanaged-SFP/dp/B0CFTDLDQL/

 

[NCSGeek]

4 hours ago, mariushm said:

You may have a 2.5 gbps network card in your computer, but it's backwards capable of 1 gbps and 100 mbps. 

If the modem or router or device your ISP gives you have only 1 gbps ethernet ports, your network card will be limited to 1 gbps, the speed of the device at the other end.

If you buy a 2.5 gbps switch your computer will have a 2.5 gbps connection with the switch, but will have a 1 gbps connection to the ISP device and the PI.

 

If your ISP doesn't give you more than 1gbps internet, there's basically no point in spending extra money for a 2.5 gbps switch - just get a cheap 10$ 1 gbps switch.

For example, 15$ for a new Netgear 5 port switch :   https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-5-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Unmanaged/dp/B07S98YLHM/

 

If you insist on 2.5gbps, 90$ gets you a 5 x 2.5g + 10g SFP+ : https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-2-5GBASE-T-Compatible-10-100-1000Mbps-TEG-S350/dp/B0CJ9F8RJF/

 - The SFP+ 10g could be useful to connect a NAS or something with a 10gbps card, and have the 4-5 computers with 2.5g transfer files from it at high speed.

 

A cheaper noname version would be this at $50, 4 x 2.5g + 2 x SFP+ 10g ports, same device different brands : https://www.amazon.com/Port-Umanaged-SFP-Compatible-YuanLey/dp/B0C64N2QN7/ or  https://www.amazon.com/VIMIN-Port-2-5Gbase-T-SFP-Ethernet/dp/B0C5D4MYRF/  or https://www.amazon.com/ienRon-Ports-2-5G-Unmanaged-SFP/dp/B0CFTDLDQL/

 

Sorry if I came off as otherwise, but I do know that I'm backwards compatible with any "speed" ethernet ports/cables (generally speaking). Also, I mean that I'm getting real-world speeds of just under 2gbps from my ISP so that's why I'm looking into 2.5GB switches. I'd rather spend more to not have the switch become the limiting factor in the series of things that determine my network speed. (ISP@~2GB > Router@2.5GB > PC@2.5GB (On the fastest ethernet port) )

 

I'll check out those recommendations, thanks! So "TRENDnet" isnt a no-name brand? I havent heard of them but that could easily just be because I dont buy a lot of networking hardware.

[mariushm]

2 hours ago, NCSGeek said:

I'll check out those recommendations, thanks! So "TRENDnet" isnt a no-name brand? I havent heard of them but that could easily just be because I dont buy a lot of networking hardware.

I've owned Trendnet switches 15 years ago, it's a long time established company.

 

Servethehome reviewed some of their 2.5g switches, if you want to look at them here they are

 

5 port : https://www.servethehome.com/trendnet-teg-s350-5-port-2-5gbe-switch-review/

8 port : https://www.servethehome.com/trendnet-teg-s380-8-port-2-5gbe-switch-review/

 

the above articles in video format

 

 

 

 

 

[NCSGeek]

7 minutes ago, mariushm said:

I've owned Trendnet switches 15 years ago, it's a long time established company.

 

Servethehome reviewed some of their 2.5g switches, if you want to look at them here they are

 

5 port : https://www.servethehome.com/trendnet-teg-s350-5-port-2-5gbe-switch-review/

8 port : https://www.servethehome.com/trendnet-teg-s380-8-port-2-5gbe-switch-review/

 

the above articles in video format

 

 

 

 

 

Perfect, thanks! I'll check out the videos and articles.