Saturday, December 18th 2021
QNAP Launches Affordable 16-Port SFP28 Layer 2 Managed Switch
Although most people use WiFi for their network connectivity these days, there are times when a wired connection is needed, say for large file transfer and backups. We've finally seen a transition onwards from Gigabit Ethernet on the humble desktop PC, but for some 2.5 Gbps isn't enough and 10 Gbps has become more and more of a viable option. However, it seems like QNAP has decided that 10 Gbps is getting a bit long in the tooth and as such, the company has introduced a 16-port SFP28 switch, for those that are craving even faster LAN speeds.
The QSW-M5216-1T has a combined switching capacity of 820 Gbps and all of the 25 Gbps SFP28 ports are backwards compatible with 10 Gbps SFP+ based network cards. There's also a single multi-gig capable RJ45 port that goes from 100 Mps to 10 Gbps, plus a 1 Gbps management port, as well as a serial port around the back for management. The QSW-M5216-1T is also capable of combining four ports into a 100 Gbps capable link, when combined with QNAP's QXG-100G2SF-E810 100 Gbps capable network card, although it retails for north of US$1,000. A more reasonable alternative would be the US$219 QXG-25G2SF-CX4 dual-port 25 Gbps card, which seems quite reasonably priced for the speeds on offer.
As this is a managed layer 2 switch, it supports features like LACP. VLAN, QoS and ICMP snooping, as well as a range of other features you'd find on this type of switch. Surprisingly, QNAP claims a 35 W max power consumption, so hopefully that also means it won't sound like a jet engine when in use. Although the QSW-M5216-1T might be intended for business use, since most people aren't going to install fibre based networks at home, the price point is quite alluring for those that would like to move up to 25 Gbps network speeds. In Taiwan, QNAP lists the QSW-M5216-1T for around US$1,385, which is less than US$87 per port, which compares favourably to similar 10 Gbps switches.
Source:
QNAP
The QSW-M5216-1T has a combined switching capacity of 820 Gbps and all of the 25 Gbps SFP28 ports are backwards compatible with 10 Gbps SFP+ based network cards. There's also a single multi-gig capable RJ45 port that goes from 100 Mps to 10 Gbps, plus a 1 Gbps management port, as well as a serial port around the back for management. The QSW-M5216-1T is also capable of combining four ports into a 100 Gbps capable link, when combined with QNAP's QXG-100G2SF-E810 100 Gbps capable network card, although it retails for north of US$1,000. A more reasonable alternative would be the US$219 QXG-25G2SF-CX4 dual-port 25 Gbps card, which seems quite reasonably priced for the speeds on offer.
20 Comments on QNAP Launches Affordable 16-Port SFP28 Layer 2 Managed Switch
Besides, for that price you'd get a decent MikroTik at leats.
This QNAP is approaching affordability when you consider the use cases.
They're still very green when it comes to network products, but seem to be really pushing out the boat and trying to win market share by having decent pricing on a lot of things.
But I still dont like missing secodary spare power supply: I see only 1 power socket :C
Good thing is that QNAP are pushing hard for market share and this will 'wake' the rather conservative MikroTik guys.
MikroTik already have a decent OS and they are skilled in hardware design. It won't be long before we see 'modern' offerings from them.
On the other hand, I wouldn't trust QSS in a mission-critical setups. As you notably mentioned they don't even have PSU redundancy.
I just really don't understand why anyone would go SFP for a whole home network... Maybe for a single room where you can use a DAC to make the connection, but for wiring up a whole home, 10GBase-T is the way to go. That's what I did so maybe I'm biased, haha.There's a lot of people in the United States who are still dealing with DSL... My aunt for example in New Hampshire, the only option is DSL where she lives, and guess what the speed is.... Think of the worst speed you can think of.... 1.5Mbps...thats the speed of my Aunt's internet, and it's their only option, and the majority of the time it doesn't reach even those speeds. Basically, only one person in the house can watch a YouTube video at a time and NOT at 1080p, and don't even think about Netflix or other streaming services.
The only other option is Hughesnet satellite, which isn't much better, yeah it's faster, but with a 25GB per month data cap, a family would be hitting that wall in a week or less. Luckily, the small town she lives in (600 people) took it upon themselves to build their own network like Chattanooga Tennessee did (publicly owned internet, what a brilliant idea.. Look up Chattanooga, they built their own network and service and basically offer symmetrical Gigabit for less than most people get 100Mbps...but of course the Telecoms bribed politicians to basically make it illegal in that state and others, and even got the government to give companies like Comcast millions to "expand service"... It's so corrupt) and now they're about a month away from launching it with plans for 500Mbps symmetrical starting at $30/month, 750Mbps for $40/month and 1000Mbps for $50/month
What's funny is, I live in the same state, just 50 minutes away, and am currently getting 1200Mbps(1.2 Gbps) for $70/month (on PCs with a Gigabit connection it's 985 Mbps, but anything connected to my 10GBase-T home network gets 1185 Mbps)...it's crazy that less than an hour separates us, but there's a 30 year difference in internet speed and technology (though that's about to change with their town owned network).
If you look it up though, there are countless towns and large areas of states out west like Idaho, Montana, etc that literally, LITERALLY have no internet offered at their location, and it's more common than you'd believe in America. That's why things like starlink are actually a pretty big deal for those people out in Idaho who still have no internet.
As for the dire internet situation, won't ol' Musky's sat internet help you? I thought it's available in the US?
Oh, and each time I hear about Chattanooga, I can't help it but to think of
25g is a long way from being needed in a home.
I guess we can all work on our phrasing.