Netgear Launches Two Unmanaged Multi-Gigabit Ethernet Switches

[TheLostSwede]

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

• 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

Additionally, the MS105 comes with our ProSAFE Limited LIFETIME Warranty, Next Business Day replacement and Limited LIFETIME chat support. The MS305 comes with our 3-year Hardware Warranty. Both switches are covered by 90 days free 24/7 Tech Support. They're available now on NETGEAR.com for $149.99 (MS105) and $134.99 (MS305).

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Chaitanya]

Pricing seems to be inline with other 5 port 2.5Gbps switches available already.

 

[JalleR]

yes and for alittle more you can get som with single or dual 10Gbit aswell....

 

[Chrispy_]

2.5GbE is still far too expensive per port.

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?

 

[TheLostSwede]

yes and for alittle more you can get som with single or dual 10Gbit aswell....

It seems like QNAP had really dropped the price of a new revision of the QSW-2104-2T as they retail for $150 on Amazon now.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

This is ridiculous, at this point 10GBase-T multi-gig switches should be this cheap....the tech has been around long enough. I have a home 10GBase-T network, but it'd be nice if I vould upgrade my switch without having to pay about the same price as I did 3+ years ago

 

[Wirko]

If you're looking for a reasonably priced multi-gigabit switch, chances are you're also looking for a reasonably priced NAS box with a multi-gigabit LAN port ... and once again, no luck here.

 

[R-T-B]

I sort of feel like part of the problem is Aquantia was planning to provide all sorts of apparently cheap chipsets for switches, and Marvell acquired them and shows no interest in anything but NICs.

 

[TheLostSwede]

If you're looking for a reasonably priced multi-gigabit switch, chances are you're also looking for a reasonably priced NAS box with a multi-gigabit LAN port ... and once again, no luck here.

Asustor?

I sort of feel like part of the problem is Aquantia was planning to provide all sorts of apparently cheap chipsets for switches, and Marvell acquired them and shows no interest in anything but NICs.

MaxLinear might save the day when it comes to 2.5 Gbps PHY's, as they have a couple of quad port 2.5 Gbps PHY's that apparently reasonably priced.

 

[defaultluser]

This is ridiculous, at this point 10GBase-T multi-gig switches should be this cheap....the tech has been around long enough. I have a home 10GBase-T network, but it'd be nice if I vould upgrade my switch without having to pay about the same price as I did 3+ years ago

the complexity of 10GBase-T means it uses several times the power of Gig; for businesses running a data center, the power savings of going SFP+ is well worth it (so end-users either take these optical clearances on eBay, or they can continue to back the wrong horse and insist on ten at around $50 a portT.)!

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

 

[TheLostSwede]

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

You can already get an 8-port 2.5 Gbps for $140 on Amazon, not taking the $10 coupon into account.

https://www.amazon.com/2-5G-2-5GBASE-T-Desktop-Mount-Entertainment-Networking/dp/B09VBSFQYC/

 

[Chrispy_]

If you're looking for a reasonably priced multi-gigabit switch, chances are you're also looking for a reasonably priced NAS box with a multi-gigabit LAN port ... and once again, no luck here.

QNAP and Asustor have you covered with affordable NAS options that include 2.5GbE port(s):

• 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.

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

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.

 

[Zareek]

VLAN tagging or BUST!

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.

 

[Chaitanya]

If you're looking for a reasonably priced multi-gigabit switch, chances are you're also looking for a reasonably priced NAS box with a multi-gigabit LAN port ... and once again, no luck here.

Excluding Synology, Qnap, Terrmaster and Asustor are providing 2.5G ports on their NAS(Asustor is doing it from 2 bay units while other 2 on 4 bay units and above)

QNAP and Asustor have you covered with affordable NAS options that include 2.5GbE port(s):

• 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.

TerraMaster has few units(2bay is quite expensive but 4 bay seems quite in line with competition):

NAS Enclosures (Up to 30 Bay) | SSD NAS Enclosures | B&H

See B&H's vast selection of NAS Enclosures from top brands like QNAP, Synology, Promise Technology and Rocstor. Explore our unbeatable selection.

www.bhphotovideo.com

 

[ixi]

Looool, 2022. and unmanaged switch. Straight to the garbage.

 

[R-T-B]

Looool, 2022. and unmanaged switch. Straight to the garbage.

Some of us are fine with simple unmanaged switches. Just sayin'

 

[Wirko]

Looool, 2022. and unmanaged switch. Straight to the garbage.

A bit of searching in the geizhals.eu database tells me that managed 2.5G switches don't even exist, except those that additionally have 10G ports. Those are in another price range though.

 

[trsttte]

I think this is in an awkward niche: if you need only 5 ports, do you need the 5 ports to be 2.5gigs? A lot of TVs and other media devices still use as low as 100mbps and domestic internet only reaches 1gbps on certain places so the use for higher speed ports is kinda limited to pcs and nas devices. If you're running multiple of those pcs/nas at higher than gigabit, you'll grow out of a 5 port solution very quickly, if you're not you're paying extra for 2.5gbps ports you'll never use.

Hence why I think prices will always be high for the foreseeable future, there's not that much demand for 2.5gbps nic

 

[efikkan]

I sort of feel like part of the problem is Aquantia was planning to provide all sorts of apparently cheap chipsets for switches, and Marvell acquired them and shows no interest in anything but NICs.

At least judging by Aquantia's network cards, their 10G performance is very inconsistent, heck I'll prefer a stable 2.5G from Intel over Aquantia's "10G". The same goes for switches, real world performance can be all over the place.

You can already get an 8-port 2.5 Gbps for $140 on Amazon, not taking the $10 coupon into account.

https://www.amazon.com/2-5G-2-5GBASE-T-Desktop-Mount-Entertainment-Networking/dp/B09VBSFQYC/

And what is the quality of such unknown(?) brands?

I think this is in an awkward niche: if you need only 5 ports, do you need the 5 ports to be 2.5gigs? A lot of TVs and other media devices still use as low as 100mbps and domestic internet only reaches 1gbps on certain places so the use for higher speed ports is kinda limited to pcs and nas devices. If you're running multiple of those pcs/nas at higher than gigabit, you'll grow out of a 5 port solution very quickly, if you're not you're paying extra for 2.5gbps ports you'll never use.

Hence why I think prices will always be high for the foreseeable future, there's not that much demand for 2.5gbps nic

Probably no one needs 2.5G or more for most of their devices at home, but having high speed for a file server/NAS and the desktops are very useful for file transfers, backups, etc.

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.)

 

[R-T-B]

At least judging by Aquantia's network cards, their 10G performance is very inconsistent

I've heard this, but I don't think it's been true for quite a few firmware updates. My AQC-107 card matches my enterprise 10G Intel NIC in performance across a wide variety of workloads.

Netgear GS110MX

I know you ruled it out, but I use this for my home backbone and it's a fine switch, if anyone is wondering.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I've heard this, but I don't think it's been true for quite a few firmware updates. My AQC-107 card matches my enterprise 10G Intel NIC in performance across a wide variety of workloads.

They had issues early on, but all of that was fixed in firmware. Besides, Marvell has a new chip now, that can use a single PCIe 4.0 lane and that would be more mature overall.

 

[Butrus]

I wouldn't call a 2.5gbe to be "multi-gigabit", I would use that term for at least 1/2.5/5gbe or 1/2.5/5/10gbe (or 1/10/25gbe and so on)... Multi usually means "more than 2"...

Looool, 2022. and unmanaged switch. Straight to the garbage.

Well, I would agree, but Netgear's "cloud managed" nonsense is even worse. I don't want to be my Big Brother in my home, Netgear, really. That's why I don't use any cloud but have my own home server for what I need. THAT goes straight to the garbage...

They had issues early on, but all of that was fixed in firmware. Besides, Marvell has a new chip now, that can use a single PCIe 4.0 lane and that would be more mature overall.

Well, for some strange reason the Aquantia single 10gbe NIC built into my motherboard is connected over PCIe 4.0 x2, LOL. Probably the previous generation of the same chip was PCIe 3.0 x2 only but then the MB manyfacturer received a new version of that chip which was capable of PCIe 4.0 but it was too late to change the layout... What a waste, the MB could have a x1 slot more which would have been really teriffic... :-(

# lspci -s 3a:00 -vv -nn
3a:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Aquantia Corp. Device [1d6a:94c0] (rev 03)
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:87f5]
    ....
    Capabilities: [70] Express (v2) Endpoint, MSI 00
        ....
        LnkSta:    Speed 16GT/s (ok), Width x2 (ok)
            TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive- BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-
        ....
        LnkCap2: Supported Link Speeds: 2.5-16GT/s, Crosslink- Retimer+ 2Retimers+ DRS-
        LnkCtl2: Target Link Speed: 16GT/s, EnterCompliance- SpeedDis-
        ....

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...)

 

[TheLostSwede]

Well, for some strange reason the Aquantia single 10gbe NIC built into my motherboard is connected over PCIe 4.0 x2, LOL. Probably the previous generation of the same chip was PCIe 3.0 x2 only but then the MB manyfacturer received a new version of that chip which was capable of PCIe 4.0 but it was too late to change the layout... What a waste, the MB could have a x1 slot more which would have been really teriffic... :-(

# lspci -s 3a:00 -vv -nn
3a:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Aquantia Corp. Device [1d6a:94c0] (rev 03)
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:87f5]
    ....
    Capabilities: [70] Express (v2) Endpoint, MSI 00
        ....
        LnkSta:    Speed 16GT/s (ok), Width x2 (ok)
            TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive- BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-
        ....
        LnkCap2: Supported Link Speeds: 2.5-16GT/s, Crosslink- Retimer+ 2Retimers+ DRS-
        LnkCtl2: Target Link Speed: 16GT/s, EnterCompliance- SpeedDis-
        ....

They have multiple versions, so there are PCIe 3.0 x1, x2 and x4 versions, as well as PCIe 4.0 x1.
PDF Link

https://www.marvell.com/content/dam/marvell/en/public-collateral/ethernet-adaptersandcontrollers/marvell-fastLinq-edge-aqc113-aqc113c-aqc113cs-aqc114cs-aqc115c-aqc116c-product-brief.pdf

I wouldn't call a 2.5gbe to be "multi-gigabit", I would use that term for at least 1/2.5/5gbe or 1/2.5/5/10gbe (or 1/10/25gbe and so on)... Multi usually means "more than 2"...

Mutli-gigabit in this case refers to the fact that it supports speeds above 1 Gbps. It's what the general industry term is.

 

[Wirko]

Using multiple unmanaged switches in a network is a recipe for network problems.

Are two 5-port or 8-port switches enough to cause 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?

Why not? A NAS, two desktop PCs, and one spare, maybe for a laptop (even if 2.5G is still uncommon in laptops). TV and some stuff connected to ISP-provided router, the rest is wireless.

 

[efikkan]

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...)

I've heard those are very loud, but how noticeable was it after your changed the fans?

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.

Are two 5-port or 8-port switches enough to cause problems?

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.

Why not? A NAS, two desktop PCs, and one spare, maybe for a laptop (even if 2.5G is still uncommon in laptops). TV and some stuff connected to ISP-provided router, the rest is wireless.

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).