Realtek is Aiming to Make 5 Gbps Ethernet Switches More Affordable with New Platform

[TheLostSwede]

At Computex, Realtek was showing off a new 5 Gbps switch platform which is set to bring much more affordable high-speed Ethernet switches to the consumer market. At the core of the new switch platform sits Realtek's RTL9303 which is an eight port 10 Gbps switch controller. This was released a few years ago as a low cost 10 Gbps switch IC, but as it still required third party PHYs, it never really took off. The RTL9303 is built around an 800 MHz MIPS 34Kc CPU and supports up to 1 GB of DDR3 RAM as well as 64 MB of SPI NOR Flash for the firmware.

When combined with Realtek's RTL8251B 5 Gbps PHY, the end result is a comparably low-cost 5 Gbps switch. According to Ananadtech, Realtek is expecting a US$25 price per port, which is only about $10 more per port than your typical 2.5 Gbps switch today, even though some are as little as US$10 per port. When combined with a Realtek RTL8126 PCIe based 5 Gbps NIC which retails from around US$30, 5 Gbps Ethernet looks like a very sensible option in terms of price/performance. Admittedly 2.5 Gbps Ethernet cards can be had for as little as $13, but they started out at a higher price point compared to what 5 Gbps NICs are already selling for. Meanwhile, 10 Gbps NICs are still stuck at around US$80-90, with switches in most cases costing at least US$45 per port, but often a lot more. 5 Gbps Ethernet also has the advantage of being able to operate on CAT 5e cabling at up to 60 metres and CAT 6 cabling at up 100 metres, which means there's no need to replace older cabling to benefit from it.



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[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Forget 5gbps, 10Gbps should be the next step for consumers

 

[TheLostSwede]

Forget 5gbps, 10Gbps should be the next step for consumers

Considering the cost and the power usage, it's not likely to happen any time soon.
I got my two Aquantia (now Marvell) cards during a Black Friday deal back in 2017 for $69 a pop, although the MSRP back then was $127.
Equivalent cards today are still $80-90.
Aquantia's 5 Gbps card was $99 back then, but it was never very popular due to the lack of suitable switches.
With Realtek's new cards going for $30-40 already, that's quite a game changer imho, if we'll really see $100-120 switches.

 

[Tigerfox]

Forget 5gbps, 10Gbps should be the next step for consumers

They will milk you as often as they can.

I really don't know enough about this to criticize Realtek. On the one hand, when NBASE-T first came up I was always told that it was nonsense for consumers since 2.5GbE/5GbE uses the same tech as 10GbE, just with lower frequencies for old cabling, but that the short cabling distances in private homes would allow 10GbE anyway. Only reason for 2.5GbE-NICs to be cheaper I could think of were that PCIe2.0x1 (for 2.5GbE) or PCIe3.0x1 (for 5GbE) is enough instead of PCIe3.0x2/4.0x1 for 10GbE (most 10GbE-NICs are Gen2/3/4x4).

Then came Realtek RTL8125 and Intel i225 with their sub 30$ PCIe-cards, now sub 20$, while 10GbE even with Aquantia AQC107/113 was still above 100$. Switches with 8-16x2.5GbE are still much cheaper than any Switrch with 4+x10GbE, albeit the cheapest switches with 8x2.5GbE offer at least 2x10GbE. But switches with 5x2.5GbE cost less than half what those do...

Since 5GbE should be standard on better quipped upcoming X870- and Z890-mainboards, I can see 5GbE replacing 2.5GbE before 10GbE gets any cheaper.

Meanwhile, 800GbE ist at the horizon.

 

[hsew]

Forget 5gbps, 10Gbps should be the next step for consumers

That would add a significant cost to devices, and require buildings be rewired to take advantage of 10gbps. Makes no sense from a business standpoint where you have dozens of endpoints connecting to a single switch; besides which most PCs won't benefit in going from 1gbps to 10 in their workloads and use cases. Those that do usually have bespoke (and/or janky) setups.

 

[TheLostSwede]

They will milk you as often as they can.

I really don't know enough about this to criticize Realtek. On the one hand, when NBASE-T first came up I was always told that it was nonsense for consumers since 2.5GbE/5GbE uses the same tech as 10GbE, just with lower frequencies for old cabling, but that the short cabling distances in private homes would allow 10GbE anyway. Only reason for 2.5GbE-NICs to be cheaper I could think of were that PCIe2.0x1 (for 2.5GbE) or PCIe3.0x1 (for 5GbE) is enough instead of PCIe3.0x2/4.0x1 for 10GbE (most 10GbE-NICs are Gen2/3/4x4).

As pointed out above, it was nonsense when a 5 Gbps was $100, but I believe it won't be too long until we'll see card for $25, based on Realtek's chips.
It's not just about the PCIe interface, but yes, 10 Gbps needs at least two PCIe 3.0 lanes. The key issues is more about thermals and Realtek has managed to produce 5 Gbps chips that only draw 1.7 Watts, which is around half of that of the old Aquantia chips and from what I know, the new Marvell ones aren't any more power efficient.

Then came Realtek RTL8125 and Intel i225 with their sub 30$ PCIe-cards, now sub 20$, while 10GbE even with Aquantia AQC107/113 was still above 100$. Switches with 8-16x2.5GbE are still much cheaper than any Switrch with 4+x10GbE, albeit the cheapest switches with 8x2.5GbE offer at least 2x10GbE. But switches with 5x2.5GbE cost less than half what those do...

Actually, I just saw an RTL8125 card on Amazon for $13.

Since 5GbE should be standard on better quipped upcoming X870- and Z890-mainboards, I can see 5GbE replacing 2.5GbE before 10GbE gets any cheaper.

This. It's already happening on higher-end motherboards.

Meanwhile, 800GbE ist at the horizon.

USB4 networking apparently works, just like Thunderbolt networking, but both are limited to 10 Gbps...

 

[Tigerfox]

USB4 networking apparently works, just like Thunderbolt networking, but both are limited to 10 Gbps...

Yeah, I know. Perhaps Thunderbolt Share will offer more speed. Otherwise, if you just want fast transfer speed between two PCs or from PC to NAS, old 40GbE-NICs are way cheaper or newer 25/50/100GbE-NICs are at least faster.

As pointed out above, it was nonsense when a 5 Gbps was $100, but I believe it won't be too long until we'll see card for $25, based on Realtek's chips.

As far as I understood then, there was no apparent reason why a 2.5GbE- or 2.5/5GbE-only NIC would be any cheaper to produce than 10GbE because it's the same tech. But apparently that was a wrong assumption.

 

[TheLostSwede]

As far as I understood then, there was no apparent reason why a 2.5GbE- or 2.5/5GbE-only NIC would be any cheaper to produce than 10GbE because it's the same tech. But apparently that was a wrong assumption.

Well, Aquantia just gimped their 10 Gbps and sold them as 5 Gbps parts...
Marvell appears to be keeping up that tradition.

Realtek has clearly worked out a way to make it all in a much more cost efficient way.

Admittedly, the AQC113 isn't that big, but still a lot more complex than Realtek's RTL8126.

 

[Tigerfox]

Well, Aquantia just gimped their 10 Gbps and sold them as 5 Gbps parts...
Marvell appears to be keeping up that tradition.

Some are. There is AQC114 (5GbE), which is identical to AQC113 (10GbE), but then there is AQC111C/112C (5GbE and 2.5GbE), which is much smaller (12x14mm, 224-pin vs 9x9mm, 100-pin) and AQC114CS/115C (5GbE and 2.5GbE) is even smaller (7x7mm, 64-pin).

 

[TheLostSwede]

Some are. There is AQC114 (5GbE), which is identical to AQC113 (10GbE), but then there is AQC111C/112C (5GbE and 2.5GbE), which is much smaller (12x14mm, 224-pin vs 9x9mm, 100-pin) and AQC114CS/115C (5GbE and 2.5GbE) is even smaller (7x7mm, 64-pin).

They're not going to be competing in terms of pricing with Realtek's QFN56 packaging though, as Marvell only seems to do BGA chips.
Do we in fact know that the tiniest chips have even been produced? I have yet to see any products with those chips.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I ordered that rtl8372 switch wonder from Alixepress just our of curiosity... will see how that one will fare...

 

[unwind-protect]

Drivers and Realtec might still be an issue tho

 

[Tigerfox]

Do we in fact know that the tiniest chips have even been produced? I have yet to see any products with those chips.

You are right, we in fact don't. Only products I know at all that use Marvell Aquantia 5GbE-NICs are from QNAP and they all use AQC111C. There were some motherboards way back when NBase-T was new that used AQC108 instead of 107.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Drivers and Realtec might still be an issue tho

Why do people keep bringing this up? It's 2024, not 2004.
The company made a better 2.5 Gbps Ethernet controller than Intel and Realtek already has Linux drivers for the 5 Gbps, that even works with the RPi 5.

Full 5 Gigabit Ethernet on Raspberry Pi 5 with iocrest Realtek RTL8126 adapter - Jiri Brejcha

I've tested a number of 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters on Raspberry Pi 5 based on the AQC107 chip. One adapter that negotiates PCIe Gen 3, achieves 5.5 Gbps speed and overheats. Another one which only works in PCIe Gen 2 mode and peaks at 3.44 Gbps. And even a full-size PCIe card made by TP-Link

www.jiribrejcha.net

I ordered that rtl8372 switch wonder from Alixepress just our of curiosity... will see how that one will fare...

I've had a Trendnet TEG-S380 for a few months now and I believe it's Realtek based. It hasn't missed a beat.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I've had a Trendnet TEG-S380 for a few months now and I believe it's Realtek based. It hasn't missed a beat.

Ah, the only headscratchier for me would be those optical 10gig ports and their DAC compatibility to match up with my hardware. Other than that, I think it will perform fine... The only question remains, why it took them so long.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Ah, the only headscratchier for me would be those optical 10gig ports and their DAC compatibility to match up with my hardware. Other than that, I think it will perform fine... The only question remains, why it took them so long.

Servethehome has tested a few of them

SFP+ to 10Gbase-T Adapter Module Buyers Guide

Our buyer's guide for SFP+ to 10Gbase-T adapters. We purchased nine popular models and tested their performance, power consumption, and Nbase-T support

www.servethehome.com

10Gtek ASF-10G-T 10Gbase-TX SFP+ to 10Gbase-T Module Review

In our 10gtek ASF-10G-T or 10GBase-TX review we see how this module compares to others and whether it supports 2.5GbE and 5GbE speeds as well

www.servethehome.com

 

[ZoneDymo]

Forget 5gbps, 10Gbps should be the next step for consumers

and which consumer needs 10Gbps?

 

[mouacyk]

Yes. Now.

 

[dirtyferret]

and which consumer needs 10Gbps?

professional line, sure. At home consumers? I don't see a current demand in NA at least, maybe in Asia.

 

[bonehead123]

Oh great, affordable high-speed switches/cards etc....yee haw maw

Now if the friggin money-grubbin, pork-stuffin ISP's would just give us the high-speed connections that could actually make use of them, this would be great for sure....

Yea I know alot of folk will get into these for their internal lans/sans/servers etc and all, but just sayin....

I feel the need....the need for (more) speed -Maverick & Goose !

 

[LabRat 891]

Why do people keep bringing this up? IT's 2024, not 2004.
The company made a better 2.5 Gbps Ethernet controller than Intel and Realtek already has Linux drivers for the 5 Gbps, that even works with the RPi 5.

Full 5 Gigabit Ethernet on Raspberry Pi 5 with iocrest Realtek RTL8126 adapter - Jiri Brejcha

I've tested a number of 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters on Raspberry Pi 5 based on the AQC107 chip. One adapter that negotiates PCIe Gen 3, achieves 5.5 Gbps speed and overheats. Another one which only works in PCIe Gen 2 mode and peaks at 3.44 Gbps. And even a full-size PCIe card made by TP-Link

www.jiribrejcha.net

I've had a Trendnet TEG-S380 for a few months now and I believe it's Realtek based. It hasn't missed a beat.

NGL, Realtek *not* royally screwing up their 2.5gbps Ethernet controller (when Intel did)
Earned quite a bit of respect.

Still, it's gonna take some more 'moving and shaking' before I stop thinking of Realtek as 'The Budget IC company'.

 

[trsttte]

I can buy a 8 port gigabit switch for like 15$ so 5gbps and 2.5gbps still need to go a long way before they're affordable

 

[Minus Infinity]

I'm sure Synology will still say no thanks.

 

[trsttte]

I'm sure Synology will still say no thanks.

What do you mean you want a 10$ port to be available on a 500$ appliance?

 

[DaemonForce]

Forget 5gbps, 10Gbps should be the next step for consumers

As a 10GbE SFP user, there is a massive disconnect (don't panic) between the typical cobweb of 1GbE RJ-45 routed to and from some network junction box and DIRECT 10GbE BANDWIDTH GUARANTEE over fiber or some kind of DAC, usually in rackmount. The biggest issue (that I have thankfully yet to run into) is the compatibility between the SFP jacks and cards. I am fully onboard with pushing 10GbE if it means less need for stacking infra. Yes price is gonna be unhinged at first but we need the options now. As it stands, I use 10GbE DAC between a ~2019 era Ryzen box and a ~2010 era eMachines. Someday that job may split off or switch entirely over to my FX but that is already rack box and I have yet to find a reason to retire my single core antique.

Also, all this enterprise equipment is antique. Anything in the PCI-E g2x8 HHHL formfactor can and should be easily replaced with a g3x1 or g4x1 unit by now and with the modern WDM. I can already hear the screeching from every side that "this isn't enough PCI-E bandwidth" for dual 10GbE" or even single. Not the point. We need to start seeing newer stuff being produced even if it has flaws. That's very likely not going to happen until we start seeing capable network junction boxes appear. Another chicken/egg problem.