News QNAP releases 2.5Gbps 5-port switch (QSW-1105-5T)

QNAP, better known for their NAS devices, has released an unmanaged 2.5Gbps 5-port switch, suitable for home use.


Product page here:


This should cost around $100 once it's available at major retailers.

With all the latest Z490 and B550 motherboards supporting 2.5Gbps Ethernet, I hope we'll see more options like this coming out over the coming months.

I've been using QNAPs enterprise rack mounted NAS units for over 5 years now, and they've been excellent, so this is on my list for a future upgrade of my network at home.
 
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ermac318

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I saw this same article today, and was struck by how that's still to expensive, when you can buy a Mikrotik CRS305 which is 4x10Gb + 1x1Gb for $140. If this was $60 or even $80 I would buy it. Otherwise, $140 plus two or three SFP+ NGbaseT modules I think is much more future proof.
 
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AlexTSG

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I’m not sure how pricing in Taiwan compares to elsewhere in the world, but I agree that the Mikrotik you mentioned does offer better value for money.

I’m unlikely to upgrade my network before the end of the year, so by then, with some other competing products on the market , maybe pricing will drop to that $60-$80 range.

I’d also like to see something like this with a 10Gbps port added for a higher speed connection to my home server, but aside from that this is pretty close to meeting my requirements.
 

Phuncz

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I don't mind paying a little more for having some or all parts 1G/2.5G capable but that price is too much. Though I find most of the non-NAS products from QNAP often overpriced.
 

Revenant

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Honestly, at this point 10Gbps should be commodity hardware.
 

ermac318

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Honestly, at this point 10Gbps should be commodity hardware.
It wouldn't do most people much good. 10GbE requires new cabling (Cat6 or Cat6A) which most people don't have. If you sell people new 10GbE gear and then it won't work, that's a problem. Most consumers aren't savvy enough to make that work, and for the most part people in the home are moving away from wires entirely and just going all WiFi (for better or worse, in my opinion worse).

In the US, even in brand new construction when people spring for proper ethernet wiring most contractors are still putting in Cat5e, which at best will do 5GbE with NGBaseT, and possibly worse if their runs are very long or their shielding is poor.

2.5GbE and to a lesser extent 5 are a big enough upgrade that it makes sense to focus on that for home use. Home internet connections are already available (in the US, I'm sure in first world countries like South Korea it's 10Gb already ?) in 2GbE speeds, so without using LACP there's an actual use case for 2.5GbE for router and access point connectivity. 10GbE is much harder to justify because its more expensive with more stringent requirements for wiring.

That said I ran Cat6A when I bought my current home so I can run 10GbE, so I agree with you to an extent. I'm just not your normal consumer.

EDIT: Good news today for more cheap 2.5Gb or 5Gb switches: https://www.servethehome.com/marvell-2020-networking-portfolio-update/
 
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AlexTSG

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Given that in the last month or so I've started creating videos for a living, I'd love to have 10Gbps connectivity. Editing the footage directly from SSDs in the server is the dream.

However, 2.5Gbps is going to make backing up my projects considerably less painful. Currently, the files for a 10 min video I'm working on are around 8GB.

Also, found this small wall mount patch panel to keep things neat when I do put in the Cat6A:

 

Revenant

Christopher Moine - Senior Editor SFF.N
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It wouldn't do most people much good. 10GbE requires new cabling (Cat6 or Cat6A) which most people don't have. If you sell people new 10GbE gear and then it won't work, that's a problem. Most consumers aren't savvy enough to make that work, and for the most part people in the home are moving away from wires entirely and just going all WiFi (for better or worse, in my opinion worse).

In the US, even in brand new construction when people spring for proper ethernet wiring most contractors are still putting in Cat5e, which at best will do 5GbE with NGBaseT, and possibly worse if their runs are very long or their shielding is poor.

2.5GbE and to a lesser extent 5 are a big enough upgrade that it makes sense to focus on that for home use. Home internet connections are already available (in the US, I'm sure in first world countries like South Korea it's 10Gb already ?) in 2GbE speeds, so without using LACP there's an actual use case for 2.5GbE for router and access point connectivity. 10GbE is much harder to justify because its more expensive with more stringent requirements for wiring.

That said I ran Cat6A when I bought my current home so I can run 10GbE, so I agree with you to an extent. I'm just not your normal consumer.

EDIT: Good news today for more cheap 2.5Gb or 5Gb switches: https://www.servethehome.com/marvell-2020-networking-portfolio-update/


I'm going to respectfully disagree, though I understand where your coming from. Having the infrastructure (in this case controllers and ports) in place prior to it being necessary is always preferable. The price of 10GbE controllers and support is now more marketing related than actual production related. Plus CAT 6 cables aren't expensive. Honestly, it reminds me of the HDMI spec issues, which people have adapted to. It just takes 5 minutes and a Linus Quick Tips video for most people to understand the differences.

My issue is that the tech itself has been around long enough that it should have drifted into virtually every non-budge mainboard, router, switch, etc at this point. My brand new DS420+ NAS is crippled by it's crappy 1Gbps connection for no reason other than product segmentation by a bean counter.
 

Revenant

Christopher Moine - Senior Editor SFF.N
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Apr 21, 2017
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Given that in the last month or so I've started creating videos for a living, I'd love to have 10Gbps connectivity. Editing the footage directly from SSDs in the server is the dream.

However, 2.5Gbps is going to make backing up my projects considerably less painful. Currently, the files for a 10 min video I'm working on are around 8GB.

Also, found this small wall mount patch panel to keep things neat when I do put in the Cat6A:


I’ve been editing enough to require a separate NAS from my home one, and agree with you. It would make organization so much easier to keep the storage from one spot. I’d love to have a NAS with SSDs and 10GbE. Barring that, a NAS with enough NVME cache that I can edit a project on it.
 
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