2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps, and 10 Gbps

[ng4ever]

Can you still use these network speeds locally even if your internet connection is not that fast, yet, and benefit from it from the device or devices that have a greater than 1 Gbps network card ?

It may not make sense for me though sense right now I only have one device with a network card of 2.5 Gbps.

Anyway to add a 2.5 Gbps network card to a laptop ?

 

[drinkingbird]

Can you still use these network speeds locally even if your internet connection is not that fast, yet, and benefit from it from the device or devices that have a greater than 1 Gbps network card ?

It may not make sense for me though sense right now I only have one device with a network card of 2.5 Gbps.

Anyway to add a 2.5 Gbps network card to a laptop ?

Yes, your LAN speeds are not tied to your internet speeds. If you do a lot of large file transfers etc then >1G connections can be worthwhile. Obviously you'll need a switch or LAN ports on your router that can handle those speeds.

Only way to add it to a laptop is with an external adapter, USB 3.x or USB-C are the only ones that can handle >1G though.

 

[ng4ever]

Yes, your LAN speeds are not tied to your internet speeds. If you do a lot of large file transfers etc then >1G connections can be worthwhile. Obviously you'll need a switch or LAN ports on your router that can handle those speeds.

Only way to add it to a laptop is with an external adapter, USB 3.x or USB-C are the only ones that can handle >1G though.

Thanks.

 

[ng4ever]

One last question can I still get 2.5 Gbps local network speed, even if my fiber modem only supports up to 1 Gbps speed ?

I am using a third party router with it that does have a 2.5 Gbps port.

 

[drinkingbird]

One last question can I still get 2.5 Gbps local network speed, even if my fiber modem only supports up to 1 Gbps speed ?

I am using a third party router with it that does have a 2.5 Gbps port.

Yes but you'll need at least two 2.5 gig ports to take advantage of it since it will only help between two local devices (unless you have a wireless device that can push >1G). Probably makes more sense to get a switch with 2.5G ports, and have one of them to to the 2.5 port on your router and the rest to your devices. You probably don't even need 2.5 gig to your router, would only help if you have wireless devices able to exceed 1G of actual throughput, so at least like 1400 link rate.

 

[ng4ever]

Yes but you'll need at least two 2.5 gig ports to take advantage of it since it will only help between two local devices (unless you have a wireless device that can push >1G). Probably makes more sense to get a switch with 2.5G ports, and have one of them to to the 2.5 port on your router and the rest to your devices. You probably don't even need 2.5 gig to your router, would only help if you have wireless devices able to exceed 1G of actual throughput, so at least like 1400 link rate.

Ok thanks.

Side note you know 2.5 Gbps + is not standard when even Best Buy does not sell any switches or anything at that speed at all.

Not that I like Best Buy.


Hopefully in another year or 2 prices come down even more. Still it may be worth a try to see if I get any advantage, even if only some, to do now at least with 2.5 Gbps switch(s) or even pay a little more and get 10 Gbps switch(s) for future proof.

 

[L&LD]

Bestbuy is hardly a standard of where 'tech' is. Nor any other big box store.

Sure, 10GbE switches are the better long-term buy, but they are still very expensive, relatively.

A 5 port 2.5GbE switch or two is very reasonable and makes a huge difference when often transferring a lot of files locally.

 

[drinkingbird]

Ok thanks.

Side note you know 2.5 Gbps + is not standard when even Best Buy does not sell any switches or anything at that speed at all.

Not that I like Best Buy.


Hopefully in another year or 2 prices come down even more. Still it may be worth a try to see if I get any advantage, even if only some, to do now at least with 2.5 Gbps switch(s) or even pay a little more and get 10 Gbps switch(s) for future proof.

Only other thing to keep in mind is some PCs simply can't handle a full 2.5 (or 5 or 10) gig of throughput. USB NICs especially can rely heavily on the PC's CPU. Similar to how for several years PCs were being sold with gig NICs and while they could exceed the previous 100M, they couldn't do a full gig, as onboard NICs usually have pretty poor ASICs.

Just something to keep in mind when shopping for a USB NIC (try to find one with a decent onboard processor) and when determining if the overall cost is worth it.

Back when 10G was the next step up from 1G and I wanted it between my two servers, I just used a direct cable between them with static IPs, and a 1G to the main network (well several 1Gs for each VM). So you have that option too. 10G switches were only enterprise then and very expensive. Now I have several 10G switches taken out of the e-waste pile but I still don't use them due to noise and power draw, and in reality hardly ever do large enough transfers that the small time difference would matter. My servers are outsourced now and PC backups go to local drives, then to off-site which is limited by my Internet connection anyway (and don't care if it takes an hour or two while I sleep).

A 5 port 2.5G switch would probably serve your needs (or wants), and you can use the 1G ports on your router if you need more ports for 1G devices.

 

[tgl]

10G ports are not only expensive but consume a lot of power. I have fanless switches with two 10G ports (and multiple 1G ports) and they run hot. I have one switch with 3 10G ports and a fan, and the fan spins up noticeably if all 3 fast ports are actually connected to >1G ports. Right now I'd not recommend buying such gear unless you have a demonstrable need for that much throughput. (There are rumors that the next generation of 10G ethernet ports will eat less power, but they're not on the market yet.) 2.5G ports seem much more reasonable power-wise.

 

[drinkingbird]

Bestbuy is hardly a standard of where 'tech' is. Nor any other big box store.

Sure, 10GbE switches are the better long-term buy, but they are still very expensive, relatively.

A 5 port 2.5GbE switch or two is very reasonable and makes a huge difference when often transferring a lot of files locally.

I can only imagine what best buy would charge for a 2.5 gig switch too.....

 

[drinkingbird]

10G ports are not only expensive but consume a lot of power. I have fanless switches with two 10G ports (and multiple 1G ports) and they run hot. I have one switch with 3 10G ports and a fan, and the fan spins up noticeably if all 3 fast ports are actually connected to >1G ports. Right now I'd not recommend buying such gear unless you have a demonstrable need for that much throughput. (There are rumors that the next generation of 10G ethernet ports will eat less power, but they're not on the market yet.) 2.5G ports seem much more reasonable power-wise.

Low power 10G is just starting to hit the market, but no matter what, setting up 10G is going to be expensive and almost certainly unnecessary.

 

[drinkingbird]

Can you still use these network speeds locally even if your internet connection is not that fast, yet, and benefit from it from the device or devices that have a greater than 1 Gbps network card ?

It may not make sense for me though sense right now I only have one device with a network card of 2.5 Gbps.

Anyway to add a 2.5 Gbps network card to a laptop ?

One other thing, I'd ignore 5G. I suspect it will never really take off. Asus and others are skipping it, offering 2.5 and 10. It's kinda like Wifi 6e, why bother when there is already something better available and the cost difference isn't that big (and shrinking). The sweet spot for home users right now is 2.5, and maybe in a year or two 10 will start becoming more common and inexpensive.

 

[tgl]

Bestbuy is hardly a standard of where 'tech' is. Nor any other big box store.

Indeed. Searching on Amazon will give you a much better sense of what's available.

 

[drinkingbird]

Indeed. Searching on Amazon will give you a much better sense of what's available.

Except all the chinese knockoff crap mixed in often makes it hard to sort through. Newegg might be a better start, then when you find something you like, compare prices with Amazon (usually the same price as they match each other). Buy from whichever you prefer.

 

[sfx2000]

Useful link here...

The Ultimate Cheap Fanless 2.5GbE Switch Buyers Guide

We test 15+ fanless 2.5GbE switches to see which are the top picks, which have cool features, and which ones are simply overpriced

www.servethehome.com

 

[L&LD]

The QNAP switches have been performing flawlessly for me for the past two (three?) years already. There is nothing else to consider, IMO.

 

[ddaenen1]

I have considered 10Gbe for some time and even equipped my pfsense router with an X550-T2 card in preparation of...Now, i see things slightly different. I don't have the need for internal 10Gb LAN speeds at all and whilst i have a 1Gbps cable connection, fiber at 1Gbps is still far away in my neighborhood let alone 10Gbps. By the time that will fly by, hardware will be a lot cheaper so i am just going to sit it out.

 

[coxhaus]

I am sitting here with 1 gig and a layer 3 switch trying to get most out of it I can. 10 gig for me in Texas during the summer does not really work as my Cisco 10 gig switch, 10 gig uplink only with four 10 gig ports, still spins fans that make noise even though the switch is about as quiet as 10 gig switches gets. I will try again this winter to see if I can get away running it. I will close the vent in the room to keep it colder.

I will jump to 10 gig when I can regardless of needing it. It needs to be a Cisco L3 10 gig switch.

I am not interested in 2.5 gig as I have nothing that will connect to it. My old Cisco WAP581 wireless APs were the only devices I had that have 2.5 gig ports. I replaced them with Cisco 150ax APs with 1 gig as I have a lot of wireless ax devices.

 

[tgl]

I am sitting here with 1 gig and a layer 3 switch trying to get most out of it I can. 10 gig for me in Texas during the summer does not really work as my Cisco 10 gig switch, 10 gig uplink only with four 10 gig ports, still spins fans that make noise even though the switch is about as quiet as 10 gig switches gets.

FWIW, I've been pretty happy with the CBS350-8MGP-2X switch I got a couple months ago. 2x 10G ports, 2x 2.5G, 6x 1G, and no fan. That configuration might not suit your needs, but it's spot-on for my new house network.

It's pricy, but what did you expect from Cisco?

 

[coxhaus]

FWIW, I've been pretty happy with the CBS350-8MGP-2X switch I got a couple months ago. 2x 10G ports, 2x 2.5G, 6x 1G, and no fan. That configuration might not suit your needs, but it's spot-on for my new house network.

It's pricy, but what did you expect from Cisco?

Yes, nice switch. I gave it a long thought about buying one. Money is not the problem. I don't need 2.5 gig. I want a 10-gig switch that is not noisy. If I am going to change NICs I want to use 10 gig NICs. No reason to stop at 2.5 gig since I am starting new. I might as well buy 10 gig NICs as 2.5 gig.

The switch I have almost works. It has four 10 gig ports which I could get by with.