If you’re in search of an easy to setup and econmical 10Gb switch that supports 2.5Gb and 5Gb then you should definitely check out the QSW-1208-8C Switch.
QNAP is not a name we normally think about when we are looking for switches. They are know for the Network Attached Storage (NAS) devises. But I recently needed to add an office to the house, which required opening walls. This gave me the opportunity to run CAT 6e cable throughout the house. I wanted to keep the setup simple which ruled out managed switches. I really just wanted to be able to plug everything in and it is all visible.
I also new I wanted to do some future proffing so I wanted to be able to support 10Gb. 10Gb has been out a long time but the implementation is expenses. This is due to a lot of reasons but the biggest is that CAT 5 cables do not support it. As a result manufacturers are pushing 2.5Gb and 5Gb standards. These run on CAT 5 cable that most individuals and companies have installed in their homes or business.
Which bring us to the device specification that started the hunt:

  1. It must be simple to install, therefore unmanaged switch
  2. It needs at least eight ports
  3. It has to be able to transfer at 2.5Gb, 5Gb, and 10Gb.
  4. Must be affordable.
    That doesn’t sound like a lot but it is surprising how few switches can meet these requirement. Ok to tell the truth it was the affordable option that was the problem. You can go out and buy a switch for a enterprise that will do this all day but you will need to bring a lot of cash.
    So after conducting hours of internet searching and research I stumbled on the QNAP QSW-1209-8C. It is a 12 SPF+ port switch that has 8 combo ports that accept RJ45 or SPF+. RJ45 and SPF+ are just the type of plugs at the end of the cables. For my purpose I have 8 ports.
    To make sure that evaluation was free of bias and to allow me to evaluate the SPF+ connections, I purchased two switches from different vendors. This help ensure that I didn’t just get lucky and to let everyone know that this review is not sponsored by anyone.

What did we get in the box.
The QSW-1208-8C switch arrived in a plan cardboard box. Which right away indicated that this was not your typical retail item. There were no fancy pictures of jet plans or spaceships trying to demonstrate how fast the switch is. But after thinking about it the plan cardboard makes sense. The average consumer is not going to be grabbing this switch. Someone who is buying the QNAP is buying from spec not pictures so why waste money on packaging.

When the box is opened it revealse a well thought out minimalistic design that protects the content while keeping the packaging small.
Included in the box are a power cable, two brackets, rubberized feet, a manual and warranty information. The included brackets are used to add the QNAP to a sever rack. Needless to say I will not be using those.

Overview
As mentioned earlier the switch has 12 10Gb-port that are unmanaged. This allows you to upgrade or build a network without having to worry about a lot of technical settings. Also by being unmanaged it keeps the cost lower.
The switch supports 10G BASE-T, and N BASE-T standards. The N BASE-T is the industry term for saying it supports both 2.5Gb and 5Gb. There are 12 SFP+ ports of which 8 are combo ports that accept RJ45. The RJ45 are the typical ports you think about when thinking of ethernet cables.

How Does It Work
First let’s start with setup. It was a breeze. Just plug in the power cord, plug in the ethernet cable and your done. You have flashing lights that tell you the status of the connection. But in truth that was the extent of setup. It couldn’t have been easier.
Some other things to not about the switch is that it is very quite and doesn’t get hot. This can be improtat if you put the switch in a living or work space area. From my research a lot of 10Gb swithches get hot and therefore they have many fans running to keep them cool. This equates to a lot of noise. Not a problem here.


Initial Conclusion
The QSW-1208-8C is something unique and special at the time of this writing. It will work for a large section of the market due to it’s affordability, number of ports, and technology supported. If you have a NAS you should really check this switch out. I would say that if you are building out or upgrading any home network you should check this switch out. Now as we do with all review items on DFYT we will be keeping these units for an extended period to see how they perform over time. So stay tuned for future updates.