Reddit reviews Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM 24 port Gigabit Ethernet switch with two SFP+ ports

List:

• ZTE F609 - GPON ONT from ISP, bridge mode and connected to pfsense.
  
  
• Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM - Super budget 24 ports switch with basic features and 2 SFP+ ports for only $139 brand new, you just can't beat that price.
  
  
• Ubiquiti Unifi AP AC Lite - To handle wireless devices in my house, to be honest I was very disappointed with the temp, it runs very hot and it's the reason why I didn't mount it on the ceiling. If I knew all Unifi AP runs this hot, I would've go with other brand. Many people have told me that it's fine, but mine reaches 70 degrees on idle (I live in place where it can reach almost 40 degrees) and if I mount it on the ceiling without proper ventilation, it probably can go up to 80-85 degrees and I've seen couple post on Ubqt forum that their AP melted due to the temperature.
  
  
• Plugable 7 port USB hub - I have an unused spare. It's kinda expensive if you compare it to other cheap chinese crap but it doesn't backfeed power and super reliable, the other one is currently used to power my Pi2 24/7 for almost 2 years without single issue.
  
  
• Deepcool cooler - Super old notebook cooler I found on my garage, currently use this to blow the hot air from Unifi AP until I finish my mod to mount 120mm fan on the ceiling so I can put my AP.
  
  
• PC - Spec is G4400, Asrock H110M-HDV, PNY SSD CS1311 80GB, 2 WD hard drive 2TB, 8GB RAM, and 2x single NIC Intel PT Pro. This thing run Windows 10 and pfsense under Hyper-V (not a good idea I know). Also act as my media and storage server. I'm very surprised that this thing pulls less than 20w on idle!
  
  
• Others - Old monitor I found in my garage, probably from Intel dual core era, some cheap landline phone, a bluetooth keyboard, and bluetooth mouse.
  
  All these only pull about 40w, my next upgrade is probably to invest in a decent rack so I can have a better cable management.

> MikroTik Cloud Smart Switch

Just a guess:

https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CSS326-24G-2S-RM-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0723DT6MN

I have this Mikrotik cloud switchwith two 10gb sfp+ uplinks and it works great for me because I only need 10gb links between my ESXI host and Desktop. Got it for 140 off amazon.

I set up a 10 Gbps backbone for my home network this year, with 3 10 gig devices connected to it. FreeNAS server, unRAID server, and one Windows desktop. I don't use pfsense, so you should double-check that pfsense includes drivers for the cards you pick, or you could be in for some pain.

While you can achieve 10 Gbps over quality copper network cables, I went with fiber optic. Fiber optic networking has been around for a long time in many forms, so there are a lot of standards. There are two main types of cable. Multi mode and single mode. This cable type must match the fiber optic transceivers you use on each end. Then there are different qualities of cable. OS1, OS2 for single mode, and OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 for multi mode. Higher numbers indicate better cable quality. Read up on the limitations of each. Finally there are a bunch of different connector types. LC is the most common from what I have seen. There are actually two kinds of LC, and one of them has an angled end, but those are a lot less common than ends that are cut off at 90 degrees. I'm not really clear on why two kinds exist.

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ANYWAY these are what I bought and they all work fine together:

8x transceiver: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Finisar-FTLX8571D3BNL-10GB-SFP-SR-850nm-Transceiver/173943155751?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

2x NIC card: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mellanox-MHZH29-XTR-ConnectX-2-VPI-Standard-Profile-Network-Adapter/333292618107?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

1x NIC card: https://www.ebay.com/itm/MHZH29-XTR-MELLANOX-CONNECTX-2-VPI-DUAL-PORT-NETWORK-ADAPTER-CARD/223585259766?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

1x switch: http://amzn.com/B0723DT6MN

1x switch: http://amzn.com/B07LFKGP1L

1x long armored cable (Multimode, LC-LC duplex, OM3): http://amzn.com/B07JHKKCVY

Plus a bunch of different length patch cords (Multimode, LC-LC duplex, OM3) from fs.com

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I specifically chose new Mikrotik switches as opposed to buying older used enterprise switches because the price difference isn't that great, and the Mikrotik switches are fanless.

Saved a boatload of money buying used NICs, and also quite a bit buying used fiber optic transceivers. New 10 GBE transceivers can easily run $20+ each, and new NICs can easily be $100+ USD each.

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Total cost was still a few hundred USD, but that is a LOT lower than it could have been!

Mikrotik has 24 gig ports and 2 sFp+ super cheap quiet and low power.
https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CSS326-24G-2S-RM-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0723DT6MN/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1517584597&sr=8-12&keywords=mikrotik

Edit:spelling and link

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0723DT6MN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lbDZDbK7ZXFC7

If all you want is a dumb swith I agree with /u/CollateralFortune . But I also agree with /u/G01d3ngypsy and I would spend a few more bucks and get something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CSS326-24G-2S-RM-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0723DT6MN/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1519311016&sr=1-3&keywords=mikrotik+24+port+switch

This is correct.
Ready to pull the trigger on this setup:

NIC

cable

switch

Seems like everything should play nice together, with the added benefit of attaching my main desktop to the switch with 10g along with the server.

Opinions?

I have virtually no experience with Cisco and I have no intention of drinking the overpriced koolaid so take this with a grain of salt but...

I see absolutely nothing useful about the 3750G compared to, say, the new Mikrotik CSS326: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0723DT6MN

With the CSS326 you get a fanless passively-cooled switch, that has 24 gigabit RJ-45 ports, plus two 10-gigabit SFP+ cages. And brand new it costs as much as you paid for a used power-hungry noisy antique monster.

Maybe I really just don't "get it", but Cisco doesn't seem like a good choice in a home lab UNLESS you're training for certifications.

Well if your just looking for switching which it sounds like you are, there's a couple options.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0723DT6MN/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503618044&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=crs326-24g-2s%2Brm&dpPl=1&dpID=31YyE3cqAAL&ref=plSrch

Or even simpler

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0092KZBCQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1503618091&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=dlink+switch&dpPl=1&dpID=410JJ7z2lrL&ref=plSrch

I'd recommend the former if your looking to learn as these things are pretty crazy good. Probably as reliable as ubiquiti (as in not compared to Cisco of the world) but very feature rich, with a bit of a learning curve

I'm fairly certain it's 10Gbit all the way. Mellanox Connect-X 2 in my PC, one of these SFP+ modules, LC fiber to the other SFP+ in the switch, this from the switch to the other Mellanox card in my unRAID server.

Oh I know; it's more of a learning exercise with the benefit of at least getting more than 1Gb/s between my PC and unRAID server for copying files.

Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM 24 port... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0723DT6MN?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Well I can recommend this VLAN aware switch

I'd recommend using pfSense as router and firewall. it can be virtualized if you need.

I'd avoid expansion unless you actually need it.

First thing you need to do in my opinion is choose a hypervisor and start virtualization (in my case, I like Proxmox).

Second thing you should do in my opinion is separate storage from Proxmox so get a second server for storage and use like NFS or something to export to Proxmox.

From there, just figure out what you need or want and set up a VM for it.

Is this the switch? If I look at the back it seems to have a fan?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cloud-Smart-Switch-326-24G-2S-RM/dp/B0723DT6MN/ref=sr_1_17?keywords=mikrotik&qid=1571233995&sr=8-17

I believe the 24 port with SFP+ is on amazon for about $136 shipped ATM

https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CSS326-24G-2S-RM-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0723DT6MN/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537203838&sr=8-1&keywords=mikrotik+24+port+sfp%2B

https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CRS326-24G-2S-RM-326-24G-2S-rackmount/dp/B0747TBTDX/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1537203838&sr=8-2&keywords=mikrotik+24+port+sfp%2B

https://smile.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CSS326-24G-2S-RM-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0723DT6MN/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1499669159&sr=1-2&keywords=mikrotik+24+port

How's 24 port + 2xsfp+ for $138 sound?

If you need routing, there's a version similar that loses the 10G for wifi (bleh, N) but you get RouterOS instead of swOS.

Here's a managed 24-port with 2 SFP+ cages for $144:

https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CSS326-24G-2S-RM-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0723DT6MN/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=CSS326-24G-2S%2BRM&qid=1567942950&s=gateway&sr=8-2

An extra $30 gets you the dual-boot version for switching or routing (otherwise same as above):

https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CRS326-24G-2S-RM-326-24G-2S-rackmount/dp/B0747TBTDX/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=CSS326-24G-2S%2BRM&qid=1567943050&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM is a good option. It has two SFP+ ports, don't know whether you need this. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-CSS326-24G-2S-RM-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0723DT6MN

CSS-326-24G-2S+RM pair here behind pfSense. Happy with them overall. Quiet little low power switches work good. 👌 Best part is budget friendly.

Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM 24 port Gigabit Ethernet switch with two SFP+ ports https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0723DT6MN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CQQkDb4604T05