some thoughts about network hardware in my home
This is just in my home; mostly my home lab with too much equipment. Your usage is surely different. I decided a couple of years ago that all new switches will be 2.5G and that I will prefer computers with 2.5G (or better) NICs. 2.5G is very affordable. In fact 5G and 10G are creeping down in price. Do consider power consumption too. 8-port dumb or smart switches are cheap on a good day at AliExpress. Amazon isn't too bad either. So far, I have superstitiously avoided using smart switches since security vulnerabilities might lurk in their firmware. 5-port switches too often run out of ports. The modest extra cost of 8-port switches make many changes/additions easy. 16-port switches are quite a bit more expensive. I have one that only does 1G; I still find it useful. Many 8-port 2.5G dumb switches also have an 10G SFP+ port. I don't really have anything to plug into that. Except I found this <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000079929937.html> It allows my to connect two 8-port switches, at 10G, without using any of the normal ports. I hope that a pair of 8-port switches connected this way will be almost as good as a 16-port switch. (As usual, with the right tricks, and patience, you can save money over the normal AliExpress price. Figuring the tricks out is often labour-intensive.)
On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 2:31 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via Talk < talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote: This is just in my home; mostly my home lab with too much equipment. Your
usage is surely different.
Not as different as you think ;-) I decided a couple of years ago that all new switches will be 2.5G and that
I will prefer computers with 2.5G (or better) NICs. 2.5G is very affordable. In fact 5G and 10G are creeping down in price. Do consider power consumption too.
My house is wired for Ethernet and I have two 2.5GB switches. One where the Bell drop and router are located, the other in my own home lab. The others haven't been upgraded past gigabit, including the LAN-connected mesh access points to provide the wifi.
8-port dumb or smart switches are cheap on a good day at AliExpress. Amazon isn't too bad either.
It all depends on how long you're willing to wait. If you can wait two weeks, Aliexpress will do fine and has done me fine for both my switches and my interfaces (cheap PCI cards <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005241972464.html> for the desktops, USB dongles <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006834329050.html>for laptops and PCs without empty slots). If you limit searches to the ALi "Choice" collection shipping is quite fast ... as little as 10 days ... if the order exceeds $10. Of course returns are handled very differently, but for cheap commodity stuff the better vendors on Ali will just re-ship without demanding the return. Many 8-port 2.5G dumb switches also have an 10G SFP+ port. Many? I couldn't find any that didn' t have them, truly irksome. That adds (for my use) needless cost. But I gave up and just got two of these <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006821314123.html> that are under $50 each despite having one of those 10GB ports. Everything has worked fine. (As usual, with the right tricks, and patience, you can save money over the
normal AliExpress price. Figuring the tricks out is often labour-intensive.)
You have my attention. What kind of tricks? - Evan
From: Evan Leibovitch via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org>
On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 2:31 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via Talk < talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
8-port dumb or smart switches are cheap on a good day at AliExpress. Amazon isn't too bad either.
It all depends on how long you're willing to wait.
Yes. But some purchases from Amazon can be slow too. "Fulfilled by Amazon" usually makes it quick.
If you can wait two weeks, Aliexpress will do fine and has done me fine for both my switches and my interfaces (cheap PCI cards <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005241972464.html> for the desktops, USB dongles <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006834329050.html>for laptops and PCs without empty slots). If you limit searches to the ALi "Choice" collection shipping is quite fast ... as little as 10 days ... if the order exceeds $10.
"Choice" has some other benefits too. Shipping is free (included in the price). Ability to return is guaranteed by AliExpress. Etc.
Of course returns are handled very differently, but for cheap commodity stuff the better vendors on Ali will just re-ship without demanding the return.
I've returned inexpensive "Choice" things. They provide a pre-paid shipping label.
Many 8-port 2.5G dumb switches also have an 10G SFP+ port.
Many? I couldn't find any that didn't t have them, truly irksome.
Quite possible. I didn't want to assert something that I didn't know.
That adds (for my use) needless cost. But I gave up and just got two of these <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006821314123.html> that are under $50 each despite having one of those 10GB ports. Everything has worked fine.
(As usual, with the right tricks, and patience, you can save money over the normal AliExpress price. Figuring the tricks out is often labour-intensive.)
You have my attention. What kind of tricks?
Right now, there is an Anniversary Sale on. That makes the switch you you linked to C$47.58. This is the last day of the sale. It probably ends at 3 AM tomorrow (midnight in California). This item is NOT "Choice" but there is currently free shipping and free return. This one, for the same item, from a different store with a confusingly similar name, is Choice and $46.60. <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009476307195.html> There are "coupons" that you can use to reduce the price (codes that you enter at checkout -- not automatic!). For this purchase, a $3 coupon would apply. If you added something that qualified, that got your purchase up to C$48, you could instead use a coupon worth $8. People on the Red Flag Deals message board assert that the currency conversion rate used by AliExpress is worse than that used by PayPal or most credit cards. They recommend buying in US$. Generally I cannot be bothered fiddling with this. If you use the app (Android or iOS), you could use "coins" on some deals. But you have to earn coins. I collect a few each day that I check in. You can use rakuten.ca. This gives you kickbacks at a rate that varies. Usually just 2%. And it is very tricky to be sure that the item you purchase will qualify. My belief is that if the URL passes this link-checker, you will qualify. <https://portals.aliexpress.com/linkchecker.htm> Failure generates a message "Too bad! This product is a non-affiliated product.+ Success generates a message: "Lucky for you! This product is an affiliated product." Your link for the switch fails. Mine passes. Without notice, some coupons prevent qualification. If you want to qualify for rakuten.ca kickbacks, use only coupons listed on rakuten.ca. I bought my fancy Minisforum computer when the kickback was 30% -- over $900. You can use rakuten.COM. Today, for AliExpress, 14%. Transactions must be in US$, but it works, even for delivery to Canada. The rates are more generous more often. On top of that, the first week I joined, I got an extra 10% kickback (eg. 20% became 30%). I've only done this once. It has been said that coupons don't interfere with these kickbacks but I don't know. RetailMeNot has a similar scheme but I've never tried it. Don't buy something at an unbelievable price: it is likely a fraud. Beware stores that were only established in the last month or two. Remember to look at shipping costs. Sometimes they are quite high and discounts don't apply to them. Be vary careful about which "color" is selected when you order. For example, this listing was advertised as C$5.39 for a USB to 2.5G ethernet dongle. It turns out that is for the 100M color. It is $11.89 for the 2.5G USB-C colour. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008114853112.html Bundle Deals are fun: buy three from the selection (each often under the threshold for free Choice delivery (C$10 or US$10 -- advantage Canada), you will get free delivery. Hint about AliExpress and Amazon URLs: strip everything after the "?" when passing them around. Who knows what evil lurks in that stuff. ------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/6ESTDAI...
participants (3)
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D. Hugh Redelmeier -
Evan Leibovitch -
James Knott