Just wanted to point out, these (and every crs3/5 switch) can do line rate layer 3. The switch chips in these things fully support that, what they can't do is line rate layer 4 (stateful firewall / NAT). So while it's true you wont want to use one of these for your internet edge router, using it for inter vlan routing or internal static / bgp routes is super doable at line rate.
that's true for this model in particular, but other models in the crs300 or crs500 series can in fact offload stateful connections. the dataflow is new connections are first analyzed by the CPU then marked to be offloaded to the ASIC on all subsequent packets for the connection, resulting in wire-speed firewalling for most setups. you can check which models exactly at the bottom of their docs page for l3hw.
Great to know, keeping your traffic inside the switch rather than having to move it to your router and back to do VLAN routing (aka router on a stick) is a key feature I'm looking for.
@@headlibrarian1996 it's not a firewall, it's a switch with L3 capabilities. it can offload NAT if that's what you need, but there are still other limitations, just like any ASIC. if you want a proper firewall, you'd need a much more expensive solution which necessarily would rely on its CPU. i'd recommend checking their docs on "L3HW".
I went all 10G a few years ago -- but the solution for this is still Mikrotik in the form of their CRS305/309/317 products. Go all 10G DAC for server-class device interconnect and a couple fiber transceivers for things further away from your server/switch closet and you're good to go.
I've got a CRS312 as my main switch and really like it. I had already ran CAT6 cable so I preferred getting a switch that has RJ45 ports instead of SFP+. Bought it for around $520 total including shipping (no tax since I got it shipped from Latvia to the USA).
You'll have to have rather specific needs for that to make sense IMO since so few things support it. If you have a very fast NAS/SAN or some such maybe, short of that I don't see the point unless your purpose is bragging ;-). In a professional setting sure, but for home use there are a bunch of downsides to it and very few upsides.
Thank you for uploading. Your video was very helpful in my research. Also, your Starfox 2 display in the background turned me into a 12yr old again. Many thanks for the smile and positive vibes. Take care, everyone!
got it a few weeks ago, using as a secondary homelab (build on NUCs) 2.5G access switch connected via SFP+ DAC to my home aggregate switch. Love that I can install two switches side to side in one 1U rack (using RMK2/10). But I hate, that I cannot mix the CRS309 and CRS310 in 1U (difference in size).
Make a PoE+ version and you have the "golden" home switch. Also hoping their firmware on their cheaper switches gets better. The CSS610-8P-2S+IN had been working stable, but it has some bugs when configuring. Auto negotiation of speed on the sfp + ports does not work etc.
@@weisstdudochnicht1I will probably buy the same switch. I wish they made it in a more desktop form factor. They have a 10GbE model with poe and in a much more attractive form factor. If you want a desktop mount. I'd be happy with a non poe model. Would be great to have a desktop size omada capable 2.5G switch.
@@DRx1546 Yes, I have done that but since the firmware on the Mikrotik switch is f***** you can't set link speed on the switch. You would have to do that on the device it is connected to, and then what if the device dont support manual configuration of link speed? It isn't a huge problem, but I expect better when buying a new product for 200+ USD
2 hours ago I dropped it in my 10" rack, just on shelf for now as I am waiting for small ears - RMK-2/10, will see if I will need to add some spacers as the switch its quite deep for 10" racks. So far its nice, I wish there were 4x SFP+ as two you plug your server and your main machine and thats it, if you separate nas and server in to two and you would want two machines with 10gbit you need to add stuff... but even the jump to 2.5gbit is super nice. Bit correction there is no swOS for this model and likely wont be.
I have been using their cheapest ten gig switch for a while, but since I already have cat 6 to my wife's PC, I could hook her up with this switch as well. Awesome
I have a QNAP box and this switch would be perfect as I only need 3 ports at this moment, my QNAP box has 2 x 2.5Gbps ports and my computer has a 2.5Gbps port which would be perfect for transferring video and audio files between the 2, thanks so much Jeff and keep making great videos!
I bought one of these and it worked great in RouterOS. I discovered, however, that the two SFP+ ports were 100% non-functional, when the switch was booted into SwOS. They worked perfectly in RouterOS, but were dead in SwOS. I opened a support ticket with Mikrotik, and they sent me a link to SwOS version 2.17rc2 (I had been running 2.16), specifically for this switch, to upgrade it to, and that got them working. Keep this in mind if you have this issue.
i JUST built a pfsense router with a similar feature set...an X520 dual 10G SFP+ card, a quad port 2.5G realtek nic, two realtek 2.5G single-port nics, and the 1G built-in realtek(?) nic, and its AMAZING...now my ubuntu nas and main proxmox vm server are connected with 10G, my backup proxmox vm server has quad 2.5G connections through some unmanaged 2.5G switches, my wifi comes off a 2.5G from the router to one of those cheap 5-port single 2.5+ uplink to quad 1G switches and then out to a pair of belkin APs running openwrt - its fantastic...a whole open-source house more or less and its QUICK.....everything to everything else is now no longer bottlenecked by network and i can get HDD speed from whatever to whatever else for media xfer
Building my network a few years ago started with a Mikrotik RB3011UiAS router. The set up on it was quite a challenge for very basic self hosting and a few other things. I still do not really understand all of the firewall and nat rules but things seem to work and is secure. It is complicated and confusing for me though. The CRS310-8G+2S+IN would be the next logical upgrade to 2.5 networking for me. I like everything about Mikrotik products except for RouterOS.
I completely walked away from MikroTik earlier this year. It was just... not able to keep up with what I was doing and was choking off traffic to our home router. So yeah, keep your expectations well in check on its performance. I actually get full bandwidth on speed tests to my desktop with my current 10GbE setup.
what were you doing? L2 and L3 switching is done in-hardware only for the first bridge. If you make multiple bridges those are not offloaded and run on the CPU, so those run bad
@@marcogenovesi8570 What do you mean "what was I doing"? I was using it as the backbone of my network running SwOS. I didn't have any special configurations for anything, no vLANs or anything like that. But I wasn't coming close to saturating my home Internet connection (which is Google Fiber 5Gb) from my desktop going through the MikroTik CRS317 to my router. With the TP-Link switch I dropped in to replace the MikroTik, I have zero issues doing that.
I grabbed the generic version of this non-managed for $70 , SFP+ ports are empty, but I think I can grab the managed version of this for like $100. I still think 10g network cards and 10g SFP+ ports are a little over priced for a home network, but I like that I can upgrade later when it becomes more financially sensible. That and the fact that they seem to work fine on all standard cat5e runs is also a plus.
i don't think 2.5/5g was ever worth it and is only a stopgap for 10gb. 10g over sfp+ ports via dac cables or cheap optical transceivers has been worthwhile for a few years now
I have brought a unknown brand 4*2.5+2*10G SFP+ in $60 at Amazon. It is a steal. It uses Realtek solution and it has no fan and runs cool. So far, so good: no fan and full speed without throttling. There is no feature but a plain unmanaged switch which does its job. This is a no brainer if you have SFP+ transceiver and 2.5G connections.
can it be a video about CRS504-4XQ-IN (4x100G) or CCR2216-1G-12XS-2XQ (12x 25G, 2x100G) ? ((-; the second one looks promising for me, since I try to upgrade my primary homelab to 25G (or 100G if I found the cheap cards)
I'm fairly impressed with the price I have a similar switch I'm my home by TP-link from the Omada services of SDN products. It is a TL-SG3210XHP-M2 and cost about $400 new.
I was looking for relatively inexpensive 2.5Gbps solutions lately for my little home network, as 1Gbit to my NAS sometimes is too slow. I've seen some unmanaged ones, some with different work modes, and then this popped out. Since I have some experience with MT devices, it will be my new purchase in a few days. Full managed, with support for aggregation (I need it for my NAS, since it's an older model with 2x1Gbit and aggregation support) and a 2xSFP+ ports for future upgrades - perfect for my planned use and doesn't brake the bank. Just as a word of caution - I've seen reports of internal radiators falling off (on Reddit and other forums while searching for additional info about this model). It mainly concerns the radiator on the Marvell switching chip. Since the chip itself is small and radiator is only secured with double sided thermal tape, there is a chance of it falling off the chip in transport. So just to be sure, open your device and check. Or if you have problems with high temperatures, that will probably be the culprit.
Definitely buying one! I have a small homelab that includes a 4 x 2.5gbe topton N5105. Having them uplink at 1gbe feels wrong. I think long run is have the CRS31-8G+2S+IN, an 8 port 10gbe sfp+ switch and a 1gbe poe switch... All from Mikrotik. Cool to have them half width, I can stick 4x switches in 2U of space!
I really only ever see computers with 1gb or 10gb never had anything 2.5 except some access points. But anything server/pc for sure go for a cheap 10gb NIC it will be cheaper and better performing than something between.
It's a great option for some but for many like myself i wish they'd gone with 10GBE RJ45 instead of SFTP+ While its a cost savings for the company it bumps up the cost to the user especially if they cant use a sinple short digital direct access cable. Once you add SFTP+ to RJ45 adapters rhe cost jumps quick. That said if this is not an issue for the use case it looks pretty compelling especially being mansged. I recently bought a QNAP QSW-2104-2T-A-US 6-Port 10GbE for my setup and itvworks perfectly for my needs but it's not managed and it has 2 less 2.5gbe ports and costs a bit more than it should imo. Even with the limitations and cost i thobk the qnap may be a better fit in many home lab and small office scenarios. Just my thoughts. Cheers, Christopher
I agree. I’ve been using a qnap switch for a few years and it has 2 sfp+ ports, 2 combo rj45/sfp+ ports (so four 10gig connections) and 8 gigabit rj45 ports. Been great. Just wish we could skip 2.5 and go straight to 10 gig for the mainstream folks.
@@mrmotomoto Its a cabling issue. 10gbe wont run on many existing cat5e runs. But 2.5gb will. If you are advocating for multigig gear that can also do 10gb, sure, but that's all brand new because 10gb has been out a long time now and a lot of it doesn't support multigig.
This would almost have been perfect for a usecase I had; just needed PoE. Went for an FS S3200-8XMG4S (I think?) instead, as it gave the PoE needed for the AP, and two extra SFP+ ports for if we go with using it as core when we start rolling two client switches down the track. Little more expensive probably, but the support I've gotten from FS any time it was needed has been great (been using their S3900-24T4S for a bit, and working on configuring one of their APs, though encountered a bug in the GUI configuration that I'm working through). They do seem to expect people to use more CLI, but there's only one feature I've found between the two switches i have that I've not been able to do through the GUI; LACP, specifically on the S3900; it's on the GUI on the other one apparently (haven't looked yet though).
Mikrotik too has lots of documentation geared towards CLI (ssh or serial console) use, some things are only explained in CLI. Although the GUI follows the same structure as the CLI so you can usually figure it out.
@marcogenovesi8570 Let me clarify, there's time questions are asked where they assume I'm referring to the CLI when I'm not with FS. It's getting better, as I have a consistent contract point, and they've learned that I go GUI first, but that was a sticking point for a bit. But yeah, with the S3900, LACP is only explained in the CLI side, and I eventually found and informed them that while you could adjust an already configured LACP group in GUI, you couldn't create it there, but example. There's also a little less knowledge from some of them on the differences, possibly because less clients use the GUI than CLI with them, so they'll make a comment and I'll have to clarify that the GUI doesn't have some setting or opportunity to navigate away for something after a certain point. Minor teething issues, but CLI is always a fallback I can use, much like many other switches, and it has all the features I need. That's just the one thing that does bother me about the FS gear that I've been using in conjunction with where this almost would have been useful (but again, needed poE, so still not quite).
That is the FS switch I have been looking at, looks like it has been working well for you so far. I am about to do a home network upgrade (we have 2.5gig coming in from our ISP.) The next item I will need is a newer router so I can get rid of my old Edge light.
@dumbALASKANhick It's only used on small occasions, just because of what is used for, but yeah it's been perfect for what we needed it for. I'd recommend getting directly through them due to the support you get from them, but the hardware has been great for us; a step down from what we'd been using, but it means I don't have to rip my home network apart, and it fills our needs. The Mikrotik looks like a good alternative if you're not needing the PoE though
ZimaCube once that device comes in this might be the ideal device to bond the 4 2.5Gb ports the device comes with into a 10Gb piple, if the device will allow such a thing. Don't actually know yet.
I'm pretty sure Ubiquiti still only has a POE 8 port model in this factor for 2.5x more. Not sure why they keep 2.5 to their "Enterprise" models so far. Which seems basically switches to do their U6 Enterprise APs backhaul.
Been looking at solutions like this recently. Been looking at 2.5gb PCI cards to put into my unraid server and PC since I use my PC to transfer files to the unraid. Maybe in future upgrades I'll get some parts with 2.5 built in but for now this should be a good solution.
12 ports at 1gbe, 12 ports at 2.5gbe, and 5+ sfp+ ports. All the 1gbe ports need poe, the 2.5ports need poe++. Really all i want is one switch for the whole house. 3 servers, 1 nas, 1 rouer on 10gbe, wifi6e and fast clients on 2.5gb, and legacy stuff on the 1gbe (cameras, consoles, tvs, etc.). If the switch cant do firewalling at line rate, then it'd be nice to have a couple of 25gbe ports for uplink to the router/firewall so i could do 10gb bi directional to the nas.
So is it not recommended to use this as the main router with a multigig internet? Say I if have 1.5g internet, would it not be able to push that NAT while also providing 2.5g switching?
I've been looking for a router 2.5gb/10gb sfp upgrade and this would fit perfectly for the office/homelab layer. I've got a 10gb mikrotik already so this would pair nicely...just need to figure out the vlan tagging.
Nice... I'm considering this to run as a router in my home network. I've been looking for an affordable 10Gbit capable L3 router that I can use to manage my home network.
As far as I know, this one doesn't support NAT offloading or Fastrack offloading, so it's not as useful as an edge router. It'd be fine for inter-VLAN routing though.
Love the video! I was hot and heavy just now to order one of these things, but it doesn't seem to offer PoE. That, and I'd like a few more RJ45 ports. Could you suggest one of their models that would offer the features of the CRS310-8G-2S-IN but with PoE and 16-ish RJ45s? I attempted to do some comparison on their site but it is abhorrent. Thanks in advance.
Also, I tried to order merch on your store site, using cash app and paypal, and the window for cashapp never shows but the paypal window pops and then disappears. I turned off popups and tried multiple browsers, and had the same experience. I tried.
A big difference is this one has all RJ45; it seems like switches that use SFP+ can be produced a bit more cheaply (then if you need a lot of RJ45 you end up paying a ton for transceivers).
Might pick one of these up for my lab corner at work. Nice to have. CSS610 are available as well but can only run SwOS/Lite wich can be a disadvantage sometimes. For my home im planning to run RB5009 PoE version, then combined with a CRS326 connected to each other via a DAC 10gig. Then add a cAP AX XL connected to the RB5009 on PoE and the RB5009 going to be used as AP controller. I know i can just get a "all-in-one" but whats the fun with that :D Some kind of a hardware firewall between WAN and the RB5009 router would be nice. But dont know what. Maybe a L009? any suggestions?
There are very few applications where a Mikrotik switch or Router is not the ideal choice. The cheapest Mikrotik Switch/Router has about a million more possible configurations that the most expensive products cisco offer. RouterOS is by far the most versatile network toolbox that could ever be run on a network device. There is almost nothing they can't do and at a rock bottom price point.
I don't have a 3D printer, but I really want to mount this under my desk. Does the Creative Commons license you licensed the model under allow me to pay a 3D printer service / shop to print me off some mounts? It says non-commercial use... but I'm not sure whether that counts. It's the printing that would be commercial for me, not the model itself, as I just don't have a 3D printer.
Thank you for the video. Question, isthere any guidance which you feel is better Router OS or the other Switch OS that are offered in this switch? Which one do you run? TIA
I don't know if it's supported in that device (on Mikrotik's website it says only RouterOS not dual boot) On my Mikrotik switches (not the same model) there is a setting in the RouterOS menu. First go to System -> SwOS and set the IP and "allow from ports" to allow access to SwitchOS web interface from those ports, the Save Config. Then you go to System -> RouterBOARD -> Settings and choose "SwOS" in the "Boot OS" field. Then Click Apply and then reboot.
Also, if anyone is interested I can tell you how to get a free Juniper switch, Juniper AP and the switch is 12x 1g ports and 2x SFP+ 10g ports. I got my set completely free!
Hard to beat Mikrotik for 10G gear for the home lab, the CRS309 8x SFP+ switches price is not much more than this one, that is what I have used for my lab gear. The problem the last year or two has been they are never in stock.
I always get link down and link up at 10G speed on the SFP+ port with Mikrotik DAC cable. The LAN port of another device became 100M half duplex. Bad series?
If you do a Noctua swap, does the switch alarm at all? My lab sg500 has been running with noctuas swapped into it for probably five years now - but always with the error light flashing!
Have you been able to connect Intel X550-T2 adapters to the switch and have it work with 2.5 GbE right away? Have two units of this switch, running RouterOS 7.11.2 and this combination only establishes a 1 GbE link automatically. Forcing both interface ends (in RouterOS and Intel’s Windows drivers) to 2.5 GbE results in it working but that’s not elegant - using the latest Intel X550 firmware and drivers (from the Intel ethernet adapter package 28.2.1). Tried multiple patch cables (CAT 8.1), they work fine with the same ethernet adapter and other 10 GbE switch models with 10 GbE speed.
still waiting for 30-50 buck 2.5 switches - i mean they are not that much of a jump from 1gig and there are plenty of 20 dollar 1 gig switches out there
i wish i had the money for one, would be awesome with 2 10g pcie adapters to get between my Server and main rig. would make transfer for my very legally aquired media from my main computer to the nas.. or 2.5 from my wife to nas.. but im broke! so 1g for us im afraid, even if our mobo have 2.5..
Interesting... I have been looking to ditch my juniper switch, it's a noisy little thing. I could see me getting this switch and some sort of POE injector hub (does such a thing exist?) to give all my POE devices the juice they need
As a Warning: The sfp+ ports of this switch won't work under the current SwOS Version (2.16). Mikrotik Support will provide a pre-release of 2.17 on request, tho.
Very generic question which nobody can answer. It depends on needs. I use Mikrotik RB5009UPr+S+IN but it covers my needs(firewall+pihole ad blocker+PoE+FTTH fiber directly into it = all in one, replacing 3 devices I used for that), it doesn’t mean it applies to you
@@marcogenovesi8570 All network racks are accessible from both sides, it's an industry standard. In the case of this little switch, my argument was, having a front power jack limits the orientation and locations where you may want to install this switch.
