GigaPlus GP-S50-0800 Review An 8-Port 5GbE Switch

Continuing with our recently-launched 5Gb Ethernet project, today we are looking at another 8-port unmanaged network switch, this time coming from budget builder GigaPlus. As with many of the other players in this space, GigaPlus is benefiting from the drop in costs for 5GBASE-T gear, allowing them to bring a relatively inexpensive 5GbE switch to the market to slot in between cheaper 2.5GbE equipment and pricier-still 10GbE gear.

We have looked at a few unmanaged 5GbE switches now and what we have found is interesting, though not unexpected. What seems to be driving this surge in new switches is the availability of a basic-but-effective switch design from a white label ODM, which in turn is built around Realtek’s RTL9303 switch chip. This off-the-shelf design has allowed GigaPlus and other vendors to quickly bring 5GbE switches to the market, though not without stepping on each other’s toes to some extent.

Here is an Amazon Affiliate link to what we purchased.

GigaPlus GP-S50-0800 Hardware Overview

As always, we will start things off with a look at the switch itself before moving to the hardware inside. It is rare to come across a network switch that qualifies as looking fancy from the outside, and GigaPlus’s GP-S50-0800 isn’t breaking any new ground here. This is a basic switch, and it looks the part.

GigaPlus’s labeling is pretty straightforward, listing all of the speeds the RJ45 Ethernet ports run at as well as what the status LEDs mean. As this is the third switch we have seen to use this white label design, it is notable that GigaPlus does the best with regards to label legibility: the port numbers are clearly printed in white on top of a darker orange background, allowing for a significant amount of contrast between them.

Being that this is a passive and unmanaged switch, as we will see when we tear it apart there is not much to the electronics inside. As a result, GigaPlus is able to offer a fully passive design that can be cooled with little more than some heatsinks and, looking from the outside, some side vents on both sides to allow for the most basic of airflow.

DC power for the switch components comes from the switch itself, which has an internal power supply. As a result, the switch only needs a simple C13 AC power cable to feed it. And other than a grounding point, the socket for that cable is the only other thing you will find on the rear of the switch.

Meanwhile, looking at the bottom we find a single piece of metal with feet already machined into it to give the switch just a bit of elevation for cooling purposes. This design means that there are no rubber feet to lose here, but the trade-off is that the metal feet will not provide as much friction on slick table-tops.

Alternatively, GigaPlus includes a set of rack ears, allowing the switch to be mounted in a network rack as a 1U switch.

Removing the lid and opening up the switch, we find an increasingly common sight for 5GbE switches: a two-board design with a power supply on one board, and the actual switching hardware on a second board.

At the bottom of the switch is the internal power supply, which feeds DC power to the switch board via a 4-pin cable.

Meanwhile the switch itself is straightforward in its simplicity, with 8 RJ45 jacks connected to 8 magnetic modules, and those further routed through the 5GbE PHYs under a large black heatsink, and finally leading to the switch chip at the center of the board.

Removing the heatsink over the switch chip finds a familiar face: Realtek’s RTL9303 switch controller. Interestingly, this is actually a 10GbE switch chip that has been given a lighter workload by only needing to drive 5GbE ports. It is paired with external DRAM to make for a complete solution – in this case a 256MB DDR3 chip from ESMT.

Next, let us plug the switch in and see how it works.