Today we are going to look at perhaps the cheapest 8-port 2.5GbE switch with a 10GbE uplink that is silent and is low power. That is really all one can ask for. While in our first part of this series, we looked at the MokerLink version, now we are looking at the lower-cost platform, the Horaco 8-port 2.5GbE switch.
For this switch, we actually have four different models, purchased from Amazon and AliExpress. We made a video because we want our readers to know there are options in this space:
Still, we wanted to give each its formal switch review. This is the AliExpress variant, and so the big difference here is the price. At $95 or so at the time of writing this review, it is 20% less expensive than the Amazon versions, but it also takes a bit longer to arrive.
In the video, we unbox two switches side-by-side to see how similar they are down to the packaging.
Horaco 8-port 2.5GbE and 1-port 10GbE Switch Hardware Overview
The front of the switch is very basic. We get eight 2.5GbE ports. We also get a SFP+ 10GbE port that worked with generic DACs and SFP+ optics. We have seen other switches with four or five 2.5GbE ports and then two 10GbE ports. This is the same as the 4×2.5GbE plus 2x 10GbE units in terms of bandwidth, but it is exposed differently.
The switch itself is desktop mounting only, there are no rackmount ears.
Both sides only have vents.
The back has the DC power input and a grounding point. Generally, we like all ports on these switches to be on the same side so that they can be placed against a wall. On higher-end switches, having ports on both sides can make more sense. In this class, it would be easier if they were all up front.
The bottom of the switch has two mounting points. One will quickly notice this label is in Chinese.
Just for comparison, here is the Mokerlink label:
Inside the switch, we can see the ports and SFP+ cage with two heatsinks behind them.
This is the internal view where we can see the two switch chip layout.
The switch appears to be using the RTL8373-CG and the RTL8224-CG switch chips. It is using a 10G uplink from the RTL8224-CG to the RTL8373-CG. Each has four 2.5GbE links downstream and the latter has a 10G SFP+ link as well. We made this diagram for all of these switch reviews:
This, like the other units we have tested, is a fanless design keeping noise low.
We had some requests to show the bottom side of the PCB, so we added that to this review.
Next, let us get to the management, performance, power consumption, and our final thoughts.
“There is, however, a new switch that we saw at Computex 2023 that should be available in 2024 that will have 8x 2.5GbE ports and 2x SFP+ ports at 6W maximum.”
Could you elaborate on that? Also, do you plan on doing reviews for managed versions of such switches? At least some basic VLAN support would be great to have.
I really hope we start to see multi-gig switches with at least two 10-gig ports become more affordable soon. All the time, I come across situations where it’d save me from having to drop another cable.
imagine：
1X10G for uplink
8X2.5G PoE for AP
The best solution that fit your villa，ohh
So，why not？
I see that it does not manage VLANs but does it at least pass along 802.1Q VLAN tags?
Funda, yes this switch does seem to pass my tagged vlan traffic! Thumbs up! (got mine from amazon that had a 10$ coupon btw) and im using the 10gb fs.com 10gb Ethernet to fiber sfp+ module on it.
STH: I wish VLAN tag passing on a unmanaged switch was listed on these reviews :) I bought the TRENDnet 8-Port Unmanaged 2.5G on your review for example – however it did not pass the tag and I returned and got the netgear 2.5gb that does.
Hello Patrick / Rohit,
Big fan of your content – It will be great if you can review the 4×2.5GbE + 2x10G SFP+ switches that I read about in your forum
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/cheap-interesting-chinese-4×2-5g-2x10g-switch-but-also-problems-with-dacs.40767/
Qaruna – we have several of different versions of these and the testing/ video is already done on 2-3 of them. Stay tuned for a mini-round-up with 9 different options.
Hi !
I have noticed managed version of such switch available on market (alie…) at low price ~110 Eur , do you plan to review one?
I noticed another cheaper model on Aliexpress, Horeco HC-ST0910G, which is only USD $66,50, compared to USD $88,90 for the Horeco ZX-SWTG018AS (the one reviewed here). I couldn’t see any difference in specifications, so I wrote to Horeco customer support to understand what the difference is.
They replied: “They both use the same type of chipset (RTL8373 and RTL8224), but the Horeco HC-ST0910G has a newer version of the chipset.
…if that’s correct, it seems like a no-brainer to get the Horeco HC-ST0910G instead :)