QNAP QSW-L3208-2C6T Review A Versatile 8-Port 10GbE Combo Switch

QNAP QSW-L3208-2C6T Performance

For this, we are using a Keysight XGS2 chassis with the NOVUS10/1GE16DP card, and we are using half of the card for this. We are using an RFC2544 Quick Test for throughput with a few changes, for example, we extended the run times per iteration to 30 seconds and started at 10% of the full line rate, searching for frame loss up to 100% of the line rate. We also test the RFC2544 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 1280, and 1518 byte frame sizes, and then add the standard IMIX, the Cisco IMIX, and an IPSec IMIX, which introduces mixed frame sizes into the testing.

Here you can see the throughput by the frame size, which for this switch was right at the theoretical limit. Here is a look at the frames-per-second.

Above, you can see that even at 64B frame sizes, we are hitting the maximum theoretical frame rate of the link of just under 120M frames per second. If you look at the first chart, at 64B we are just over 60Gbps of throughput, but we are still hitting what is considered maximum throughput. That is because with smaller packets functions like preambles, inter-packet gaps, and so forth consume more of the wire speed. It is also why you often see maximum throughput testing done at 1518B or larger sizes.

We can also take a look at the latency across our tests:

Overall for a low-cost switch this is fairly decent performance.

We are still working a bit on how to present all of this data, and what data to show. Still, we hope folks find this level of testing exciting. As you might imagine, like our CyPerf testing, we are spending a lot of time profiling different switches for our testing. There are also a few switches that are still using iperf3 testing, but this is where we are going in 2026 and beyond.

QNAP QSW-L3208-2C6T Power Consumption and Noise

In terms of power, the unit comes with a 12V 3A power supply. QNAP says the maximum power consumption is 36W, so this matches.

At idle, it draws around 11.6W, which is notably more than a 2.5GbE switch, but reasonable for a 10Gbase-T switch.

Adding a port linked up gets us to 12.3W.

Using a SFP+ to 10Gbase-T adapter is not realistic on a combo port like this, but we still went up to 13.0W.

Noise-wise, we could not pick up the fan noise at 1m in our 34dba noise floor studio under normal operation. We recorded a 38dba blip, but overall, this was not bad. We do wonder what it would be in a warmer environment, such as a 75-78F room temperature, but overall, this was not too bad by any means.

Final Words

This switch is designed for lower-complexity networks. Really, this is the switch you get if you just need eight 10GbE ports and perhaps want the options to set some VLANs.

The eight 10Gbase-T ports, with two of them being combo ports, are ones that we really like since they provide a lot of flexibility. We have many readers who end up with a mix of SFP+ and 10Gbase-T devices, and this addresses both types. It also supports 2.5GbE and 5GbE. While there are cheaper 2.5GbE and 5GbE switches out there, the pricing for a 10GbE switch is not bad. If you just need a simple switch, and this is selling in the lower end of its $350-450 street price range, it becomes a big upgrade at a low cost compared to something like the Ubiquiti Flex 10 GbE USW-Flex-XG (also assuming you do not want/ need the UniFi management suite.)

Overall, it was neat to also give you a view into our new testing. In 2025, we made the decision to get higher-end network testing running at STH. Now we have some high-end testing tools where we can show you views of devices that are not available elsewhere. Even against that backdrop, this QNAP QSW-L3208-2C6T performed really well.

Where to Buy

Here is an Amazon Affiliate link to what we purchased.