Review on 🔀 QNAP QSW-M2108-2C, 8-Port 2.5Gbps Management Switch with 2 Port 10Gbps SFP+ / NBASE-T Combo. Effortless web-based management. by Steve Brethorst

I don't have a 10Gbps or SPF+ device so I'm only using it as a 10-port 2.5Gb switch for now. Installation is as easy as others if you don't need control features. You don't even need to use the web control interface if all you need is a plug and play switch. The status LED is amber when there is no multi-gigabit connection and green when the speed is 2.5 Gbps or higher. This is useful to quickly check network speed. Not all network devices do this. Some have no progress bar at all. For my 2.5 Gbps network this is working fine so far. Why am I only giving four stars? For me there are a few small points and one big problem. While it's by no means the most expensive multi-G switch on the market today, it's not cheap either. strange choice in terms of power connection. Instead of the standard coax cable on the back of the switch, they decided to wrap it in green plastic and plug it into the top of the unit. This made replacement more difficult in the event of a broken cable. Likewise, the cable between the mains socket and the transformer unit is not a standard IEC 320 socket for the unit. I think this design was made on purpose for the buyer to purchase a replacement from them. This practice alone deserves a star deduction. Even though Revain's product description says this switch has a fan, the label on the box says it's fanless! Obviously the original design was fanless and the label on the box was designed accordingly. Later, when the temperature profile calls for a fan, no one tells the label designer. When they're ready to ship a product, they're either too lazy to check all the details or too cheap to redesign and reprint the label. Please note that the packaging box is a standard brown box with the product label stuck on. Even they remade the whole box, they had to do it, not to mention the label. Because the label on the packaging doesn't match the product and they deserve a star deduction. For the price of the product you would expect them to at least deliver quite a bit. But no! They seem to be trying to save money for the noisy one. I measure 52 dB at the vent. To make matters worse, the fan does not regulate the temperature, but is constantly on. This is the only switch I have with a fan, and it's louder than my PC's CPU fan. Depending on your noise tolerance and the location of the switch, this may or may not bother you. Another star for me. Although I should only give this switch two stars since the first two complaints don't affect day-to-day operation, I'm giving it a three-star rating.