In this article, we will look at what is the best 2.5Gb Switch. Before proceeding, it’s important to understand exactly why you might need a 2.5Gb Switch. If you own a device with a 2.5GbE NIC, the only way you can benefit from those speeds is if you have a Switch that also supports those speeds. This is somewhat complicated because everything between two devices that support 2.5GbE must support it as well.
Therefore, if you’re trying to connect a PC with a 2.5GbE NIC and a NAS with a 2.5GbE, to get full speeds, the Switch in between must support 2.5GbE as well.
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What is the Best 2.5Gb Switch?
We will look at what is the best 2.5Gb Switch below, but make sure that you note the differences between the Managed and Unmanaged Switches. Managed Switches will allow you to configure additional features, while Unmanaged Switches are plug-and-play, so you’ll simply have 2.5GbE ports that you can use.
Before we get started, if you purchase one of the devices below and have a device that doesn’t have a 2.5GbE port, you can possibly (depending on the device) add one of these cheap network adapters to benefit from the increased speeds!
TRENDnet TEG-S350
The TRENDnet TEG-S350 is a 5-port Unmanaged Switch that is wall mountable and backward compatible with 10/100/1000 Mbps devices. If you want a 2.5GbE Switch, only need five ports, and do not need any of the additional configurations that come with Managed Switches, this is the one!
Click here to purchase the TRENDnet TEG-S350 on Amazon
D-Link DMS-106XT
The D-Link DMS-106XT is a 6-port Unmanaged Switch advertised as a gaming Switch. I urge you to ignore the branding, as this Switch is actually extremely powerful.
Not only does it have five 2.5GbE ports, but it also has one 10GbE port which can be useful if you have something like a NAS device that supports 10GbE as well. There are a bunch of “gaming” features, like LED lights, but the core functionality of this Switch is great.
Click here to purchase the D-Link DMS-106XT on Amazon
TRENDnet TEG-S380
The TRENDnet TEG-S380 is the same exact device as the TRENDnet TEG-S350, but it comes with 8-ports instead of 5-ports. It’s backward compatible with 10/100/1000Mbps devices and is an Unmanaged Switch. As long as you don’t need any of the benefits that Managed Switches provide, this is a great, reasonably priced option.
Click here to purchase the TRENDnet TEG-S380 on Amazon
QNAP QSW-2104-2T-US
The QNAP QSW-2104-2T-US is a 6-port Unmanaged Switch that has four 2.5GbE ports and two 10GbE ports. This is an interesting device, as it sits in-between something like the TRENDnet TEG-S350 and the Zyxel XGS1210-12 below.
It only has four 2.5GbE ports, but it also has two 10GbE ports. If you need 10GbE ports but also need more than two 2.5GbE ports, this is a great option. However, if you only need two 2.5GbE ports, I’d suggest checking out the Zyxel XGS1210-12 below.
Click here to purchase the QNAP QSW-2104-2T-US on Amazon
Zyxel XGS1210-12
The Zyxel XGS1210-12 is an interesting Switch, as it has 10-ports, but only two of them are 2.5GbE. There are eight total 1GbE ports, two 2.5GbE ports, and two 10GbE SFP+ ports. The benefit of this device is that it’s a Managed Switch, which means that you can create VLANs, set up Link Aggregation, and more. If you only need two 2.5GbE ports and also require two 10GbE SFP+ ports, this is a great option.
Click here to purchase the Zyxel XGS1210-12 on Amazon
Conclusion: What is the Best 2.5Gb Switch?
This article looked at what is the best 2.5Gb Switch. In general, 2.5Gb Switches aren’t exactly easy to come across and there isn’t a huge variety. There are enterprise-grade Switches (Unifi has one) that are designed to offer enterprise-grade features, but as of right now, 2.5GbE isn’t really standard on most devices so the benefit of them is minimized.
Thanks for checking out the article on what is the best 2.5Gb Switch. If you have any questions on what is the best 2.5Gb Switch, please leave them in the comments!
