New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper • Hacker News Board

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#271

Post by mort96 » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 6:25 PM UTC

adrian_b wrote: post #147

mort96 wrote: post #53

All these USB version names. I used to know what they all meant, but then the USB IF went ahead and renamed them all and made a bunch of versions have the same name and renamed some versions to have the same name as the old name of other versions. I have absolutely no idea what anyone means when they say USB 3.2 gen 2x2. I used to know what USB 3.2 meant but it's certainly not that.

Unfortunately "USB 3.2" is just a version of the standard, which does not give any information about the performance of a USB port or device. USB 5 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 1, available on Type A or Type C connectors (or on devices on a special extended micro B connector) USB 10 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 2, available on Type A or Type C connectors USB 20 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 2x2, available only on Type C connectors Moreover, "5 Gb/…

USB 3.2 used to be what we now call USB 3.2 gen 2x2, doesn't it? So it used to be that the version dictated the max speed: 3.0 was 4Gb/s, 3.1 was 10, and 3.2 20, right?

But then they decided to memory hole that and now USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 are also USB 3.2 and USB 3.2 is called "generation 2x2", whatever that is supposed to mean

It makes no sense anymore. It used to be quite simple.

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#272

Post by aggregator-ios » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 6:26 PM UTC

wolvoleo wrote: post #267

aggregator-ios wrote: post #264

For those that read the article and are still confused (as I was) about what Apple hardware would give you the full 10GbE speeds: - 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter is still the best. Full symmetrical 10GbE on laptops as far back as the 2018 MacBook Pro 13" (Intel) and every laptop since. Including the Airs starting with the M1 chip (Not sure about Neo). - No Apple hardware supports the 3.2 v2x2 standard (20Gbps) and your c…

> 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter is still the best. Full symmetrical 10GbE on laptops as far back as the 2018 MacBook Pro 13" (Intel) and every laptop since. Including the Airs starting with the M1 chip (Not sure about Neo). The neo doesn't have thunderbolt at all so no, that won't fly.

Thank you, I was suspecting the same but was not sure.

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#273

Post by CaliforniaKarl » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 6:34 PM UTC

flal_ wrote: post #246

What would be actual use cases ? I mean, I get the nerdery of having the fastest possible network, but in practice ?

Recently, I had a researcher who had been delivered a blob of research data. It was multiple TB, and the data was delivered in a little RAID-1 drove enclosure, which had a USB-C connection. (I don’t remember the exact make or model.)

The user originally wanted to do the transfer over WiFi. I helped them set up the transfer, and they eventually realized it would take multiple months to complete.

I set them up with a Thunderbolt 10GBASE-T Ethernet adapter. The wiring was Cat-6, but the distance was low enough such that 10G would’ve been achievable.

The switches in the network closet were only 1GbE, though the uplinks were 10GbE. Even so, switching the transfer from wireless to 1GbE wired brought our ETA down to just under one month.

I wish we could’ve gotten a 10GBASE-T port for the researcher; that would’ve brought the ETA down from ~1 month to ~1 week.

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#274

Post by AdrianB1 » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 6:39 PM UTC

drnick1 wrote: post #242

realxrobau wrote: post #88

Are there any that actually have a SFP+ port? That's all I want. No one wants to use 10g ethernet when DACs are cheaper than cat7, and you can just change it up to a $7 multimode when you need longer runs.

I would rather use Ethernet where possible. I used SFP28 for a while, but this meant an extra networking card was needed in each PC. Ethernet is universal, and now that bandwidths are catching up, I no longer see SFP as necessary in a typical home or small office network.

I think you are mixing it quite a bit. SFP+ is still Ethernet, also SFP28 gives you speed (25Gbps) RJ45 will never do, so the extra card for the extra speed is mandatory.

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#275

Post by emb-dev » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 6:42 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #174

MisterTea wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10 Gb is cheap! Mikrotik has a 4x10Gb + 1x1Gb port switch for $150 USD and an 8x10Gb version for about $275. I have the 8 port version. SFP+'s and fiber are cheap, like maybe 50 bucks for the SFP+ set and fiber. 10Gb PCIe cards are maybe ~$50 new on Amazon with Intel chips and cheaper on eBay - I bought used 10 Gb Mellanox cards for $25 each - "they just work" under FreeBSD and Linux. Copper 10 Gb used to consume waa…

Does microtik have any competition?

Ubiquiti, Juniper, Firewalla or Alta Labs?

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#276

Post by guax » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 6:45 PM UTC

rewgs wrote: post #250

adrian_b wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately "USB 3.2" is just a version of the standard, which does not give any information about the performance of a USB port or device. USB 5 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 1, available on Type A or Type C connectors (or on devices on a special extended micro B connector) USB 10 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 2, available on Type A or Type C connectors USB 20 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 2x2, available only on Type C connectors Moreover, "5 Gb/…

"gen 2x2" is Microsoft level bad naming.

And USB gen 4x4 is for off-roading.

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#277

Post by AdrianB1 » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 6:49 PM UTC

nasretdinov wrote: post #121

10 GbE sits in a really weird spot for me, maybe I'm just not understanding something though. It's at most 1.25 GB/sec of bandwidth, yet it's relatively quite expensive. It's not sufficient bandwidth for getting good performance out of most SSDs, yet it's really excessive for any hard drives (except for RAID10 setups I guess). For SSDs you want thunderbolt (or 40+ GbE) connection for best latency and performance, and…

10 GbE has a good performance/$ ratio, better than 25 GbE, and it is 10 times faster than the basic (for today) 1 Gbps. If you need more go for 25, but the availability of cheap cards, switches and cabling (DACs, AOCs, transceivers) is lower than for 10 GbE. For me, 10 GbE is the baseline for the year 2025 at home.

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#278

Post by gsich » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

Galanwe wrote: post #98

realxrobau wrote: post #88

Are there any that actually have a SFP+ port? That's all I want. No one wants to use 10g ethernet when DACs are cheaper than cat7, and you can just change it up to a $7 multimode when you need longer runs.

10G DACs are no cheaper than cat6, which is perfectly fine for 10G at most practical distances. Considering the target audience of these cards it seems pretty obvious to me that letting users "just buy a cat 6 cable" is miles more reasonable than having them buy a transceiver or DAC. As for allowing to switch to fiber, that just seems orthogonal again to what these USB NICs are for, not to mention the SFP+ itself is…

Also SFPs are always a gamble. Might work, might not, you have multiple options, meanwhile with copper RJ-45 you are guaranteed that a link will be established.

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#279

Post by repeekad » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 7:13 PM UTC

mbreese wrote: post #163

adrian_b wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately "USB 3.2" is just a version of the standard, which does not give any information about the performance of a USB port or device. USB 5 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 1, available on Type A or Type C connectors (or on devices on a special extended micro B connector) USB 10 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 2, available on Type A or Type C connectors USB 20 Gb/s = USB 3.2 gen 2x2, available only on Type C connectors Moreover, "5 Gb/…

The fact that you had to list all of the versions and speeds at the top of your post is illustrative of what the parent was trying to say. We can all look up what speed is associated with what version, but it’s not exactly a consumer friendly experience.

This is not what’s anti consumer, technical specifications can be confusing, it’s cable companies selling at Best Buy “gold plated” “HD ready” “braided fiber” “other bs” that is anti consumer. If you’re thinking about usb versions, you’re far from the normal consumer

Re: New 10 GbE USB adapters are cooler, smaller, cheaper

#280

Post by bdavbdav » Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 7:13 PM UTC

wolvoleo wrote: post #267

aggregator-ios wrote: post #264

For those that read the article and are still confused (as I was) about what Apple hardware would give you the full 10GbE speeds: - 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter is still the best. Full symmetrical 10GbE on laptops as far back as the 2018 MacBook Pro 13" (Intel) and every laptop since. Including the Airs starting with the M1 chip (Not sure about Neo). - No Apple hardware supports the 3.2 v2x2 standard (20Gbps) and your c…

> 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter is still the best. Full symmetrical 10GbE on laptops as far back as the 2018 MacBook Pro 13" (Intel) and every laptop since. Including the Airs starting with the M1 chip (Not sure about Neo). The neo doesn't have thunderbolt at all so no, that won't fly.

Luckily I suspect the intersect on the Venn diagram isn’t huge for Neo buyers, and those wanting / needing 10gigE