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10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

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Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#91

Post by anonymousiam »

I tried some 10GBase-T 10GTek SFP+ modules about three years ago and they had a serious overheating problem, to the point where they just were not usable.

Within the past year, I've tried a number of Chinese 10GBase-T SFP+ modules with the Broadcom chipset and they've all been great. The one's I've got now are WTTOGTEC and WTSFOPTC, which seem to be the same company. They're dirt cheap at less than $30 each, and they're solid. I've tried both the 30m and 80m variants, and have not had any problems at all.

I've got six of them here that have been running fine full-time for several months. Two of those are in a garage with no climate controls, and summer temperatures lately often over 100℉.

The six modules I'm using are installed in three Ubiquti USW Pro XG 8 PoE switches.

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#92

Post by gpjt »

userbinator wrote: post #84
jauntywundrkind wrote: post #2

Recommendations for 25Gbit next please!

Definitely DAC or fiber. There is a 25GBASE-T standard, but no actual products exist.

OP here -- yes indeed. I ever do a new series of posts on upgrading my network to anything faster, the first one will probably be titled something like "25Gb/s Ethernet: how much it costs to rip out your CAT-6A and replace it with fibre".

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#93

Post by petterroea »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #27

I feel like we have moved into the era now where if you were putting cabling in the walls for networking you should be choosing fibre now. Not necessarily because we are definitely at the stage where the home needs it, but because the off ramp is clearly happening for ethernet at 10gbit/s and its really high consumption and heat. Switching to fibre after 2.5gbit/s seems like the thing to do now and plenty of us now h…

I just don't see the average consumer ever needing more than 10gbit. In fact, I can tell you right away most consumers wouldn't notice if they were running 500mbit vs 1gbit.

4G has been enough for a decade, 5G was mostly just an infrastructure and capacity improvement and most consumers could never tell you they notice a difference between the two. The human eye can only see so much resolution, we don't need 8k video. I don't think consumers will need more than what they already have. At least until some new novel media format that gulps down bandwidth comes around.

This isn't necessarily all bad news. There is still a push for higher bandwidth for datacenters etc, which will keep pushing technology forward, hopefully making consumer and ISP grade equipment cheaper.

If I built a house I'd probably run ethernet. Maybe play around with a 10gbe core network. But it wouldn't really give me any benefit, it's not like disks are that fast anyways.

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#94

Post by Fnoord »

tombert wrote: post #45
PaulKeeble wrote: post #27

I feel like we have moved into the era now where if you were putting cabling in the walls for networking you should be choosing fibre now. Not necessarily because we are definitely at the stage where the home needs it, but because the off ramp is clearly happening for ethernet at 10gbit/s and its really high consumption and heat. Switching to fibre after 2.5gbit/s seems like the thing to do now and plenty of us now h…

I have ten gigabits throughout most of my house, and you're right: copper is not happy pushing ten gigs. My 10 gigabit thunderbolt dongle weighs about a pound, and I think 90+% of that weight is just heatsink. If I've had it plugged in for awhile, if I accidentally touch that dongle it actually hurts because it's so hot. I cannot image that much heat is good for, well, anything. I have another Thunderbolt dongle that…

> I have ten gigabits throughout most of my house, and you're right: copper is not happy pushing ten gigs.

DACs are copper, and they're happy.

> I have another Thunderbolt dongle that has an SFP+ module, so I ran a fiber line from my switch to my computer, and that runs considerably cooler. That's what I use nowadays.

This is also what I am doing, and I love it. Much better and more reliable than WLAN. I want as much wired as possible.

However... recently, Realtek released several products adding cheap, affordable, low-power 10 gbit SFP+ and PCIe copper (even certain for routers/switches, too). STH did reviews: they're performing. Specific chipset are: RTL8127, RTL8127AP (servers, with management), RTL8127ATF (fiber, no 10/100 mbit)), RTL8127AT (idem, but copper), RTL8159 (USB-C), RTL8261C (SFP+ copper, and media converter). See the examples here: [1]. I've already seen various been selling since ~December on AliExpress, especially copper RTL8127 variants (back then, even one RTL 10 gbit PCIe SFP+ variant). There appears to be one caveat: macOS isn't supported, Windows and Linux are.

I get the case for PoE, but PoE is apparently not as power-friendly as using a dedicated charger. I do find it much more elegant though.

Edit: I'd like to add that I've been having good success with Aquantia AQC100S which I use in my desktop (running Linux, and using a SFP+ for 10 gbit fiber), as well as a Sonnet TB3 (to SFP+ for 10 gbit fiber, running macOS M1 MBP). Both don't get hot, don't use a lot of power, and the connections saturate. Mind you, it is important to specifically go for the AQC100S and not the AQC107 or AQC113 which are both much more common. Both use more power. Because I got good success with these, and my router is sporting a X710 4 port SFP+ NIC (which could be more efficient, to be fair, but it is what it is) I am no longer interested myself in any alternatives. I'm settled.

[1] https://www.techpowerup.com/337113/realtek-to-bring-affordab...

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#95

Post by asteroidburger »

protocolture wrote: post #72
Tuna-Fish wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a lot of people, because they already have copper in the walls. You are correct that 10GBASE-T really shouldn't be the default choice, fiber and DAC both have advantages over it. But compatibility is important, and there are a lot of situations where 10GBASE-T is just more convenient.

>because they already have copper in the walls. Makes a decent draw wire.

If the cabling was installed before the drywall, good chance it's stapled.

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#96

Post by protocolture »

asteroidburger wrote: post #95
protocolture wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>because they already have copper in the walls. Makes a decent draw wire.

If the cabling was installed before the drywall, good chance it's stapled.

Thats hideous.

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#97

Post by keynha »

tiffanyh wrote: post #51
PaulKeeble wrote: post #27

I feel like we have moved into the era now where if you were putting cabling in the walls for networking you should be choosing fibre now. Not necessarily because we are definitely at the stage where the home needs it, but because the off ramp is clearly happening for ethernet at 10gbit/s and its really high consumption and heat. Switching to fibre after 2.5gbit/s seems like the thing to do now and plenty of us now h…

> ethernet at 10gbit/s and its really high consumption and heat Do you mean Ethernet cables get hot? Or just the networking equipment pushing that data. I ask because I’ve never heard of Ethernet cables getting hot.

[dead]

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#98

Post by DarrisMackelroy »

tangentially related but useful: A while back I vibed up a script that can bit bang i2c on an x520 to reprogram SFP modules without a dedicated flasher. Hopefully this helps save someone a few $$ if they need to reflash something.

https://github.com/dcmc/x520-sfp-flash

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#99

Post by fooblaster »

cortesoft wrote: post #90
fooblaster wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So tell me... how much did you spend? Is fiber doable without insane money.

Fiber optic cable itself isn't that expensive. You can easily get it for less than $0.20/foot. It shouldn't be that much different in price to run fiber verse running cat6. The expensive part is the labor, not the cable.

I think I was more referring to the switches with sfp and the transceivers themselves. I have never tried to get something "low end".

Re: 10Gb/s Ethernet: switching to a Broadcom SFP+ module

#100

Post by glitchc »

denkmoon wrote: post #75
drnick1 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What for? Ethernet is what you ultimately need, because that is what devices such as PCs and WiFi access points use. I experimented with SFP for a while, but ultimately concluded that it isn't worth the effort to add SFP cards to PCs now that that low-power 10G Ethernet chips like the RTL8127 are available. High-end motherboards already have 10G Ethernet and soon lower-end models will too. 2.5G is practically standar…

Yes, but 10G really is the limit. I'll eat my boiled boots if 25GbE copper becomes anything you could remotely consider "common".

640KB still enough for everyone?
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