NETGEAR 12-Port 10G Multi-Gigabit Easy Smart Managed Switch (XS512EM) - Managed, with 2 x 10G SFP+, Desktop or Rackmount, and Limited Lifetime Protection

This is a first class switch perfect for the home lab setup. Netgear is a trusted brand that works seamlessly with 1 gb standard networks. The switch fan is actually quiet compared to other brands and hardly noticeable. Having 10gb RJ45 ports makes the switch compatible with existing network connections. Build quality is excellent. An extra bonus, easy setup requires only just plugging in. Remember though to get the full 10gb thruput, you’ll need 10gb network cards in your computers and Cat 6 or Cat 6a cables to complete the setup.

My simple home network is much improved with this Netgear XS508M switch. Super simple, no configuration procedures to go through. I upgraded several things. Netgear XS508M 10g switch BE19000 (3-10g ports, 4-2.5g ports) BE10000 range extender TX401 10g PCI card 923+ NAS 10g upgrade card Everything was sluggish throughout the house. My old Dell hooked up to 1g ethernet would only see 90mbps on an internet service of 500mbs. After the upgrades, the range extender upstairs now serves 5 & 6g wifi. Phone hooks up to wifi 7. With the 10g ethernet, there are no bottlenecks anywhere. Adding the PCI 10g card to my old Dell, I now get the full 500mbs internet speed I'm paying for. File transfers between the PC and NAS are smoking fast now. Even wifi speedtest on my phone is showing 490mbs internet speed. This Netgear 10g switch brings it all together and makes it all happen

I have used many Netgear switches in the last couple of decades and they have always been reliable. Product works as advertised and should last for a very long time. Highly recommend this product.

Good: No problems in the two weeks it's been in operation as a mini-SAN backbone. Handles 9000-byte frames and mixed 1Gb and 10Gb without complaint. Excellent latency, zero errors on any line since installation. Quiet, relative to the other boxen in the stack anyway. Bad: For an unmanaged switch, seems to take a long time (~ 30 sec.) to come online after power-up. Not an issue in normal operation, of course. I couldn't get any action on the SFP+ port when I tried it, but it passes loopback and ethernet port 8 works fine, so I'm guessing I had a bad cable or NIC. Bottom line: Impressive capacity and performance at this price point. Downsides are nitpicks, I'm happy with the unit. If you're in a SOHO environment that doesn't need smart-switch functionality, this will work well. Five stars.

Great little switch. I like how it isn’t a combo port for the SFP/RJ45 unlike on the 8 port model. So one SFP adapter gets you an extra port assuming you don’t need the distance of fiber.

Multi-Gig ports are the main feature of this switch

I had a QNAP switch that had 4 10Gbe ports and 8 1Gbe ports. But, I needed more. I had been watching numerous different switches from multiple vendors ... none of switch fit exactly what I needed and were affordable. For example, I could get unmanaged switches to expand my total ports for $200-500 depending on size. Or, I could get say 8-24 10Gbe ports but pay > $1000. This switch has 12 10Gbe ports and it is normally priced at $1150. Recently Amazon marked it down to $900. Couldn't pass that up! This product is geared towards business / prosumer market. It has VLAN and other L2 managed switch features and to take advantage of that, you'll need to be comfortable with configuring switches by directly connecting a computer to them and using a web interface. If you're looking for pure unmanaged plug-n-play and easy mode setup, this is likely not the product you want. That said, this switch would definitely work out of the box as an unmanaged 10Gbe switch with no configuration required ... it's just that if you're buying this device, you likely want the extra management features. So far, the device has been working fine. I have it in my tech rack in the basement and it's fans are only audible if you are very close to the device. It was warm to the touch but I suspect the metal chassis is being used to dissipate heat; I wasn't concerned. If anything comes up I will post an update down the line.

So far, I am very happy with this switch. I like the user interface options to go in and manage the switch. The first thing you should do is change the password. I have only tested it with 2.5G connections, but works perfectly so far, I just put a bunch of ASUS 10G network cards, so can't wait to test the speed once I get the other 10G switches. Update: a day later I have them connected all to 10G switches everything is working as expected, nice and fast. I am only getting 5G speeds between computers with 10G NICs but that is because I only have Cat5 cable connecting them. Otherwise this was a great enhancement to my network, albeit an expensive one. Also if you have trouble disabling the network boot on an ASUS motherboard, disable the CSM setting and set the boot to fast boot, and it bypasses it. Netgear says on the box ProSafe lifetime warranty, but then on their website it says 5 years. I am concerned as these have an active fan on the side, so there will be a limitation to the lifetime of this switch. I don't know how hot it gets, so we will see.

Excellent, no problems

This thing worked great. I do have to say that I had a 30 foot run downstairs. I ran a brand new, fancy, CAT7 cable down there, seemed to work fine with the gigabit switch, but I only got 100mbit. Being the first time I've ever set up 10G, the troubleshooting process was a bit tough. I spent an hour or two, looking at the drivers and configuration of the new 10G nics I put in, everything. I, kinda, went nuts working on it. In the end, I figured it must be the cable, but I wasn't sure. As a last ditch effort, I plugged in an old blue CAT5E cable that I already had run there. CAT5E isn't supposed to work, and it's a 50 foot cable on top of it. Thing is, it just came up. BAM! 10G. The other 2 Linux machines I connected just worked. No issues, and now my Xwindows pop up like they're native. Everything just works beautifully. I have this connected to a Ubiquity router connected to my cable modem. It's just smooth and nice. Then I have my 24 port switch connected to 4 or 5 other switches through the house, and 4 or 5 wireless access points. All of it more stable than ever. 10/10, worth the price, would buy again. I can't say that I've run any comprehensive tests on dropped packets, etc. I'm not sure my whole network is completely 100%, I have a few homemade cables, and various other cables bought at different times at different places, all in a bit of a hodge podge. What I can say is that, for what I do, the speed difference is noticeable. Be sure you have a real use and reason for moving to 10G, but if you do - it's really worth it.

The XS512EM works well at 10Gb speeds but will require Cat 6 or better cables and 10gb NICs of course. Was initially concerned that the unit might be too noisy for a small office environment since it has two active cooling fans. While you can hear a slight fan buzz from about four feet away, It's definitely not disturbing. You won't even notice this in a normal office environment. The fans do ramp up when traffic is high. 12 full multi speed 10gb ports are nice with 2 shared SFP+ ports. Link aggregation, Qos and VLAN are configurable. This unit is a bit pricey but the build quality feels solid and lifetime next business day hardware replacement is a bonus.

Great multi-speed switch.

Purchased the XS512EM to supplement my Unifi UDM Pro and a 52-port Netgear 1G switch for home use. I now have 10G feeding all of my data hungry PCs and NAS, while other devices & cameras continue to utilize the 1G switch. Love the speed, and now (with the use of the UDM) can fully utilize my ISPs full internet speeds as an added bonus. Would purchase again.