QNAP QSW

Aug 16, 2023

Recently we looked at the TRENDnet TEG-S762 as part of our 2.5GbE switch series. One alternative is the QNAP QSW-2104-2S-A. This has two SFP+ 10GbE ports for uplinks or devices and four 2.5GbE ports. It is also one of the lower-cost 2.5GbE switches we found that also had 10GbE ports making it interesting.

You may have seen that we published the Ultimate Cheap Fanless 2.5GbE Switch Mega Round-Up. Here is the video for that one where this switch appeared.

We decided to do the round-up first and will be filling in with reviews that we had not published at that point, including this one.

Just to note, we have 6 more switches in the lab for testing already, and another 8 on the list of to-do that are not in the switch round-up we published. We are going to add them to the round-up page as we review them.

The switch itself is similar to another switch we saw previously. There are two SFP+ 10GbE ports (1-2) and four 2.5GbE ports (3-6). The DC input and status lights are also on the front panel.

The top says “QNAP” and has a few stickers.

There two sides only have vents.

Something we noticed, and that felt notable about this switch is that the vent patterns, dimensions, and so forth looked a lot like another switch that we reviewed recently, the TRENDnet TEG-S762 a 2x 10Gbase-T and 4x 2.5GbE unmanaged switch. Here is the same profile view of that switch for side-by-side reference. We will let our readers decide for themselves how similar these chassis look.

The rear simply has screws for opening the lid.

Inside the switch, we have a large black heatsink covering the switch chip(s). It is a different shape versus the TRENDnet unit to account for the SFP+ cage depth. On the other hand. the vents on the bottom of the chassis are a similar design to that switch as well.

Next, let us get to the management, performance, power consumption, and our final thoughts.