I have had the Ubiquiti Unifi 10G Ethernet Adapter in my Shopee shopping cart for a few weeks now. But because it is expensive, it remains in my cart. Sinseng Components sells it for S$299 on Shopee.
When the Singtel Technician came to setup my 10Gbps, he was using the Orico Thunderbolt 10GbE Network Adapter. I was casually asking him if it was expensive, and he told me it was one of the cheapest he could find.
So I went to to search on both Shopee and Lazada. Lazada is cheaper at S$160 while Shopee is S$170. After stacking vouchers, I got it for S$147, which is a good deal. It is about 50% cheaper than the Ubiquiti Unifi one.
Box contents include a braided 30 cm USB-C to USB-C cable.
Orico Thunderbolt 10GbE Network Adapter is a plug-and-play Thunderbolt 3 compatible network adapter that supports up to 10 Gbps Ethernet connection.
On the left is a USB-C port that you can plug into your computer.
And an RJ45 port on the right to connect to your network. Ventilation holes are on both sides as it gets hot.
This is not a fanless 10GbE network adapter, which means there is a fan inside the adapter, and the fan will start to spin when it gets hot. There is some fan noise when it spins, but you cannot hear it in a typical office environment.
Temperature-wise, it goes up to 40°C for me when I use it to do Speedtest.
Overall, this is a no-frills 10GbE network adapter that is reasonably priced and works as expected.
If you are looking for a 10GbE network adapter that is wallet-friendly, consider getting this.
Hi Lester, thanks for detailing your 10gbs journey on your blog. I have been following it and it has been very informative. I intend to move to 10gbps soon, and am considering taking a slightly different route. Wanted to get your thoughts on:
1. Asus BQ16 vs BT10. I read that you went with the former. What made you pick the BQ16 over BT10? My use case is 4x 10gbps devices (2x NAS, 2x PCs). 20-30 IOT. Couple of WiFi 7 devices (phones, laptops). All nodes will be wired backhaul. Read separately that BT10's firmware has become stable in the past few months.
2. RJ45 vs SFP+. I am very concerned about heat and your temperature tests have been particularly useful. I will need to put 2 switches in separate non-ventilated cabinets. Can't run the Noctuas like you did. I intend for each switch to run 1x NAS and 1x PC. Am seriously considering running these devices via SFP+ to manage temperature. (This will entail SFP+ switches and SFP+ PCIe cards for the NASes and PCs. RJ45 from wall to switch, then SFP+ from there.) Wanted to get your thoughts on why you decided against SFP+.
I will be getting the TP-SX1008 for my DB box (where everything is hard wired RJ45). Thanks for reviewing the TL-SX1008!
Hope to hear your views and thanks again for the detailed posts.
– Dave (your group mate in one of elective modules in NUS)
Hey hey Dave! Been a while, thanks for the kind compliments =D
What I might said might totally change both your points.
Don't get Asus. The frustration is not worth it for their WiFi 7 devices. So I was using the BQ16, then suddenly one weekend morning, the whole router just died. No WiFi network, DHCP not working for wired devices. Restarted, doesn't work. Factory reset, doesn't work. Factory reset again, and this time it works. I immediately went to look for alternatives.
What I recommend is what I am currently running. Ubquiti Unifi Cloud Fiber Gateway (Router) + Unifi Pro XG 8 PoE (Switch) + Unifi U7-Pro XGS (AP). There is a 4-port switch (Flex 10 GbE) if you want something smaller, since you are putting it in 2 cabinets.
If you run the above, you can do WAN 10Gbps
Only downside to Ubiquiti is that it is always out of stock, so you need to decide and buy fast. There are two shops on Shopee/Lazada, Sinseng Components and TNG. I got mine from Sinseng Components. For Cloud Fiber Gateway, because it is such a popular item, it is even more difficult to get, so I got mine from https://www.getic.com . It is cheaper than Singapore (< S$400 no GST as Getic is not a registered company in SG), but of course no warranty.
I would avoid SFTP+ to RJ45 if possible because of heat issues. NAS and PC should be able to support RJ45?
My ONR -> (RJ45) -> Cloud Fiber Gateway -> (SFP+) -> Unifi Pro XG 8 PoE -> (RJ45 w POE++) -> Unifi E7. I got the Unifi E7 here as well for my AP>
You can FB/IG me if you need more advice 😀
Thanks for the recommendation on the Unifi setup! Will look into it. I can delay my move to 10gbps for a few months so I should have time to grab stocks as they come.
As for SFP+, I am looking at the UniFi Pro XG 8 PoE. Setup looks like this.
ONT (RJ45) -> TL-SX1008 (RJ45; DB box outside home, internal wall wiring Cat6 to all sockets at home) -> Wall socket (RJ45) -> UniFi Pro XG 8 PoE (this is in a non ventilated cabinet) -> Socket 1: SFP+ to PC's SFP+ PCIe card; Socket 2: SFP+ to NAS' PCIe card, Socket 3: RJ45 to existing 5 port 1gbe switch.
This means instead of running 4x RJ45 from the UniFi Pro XG 8 PoE, I run 2x RJ45 and 2x SFP+. I thought this would reduce the heat in the non ventilated cabinet. Added bonus is running SFP+ directly on both the PC and NAS should reduce temperatures on the PC's and NAS' ends too. Lemme know what you think!
Hmm why not ONT (RJ45) > Cloud Fiber (SFP+) > UniFi Pro XG 8 PoE? If you are on Unifi, I would recommend getting all from it. In fact, I am going to sell my TL-SX1008 lol.
I thik both on SFP+ will reduce heat, but I am not sure if there is much of a difference between SFP+ and RJ45+ on both ends. I think the issue with heat is the conversion from SFTP+ to RJ45.
After some consideration, I am indeed going with the UniFi Pro XG 8 PoE instead of the TL-SX1008 heh.
For SFP+, yes only using if both ends are SFP+. No point if one end needs to convert to RJ45.
Thanks again for your advice! I have decided to pivot heavily to UniFi similar to you.
Nice, I have invited you to the FB group, which is quite active. Now you can slowly get the items. If possible, can get some today as there is an 8/8 sale which makes the E7 cheaper than what I bought a few weeks back lol.
Thanks for the invite!