Engadget Logo Engagget Japanese version of less than 10, 000 yen 2.5GbE-enabled switching hub "FX2G-05EM" comments on getting rid of Gigabit Lans

Planet has launched a 5-port switching hub that supports 2.5Gbps. The price is 9900 yen, and the price so far is about 15, 000 yen with a barrier of more than 10, 000 yen. There is a sense that 2.5GbE has finally entered the pervasive price range, and this time "FX2G-05EM" is used to verify what happens in the 2.5GbE LAN environment.

FX2G-05EM (Amazon.co.jp)

It has passed from the popularity of 1GbE to now. The author built the house 16 years ago, when Wi-Fi was also the IEEE802.11g era, with a maximum speed of 54 Mbps. Using 1GbE's wired LAN can get more stable and faster speed, so we signed up with Fritz Light to lay LAN cable in our home and have high-speed Internet access in any room.

With the passage of time, wired LAN has also increased the speed of 2.5GbE, 5GbE and 10GbE, but the price has not decreased, of which Wi-Fi has theoretically exceeded 1 Gb.

Having said that, it is very difficult to exceed 1 Gb on Wi-Fi, and the author also wants to transfer to an environment with more than 2.5 Gb as soon as possible.

What appears there is this product. A switched hub with five 2.5 GbE ports is the first scale product you want to introduce in your home LAN environment. The size is about 160W × 26 (D) × 110H mm and the weight is about 463g.

The metal fuselage is fanless. As a thermal countermeasure, heat is dissipated from both sides of the substrate and a radiator is installed on the upper part of the CPU. Under the substrate under the CPU, there is a low hardness silicone pad for heat dissipation, an aluminum plate for heat diffusion and heat dissipation, and a flame retardant polycarbonate sheet, which are in close contact with the body. This can effectively dissipate heat and achieve fanless at the same time.

By pasting the attached rubber feet on the bottom, space will be created when placed on the shelf, etc. In addition, in order to be able to hang on the wall, a hole for the hook is also prepared, which can be selected according to the setting place.

The power supply is an AC adapter, but the power connector is located on the front in the same direction as the LAN cable. Because the LED is also on the front, the back is refreshing, clinging to the wall, and the unexpected compact installation makes it easier to access during inspection or reboot.

Upgrading from a 1Gbps LAN environment to 2.5Gbps requires 2.5 GbE or higher LAN ports and Category 5e or higher LAN cables in addition to the switching hubs in this product. LAN cables are also recommended for Category 5e in 1GbE, so they should already be used. Next, it will be the LAN port used to connect to each computer.

Recently, we often see motherboards that support 2.5GbE, but because they provide PCIe-connected network boards and USB-connected network adapters, if you get these products at the same time, you will quickly get a LAN environment for 2.5Gbps.

USBC-LAN 2500R (Amazon)

Can routers or network lines not support 2.5Gbps? You might think, of course, it's best if you support it, even for existing 1Gbps routers and lines, WAN is at most the mother of 1Gpbs, and only LAN is the environment of 2.5Gbps.

However, only devices plugged into a 2.5GbE switching hub can be switched at up to 2.5Gbps, so in the case of five ports, up to four devices (one port is connected to the router) can be connected.

I actually used it. Connect the homemade machine with 10GbE board and the 2.5GbE LAN adapter "USBC-LAN2500R" of planetary USB-C connection type to VAIO Z, and use "iPerf3" to measure the network speed between your machine-FX2G-05EM-VAIO Z.

The result is an average of 2337 Mbps in 180 seconds. There is almost a value close to the limit. In addition, compare the speed of file transfer in 1Gbps environment and 2.5Gbps environment, and complete the transfer at about 2.6 times the speed. If this is different, I think it will become quite stress-free.

In the CrystalDiskMark benchmark, the upper and bottom of the body are measured with an infrared thermometer, and the highest part shows that the upper part is 42.1 degrees and the bottom is 50.3 degrees. Because the bottom surface is in close contact with the cooling board, it becomes high temperature, but the upper part is the same or lower than when the laptop exerts a high load. Of course, it will drop a little when idling, but if you don't put it in an airtight place, a well-ventilated place may be safer.

In terms of function, the loop detection and prevention function corresponds to the giant frame of the largest 12KB, although it is very simple, but it can still build a 2.5Gbps environment with 10, 000 yen, which makes people enthusiastic. Even if you buy a network adapter for a connected computer at the same time, it should hold about 20, 000 yen, so like importing a slightly more expensive router, you can upgrade to 2.5Gbps.

Within the family, it is finally time for gigabit graduation. If NAS supports 2.5Gbps, it will be used more widely. It's not just Wi-Fi, it's also a good time to focus on wired Lans.

FX2G-05EM (Amazon.co.jp)