MaxLinear showed off a new switch chip at Computex 2023 set to make it to OEMs later this year and likely show up in 2024 generation products. The MaxLinear MxL86282 is set to bring lower-power 8-port 2.5GbE and 2-port 10GbE switches to the market. The best part, these switch chips have some management functionality as well.
MaxLinear MxL86282 for 8x 2.5GbE and 2x 10GbE Low Power Managed Switches Coming
Here is the demo that the company was showing at Computex 2023. It was amazing that there was not more around this booth and solution in the news.
Here is the bare board of the switch that was being shown at the show. We can see it is a single switch chip solution unlike the dual-chip Realtek solution powering many of today’s 8-port 2.5GbE and 1-port SFP+ solutions on the market.
Here is the demo switch running on the show floor.
Taking the cover off, we can see the large heatsink inside, but this is still a passively cooled switch.
Here is a closer shot of the heatsink.
Here is a look at the eight 2.5GbE ports and two SFP+ cages.
The company had a demo running 10GbE traffic over the SFP+ ports and being able to pull a port in link aggregation mode and have the traffic continue flowing.
Another feature seen in this is the left side. There is a web management interface onboard.
Final Words
Thanks to the MaxLinear team for showing STH the switch. Now we just need to see devices with the chips make it to market.
The big question is cost. We have seen the RealTek solutions take over and prices of the 8+1 port switches are now down well under $95.
As always, check out our Ultimate 2.5GbE Switch Buyer’s Guide now with dozens of models we have tested. Hopefully, we will be able to test these MaxLinear-based switches soon.
