Nicgiga S25-0402P PoE 2.5GbE and 10GbE Switch Review

9

Nicgiga S25-0402P Management

This is an unmanaged switch, so it does not have a management interface. On a PoE switch, having management is handy, especially when it allows one to power cycle a switch remotely.

Nicgiga S25-0402P Performance

In terms of performance, this seems to be a decent but not top-tier performer.

Nicgiga S25 0402P Performance
Nicgiga S25 0402P Performance

This is similar to the other Realtek-based 4-port 2.5GbE and 2-port SFP+ switches we have seen.

Nicgiga S25-0402P Power Consumption

Here, we can see the 75W internal power supply. It is labeled Hi-POWER-75W-V7.0.

Nicgiga S25 0402P Internal Power Supply
Nicgiga S25 0402P Internal Power Supply

We got around 2.3W at idle, about 1-1.3W higher than we often see on these switches. That is due to the addition of the PoE infrastructure.

Nicgiga S25 0402P Idle Power
Nicgiga S25 0402P Idle Power

With a single 2.5GbE port plugged in, we added 0.3W for a total of 2.6W. That was surprising since it was a similar incremental power increase as we saw on the XikeStor SKS3200M-4GPY2XF.

Nicgiga S25 0402P 2.5GbE Power
Nicgiga S25 0402P 2.5GbE Power

We used a 10Gbase-T SFP+ pluggable to add a good amount of power consumption in a SFP+ port, and we got 4.0W for 1.7W over our baseline. That is relatively normal.

Nicgiga S25 0402P 10Gbase T Power
Nicgiga S25 0402P 10Gbase T Power

Overall, this is a very low-power switch. At the same time, with a 75W internal PSU and an easy path to 7-10W just for the switch’s data connectivity, it feels like this switch has maybe 60-65W available for PoE devices.

Final Words

Before we get too far in this, when we purchased the switch it was $55. The list price is now up to $65, but with multiple coupons that take the switch to just over $50. For $100, other options are better. For $50, this switch is at least decent. At the same time, this is a great example of finding something in our review series. It is advertised with 78W of PoE power, but the power supply is clearly marked as a 75W PSU.

Nicgiga S25 0402P Internal Ports 2
Nicgiga S25 0402P Internal Ports 2

This switch does not have the best brand name, but it is functional for a $50-ish device. We will probably have readers get a switch like this and be very happy. Others are going to increase their budgets for other options. Still, that is the idea behind doing lots of these switches.

Where to Buy

We purchased our unit on Amazon. Here is the affiliate link for this model.

Ultimate Fanless 2.5GbE Switch Buyer’s Guide 2024

You may have seen that we published the Ultimate Cheap Fanless 2.5GbE Switch Buyer’s Guide now with around 60 switches. We also recently published our Mega Round-up 2024 edition, in which we tested 21 new switches, including this one.

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. We are trying to keep everything in a single resource for folks there.

9 COMMENTS

  1. You guys really need to do a better job representing the line rate metrics. I think you would be better off showing mins, max’s, and averages in text rather than the confusing graph you always use.

    Why show 4x of the 2.5 gbps port if the speeds were essentially the same across all 4 interfaces? It’s redundant data.

    And then maybe show the total maximum (cumulative) of the entire switch, similar to what the Ciscos and Aristas do when they provide metrics for marketing material?

    The graphs are especially bad on mobile.

  2. STH makes for a good bedtime read. Always puts me right to sleep. Can’t wait to read the next installment of the next identical switch from the slur company. Hope it’s just like this one!

  3. A month ago the word was these reviews were going to stop after the new roundup and bigger switches were going to be looked at. What happened?

  4. Today, we have another switch from the company that decided to name itself after a NIC and Giga-bit. The $NAME is an ${MNGPREFIX}managed $BW switch with $PORTS ports of $BW and $UPLINKPORTS ports of $UPLINKTYPE.

    Did I get the job?

  5. Love these ambiguous switch reviews. It’s nice to know that in the offbrand market, you basically are getting the same junk under any of the labels, with your tear downs helps us prepare for the homelab builds (power, Fans, SFPs,…etc).

    You should spend some time on the full 10G switching like the Sodola SL-SWTG3C12F. The tear down on that guy might surprise ya a bit for the price point :)

  6. It’s a great insight on the 75W PSU.

    I wonder if these trolls are bots. They’re saying almost the same things even when you’re actually reviewing different models and you’re finding something significant between advertised and actual specs.

  7. Obviously the marketing department inherited an old Hi Fidelity Watt Meter from grand-dad that measures instantaneous peak power drawn from the wall socket and calls that the Watt rating. When they start adding iron weights to make it feel more like “Pro” gear you’ll know the wheel has turned ’round again.

  8. Software is a super important aspect for a managed switch. Do those no brand name even have a website to download updates ? I believe software and updates should be part of the review, as they are key aspects.

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