TRENDnet TEG-3102WS Management
This is a Web Managed switch so we found the management IP address at 192.168.10.200.
Once inside, the interface was reasonably responsive. It was much better than some other 2.5GbE switches in our series.
In the management interface you can see ports.
You can add VLANs and more.
One feature we saw was that there are dual firmware images. Useful if you have an issue.
There is also SNMP functionality.
While it is hard to say this is the same level of management interface you would get on a higher-end switch, it is also a decent step up from many of the ultra-low-cost Realtek switches.
TRENDnet TEG-3102WS Performance
In terms of performance, it seems to be about what we would expect.
We are finding most switches these days to get pretty close to their line rates using iperf3 traffic.
TRENDnet TEG-3102WS Power Consumption
Despite having three chips inside, the switch still comes with just a 12V 1.5A power adapter.
At idle, we got around 5.6W, which is 3.6W higher than the Gigaplus GP-S25-0802.
With a single 2.5GbE port plugged in, that jumps to 7W or 1.4W higher than idle. That is certainly at the higher end of what we have seen.
We used a 10Gbase-T SFP+ pluggable to add a good amount of power consumption in a SFP+ port and we got 2.7W over our baseline. Again, this is a bit higher than some of the other switches we have seen.
Overall, this is certainly a higher-power option than other switches we have seen, and the management function seems to add quite a bit over the unmanaged option out there.
Final Words
We love the extra flexibility of the 8-port 2.5GbE and 2-port 10GbE model. Having that extra SFP+ port adds another high-speed path versus the 8+1 switches, and it has more ports than the common 4+2 switches.
The MaxLinear switch chips are different, and the management CPU is certainly offering something beyond the absolute barebones management we have seen elsewhere. The closest competitors are the low-cost Gigaplus GP-S25-0802 and the MikroTik CRS310-8G+2S+IN. TRENDnet has a higher-end switch than the Gigaplus but one that uses more power. MikroTik’s CRS310 is a higher-end switch that often costs the same or less but uses a few watts more power. There are fewer 8+2 offerings on the market, making this perhaps more interesting.
Again, it is great to have options. The TRENDnet TEG-3102WS is a surprisingly better option than we would have expected. It is also fun to see switches that are different when we open them up, and this is certainly different than many we have seen before.
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. You can also find it as the second switch shown in our recent mega round-up video at about 0:59 in.
So with all ports populated, by your measurements, we should see a 5.6+(1.4*8)+(2.7*2)=22.2W load. And yet the PSU is 18W.
Are you sure about your numbers?
What load did you see during the benchmark tests?
@Billy Bob, IMO the PSU was not designed with 10GBaseT in mind.
If you look at the board traces they’re using a chip for the 2.5g on the left and they’ve also got the 10g. It looks like they’re lighting another switch chip on each. Dual chip design. Even 18w isn’t an issue. That’s 18w output power rated and so at the wall that’ll be 22.5W even if they’re getting 80% power efficiency, which they most likely aren’t on that adapter.
I feel like there are other reasons besides cost that most switches don’t have a raised power switch hidden on the back.
It wouldn’t stop me buying it for a homelab, but in a small office environment that does feel like it’s going to cause more problems than it would solve…
Could you please add information regarding the IPv6 support on the switches you are testing?
Another benefit of this TRENDnet switch over the other cheap 2.5 Gbps switches and the MikroTik are the TAA and NDAA compliance. Not important for everyone but it’s nice to be able to source relatively affordable equipment for where that is needed or for the peace of mind.
The note about the rack ears and hot/cold aisle… Really? Nobody is putting this in a rack that has a hot/cold aisle. At best this is going in some small office wall rack. More than likely something decidedly less fancy.
Iggy you haven’t seen what people use in lower-end colo.
IMHO…
TrendNet more likely to give you years of service, provided the power supply does not burn out.
Trendnet less likely to burn your house down, unlike those inexpensive no-name brands.
Hint – In most electronic device you still generally pay for the quality that you get.
Gigabyte sold a power supply that consistently blew up. What makes you think a brand name but not brand name enough basic switch brand would be any better than cheaper products?
Notably I do not see any electrolytic capacitors in this switch. This fact alone makes this more reliable hardware than the no name models.
With 2 electrical ports instead of the SPF+, this would replace our 8x1GBit switches in droves, as used in many condos without wiring in the walls, and short cable runs. Getting adapters ruin the attractive price.
Why they use two Maxlinear chips ? i don’t know whihc ones are used on this switch, but the MxL86282 can handle 8 ports at 2,5 Gbps and two SFP+
We showed that at Computex 2023, and have a switch with that chip that is running through testing right now.