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The Spec is pending and needs your requirements
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I agree with Aaron, as a consumer with a small home lab I would see the most benefit from 8-port at 2.5 that runs ties directly into the firewalla security stack, at a decent price point. If they were available now, I would buy two to replace my current 8 port unmanaged switches.
Rack mountable would be nice, or an optional rack for it similar to the Gold series racks.
Also agree with Aaron that a 16-port 2.5 w/POE and a couple 10gbit ports would be a great "prosumer" /MSP option at a higher price point. That would give a balance of something more affordable, and something with all of the bells and whistles for users that need it.
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I need to gig ports....
2 Firewalla AP7 10 gig ports Qnap NAS 10 gig ports and and Firewalla uses 10 gig. Everything else 24 port are 1 gig..if we are investing in AP7's why limit to 2.5 gig? Call it a 24 port 16 port and 8 port 10 gig....I use a Aruba instant on 1930 24G CL4 PoE 4SFP/SFP+ 195W...I have time and effort to segment everything from TV' to IOT to guest, home lab and everything else with the gold pro..this includes primary and back up internet..backup uses 1 gig as it is starlink -
I second everything from this post: https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/28643907379091/comments/28644971668883.
I think that you can grab a niche which very few other brands have by adding 10GBase-T, that would directly be used by the Gold Pro.
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I was actually out on the market recently looking at switches and whoever it was who mentioned the lack of affordable switches with 2.5g ports was right... it seems to be pretty slim pickens for Poe+ and 2.5g ports under $400-500... saying that, if im going to pay that for a switch, it would be nice to have the added benefit of the built in security that firewalla provides
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Caleb
My experience is quite different from yours. It all depends where you look.
One significant supplier has a 5 x 2.5 GbE RJ45 port switch at $49, together with an 8 port 2.5 GbE with a 10 GbE RJ45/SFP+ combination uplink port capable of being powered by PoE+ at $159 and $199 with 8 PoE++ ports.
I have fixed and mobile broadband 5G routers both have 2.5 GbE ports, my TB54 dock has a 2.5 GbE port.
2.5 GbE ports have become commonplace. -
All of the switches described are from uniquiti, see: https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-switching/products/usw-flex-2-5g-8
It would be nice if more brands could make compact multi gig hardware near these price points.
I'd love to see Firewalla switches close to these points.
5-8 port 2.5 with 10g uplink
5 port compact 2.5
16 port 10gig/multi gig
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Now that I have two of the AP7, which are not PoE, my needs have changed. I was using PoE in my Ubiquiti switches primarily for the access points.
At this point, I'd be happy with an 8 port managed switch with 2.5G ports. Maybe a couple of 10G uplink ports, given that the Firewalla Gold Pro and the AP7 have 10G ports.
My biggest use case now is to be able to do VqLAN for the wired devices, since it's not reliable unless the devices are on the AP7 wireless networks.
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8+ port 10Gbe. Managed. A few of the ports PoE++ but I can deal without and use injectors if I had to. The APs are nice but this switch is what I want to spend my money on. I want that tight integration that the AP7s have with FW Gold and zero trust. I’d settle with 2.5Gbe but I feel like I need at least a couple or more 10Gbe ports.
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Perhaps 2 switches built on the same mgt platform targeting 2 distinct market/need segments: a simpler 8 port 2.5GbE and 8 port 10GbE. The 2.5GbE could be used with PoE enablement to drive cameras and printers and all the stuff stuck at 1GbE forever items. The 10GbE could be used as a core unit.
I've been flying a holding pattern for upgrading my ancient setup since the APs were announced. I want to remain with 1 US supplier and am willing to wait a bit longer to KIS.
FWIW, I've been eyeing something like the QNAP QSW-M3216R-8S8T which provides both a set of 4 RJ45 and SFP+ caged ports. This is a more expensive option which is why I suggested 2 paths.
Why the SFP+ cages? I want to leverage a few "longer distance" SFPs (80m) to see if I can get reliable > 1 GBe across my older Cat5 / 5e buried in my walls back to my core. It's worked well for some people.Just some thoughts.
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Earlier in this thread I asked that consideration should be given to incorporating one or more USB-C or TB ports on a switch. A number of folk climbed into me, mostly because their networking background was limited.
Another established network equipment manufacturer has recently released a 10 GbE adapter which has an up to 10GbE RJ45 port on one side and a USB-C/TB port on the other. It is just a matter of time before they incorporate a USB-C/TB port on a switch.
In 2025 Laptops and workstations are commonly equipped with TB ports, the technology is mainstream. -
Robin: I feel like you are talking about the QNAP TB3 to RJ45 adapter.
Yes, these products have been around for a while now, but they also cost around $200-$300. Thunderbolt is a certified product and it requires a certain level of functionality to get that certification. Like power delivery both ways, video, data, and etc. All of that functionality is completely unnecessary and will only serve to drive up the price.
Thunderbolt is not even made to do one thing. Attaching your laptop or workstation to a switch via thunderbolt/usb-c just for networking would be a huge waste just for networking when you can break that out into a dock and connect with RJ45 or SFP.
Its a 40gbps connection that you want to bottleneck at every downstream level from the laptop/workstation and drive up the price of the product for what? For the convenience of plugging your laptop directly into your switch and sit 10 feet away (cause the affordable thunderbolt cables are about 1-2 m or 8 ft max).
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Robin: Lol. USB and/or Thunderbolt to RJ45 adapters have been out for a LOOOONG time. They are nothing new or special or a sign we are somehow merging over a whole new networking paradigm into USB networking.
Mel: He is likely talking about the newly release UniFi TB3/USB4 to 10GbE RJ45 adapter.
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M: Thank you.
Robin: I am not anti-thunderbolt. I love the technology. I am just trying to say it does not belong in a switch. The cost of the implementation at the switch level and connecting an endpoint or client device is not justified for a non-niche product.
That being said, 2.5 ports and at least 1 SFP+ port, would be my vote for minimum specs. In dire need of a core switch replacement and Im holding out on Firewalla, especially after getting APs.
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It needs more than 2x 10Gb ports.
For example, I have 2x NAS's that can use 10Gbe, that's 2 ports right there.
This does not include connecting a PC or two to the switch, and connecting the switch to the Firewalla Gold Pro 10Gbe port and potentially the AP7. I'd say 5-6x 10Gbe is a minimum to be interesting..
My current switch only has two, 1 to the Firewalla and 1 to the main NAS, done, limited to 2.5 for anything else that could use 10 (I paid about $220 for that switch). I use one of the 2x 10Gbe ports of the Gold Pro for the AP7, thus I only have 2.5Gbe left for the WAN. It is fine in my case as I can't get >1.2Gbe on the WAN but 5-6 ports are needed, especially for those who can get fast WAN. Another possibility is to add one or two 25Gbe ports and also make a companion dumb switch with 3x 10Gbe ports, 2x 2.5 and 1x 25Gbe, that would allow expanding 10Gbe ports without needing more than 3-4 on the managed switch. -
After recently upgrading to the GoldPro, 4x AP7C and needing to upgrade my core, this is a tough question to answer while being universally forming for everyone’s environment.
Personally I needed 2 switches.
TL-SG3428X-M2, 24x2.5gb,4x10gb SFP+
TL-SX3206HPP, 4x10gb POE++. 2x10gb SFP++Between the 2 switches I have around $1100 but everything is running at full capacity. I only need POE for my AP’s so living separate is great and the 2 switches are connected with 2x10GB LAG over Fiber. My larger switch has an SFP+ copper to my 10GB port on my FWGP. While I’m not get 10GB on my internet connection my house is running at full capacity with no latency and providing only what I need.
My point is that maybe just one type of switch is not enough for everyone. Unless your running POE cameras all around your house no one will ever use a 24 port POE++ switch.
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So I was just looking for some clarification on the tarrif situation since it seems that's going to be a major factor when considering a timeline for the switch release ... Does anyone know how the tariffs is going to effect price? Meaning, does the (percentage of tariff), get applied to the price of the product from the manufacturer? Or does the tarrif get applied to the price charged to the consumer. This would make a huge difference because normally the price that a company pays for a product is much lower than the price the consumer pays. So if the increase (tariffs) was applied to the price that firewalla pays the manufacturer, then ultimately the increase passed on to us wouldn't be as bad. (Theoretically anyways)
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As for ideas for the switch .. there should definitely be at least 2 options. High end option should include 24 ports, half of which have poe. 4 ports should have 10g, 8 ports 2.5g, and rest 1g. You could increase the amount of 10g or 2.5g accordingly based on what people ACTUALLY need. There's no point in driving up the cost for a switch that has 24 (10g) ports. It would be a good idea to even do some kind of survey asking customers , how many 10g ports do you actually need for devices today? The lower end switch I would do 16ports, 8 of them being poe with 6 to 8 being 2.5. Again, a survey would be good to figure this out. Everyone has different setups with different requirements but a survey would easily give you a percentage of the most common use cases and most common requirements. Personally I don't need a ton of 10g ports.. the only devices which I would want to have 10g are my nas, and main rig... The rest of my devices would be fine with 1g or 2.5g .... I think people really need to think to themselves.. How many devices of mine ACTUALLY use and BENEFIT from 10g on a day to day.
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