12-Port 10G Multi-Gigabit Easy Smart Managed Switch (XS512EM) - Managed, with 2 x 10G SFP+, Desktop or Rackmount

I had a QNAP switch that had 4 10Gbe ports and 8 1Gbe ports. But, I needed more. I had been watching numerous different switches from multiple vendors ... none of switch fit exactly what I needed and were affordable. For example, I could get unmanaged switches to expand my total ports for $200-500 depending on size. Or, I could get say 8-24 10Gbe ports but pay > $1000. This switch has 12 10Gbe ports and it is normally priced at $1150. Recently Amazon marked it down to $900. Couldn't pass that up! This product is geared towards business / prosumer market. It has VLAN and other L2 managed switch features and to take advantage of that, you'll need to be comfortable with configuring switches by directly connecting a computer to them and using a web interface. If you're looking for pure unmanaged plug-n-play and easy mode setup, this is likely not the product you want. That said, this switch would definitely work out of the box as an unmanaged 10Gbe switch with no configuration required ... it's just that if you're buying this device, you likely want the extra management features. So far, the device has been working fine. I have it in my tech rack in the basement and it's fans are only audible if you are very close to the device. It was warm to the touch but I suspect the metal chassis is being used to dissipate heat; I wasn't concerned. If anything comes up I will post an update down the line.

I owned their 8-port 10Gb switch for more than five years before it finally started to give up the ghost, occasionally turning itself off and on, and probably overheating, such that speeds became limited to the 200 MBps range. In previous times, it had given me as much as 1070 MBps, and I had already been pleased since that was faster than its 10 Gbps advertised speed. But hold onto your horses, folks! This new, 12-port 10Gb switch showed me speeds peaking at 1900 MBps (yes, 1.9 GBps, nearly double its rated speed!!!!!) today while transferring a large file, with sustained transfers in the 1400 Mbps range going on for more than a minute! At the same time, its dual fans are really not very loud at all, certainly no louder than the single fan was in the 8-port switch, and it doesn't get too hot, either. I was so pleased, I giggled like a schoolboy.

I am using the XS512EM (rack mounted) in a small office to network a MacPro 2019 (10G LAG), a MacMini M1 and several other 1G computers and NAS units via cat6 (within the office) to a Synology DS1821+ NAS (10G LAG) - it was easy to configure and works great! Outside connection to WAN is by 1G cat5. File transfers at 10G between the MacPro and Synology within my office are now about 8X faster than with previous 1G switch.

Used this to implement a SAN for diskless workstations. Affordable, easy to use, works. Deploys in no time. Comes with reasonable default settings and an interface that allows great flexibility.

After 6 months of use, overall I will say the XS512EM switch works good. The slight buzzing sound of the fan is mildly annoying when standing close to the switch, but it is not very loud. Not sure why they couldn't just use a fan that doesn't buzz. It makes it sound defective. I originally deployed the switch as a simple network with no tagged VLANs defined (factory config). I had no problems with this config. I recently added a guest/public network to my router and set the switch up to run 2 VLANs. I added a new PVID to 2 ports for the new VLAN and left the original network untagged (VLAN1). Then I added a tagged VLAN output to the trunk port connecting the switch to my router for the VLAN assigned to the guest network . Most everything worked, but I started seeing strange firewall hits on my untagged LAN with broadcast IPs bleeding over from the new tagged VLAN on the trunk. The trunk was configured with VLAN1 untagged and VLAN20 tagged (so I expected nothing from VLAN20 to leak into VLAN1, but it did). Ultimately I ended up fixing it by adding a new VLAN10 (tagged on the trunk) and moving the ports used for VLAN1 to VLAN10. However, packets from a tagged VLAN should never show on a trunk in an Untagged state (i sniffed other untagged VLAN1 ports, and didn't find any bleedover). Most of the hits I saw were from the guest networks broadcast IP / port 15600 and came from my Samsung TV. Reference info for Netgear if they want to duplicate this issue and fix it (not going to call I am outside my free support). Based on their release notes from their last firmware update 1.0.2.5 and other peoples comments about broadcast issues with this switch, it looks like their firmware still needs some work.

Netgear has come up with a term "Plus" which defines a device that is between being truly managed and not unmanaged. There is a UI with some functionality. This device performs no logging at all. This is not a managed device. Netgear support is awful. Get a Cisco CBS350-12XT-NA and purchase this carefully where support is included. I would avoid this Netgear device.

This thing runs super hot, I am worried about longevity. The interface is simple, and some features fo enterprise switches missing. If you just want Multi-gig with basic vlan management, this is a great inbetween. Not so many switches are capable of 1G all the way to 10G and everything inbetween. I just hope it lasts.

This is a perfect switch for an end office-- all ports are fast and flexible 10GB, RJ45 & SFP+. Smart Managed Plus gives you routing choices, and the cost is reasonable for what you're getting!

Easy and very fast

Purchased the XS512EM to supplement my Unifi UDM Pro and a 52-port Netgear 1G switch for home use. I now have 10G feeding all of my data hungry PCs and NAS, while other devices & cameras continue to utilize the 1G switch. Love the speed, and now (with the use of the UDM) can fully utilize my ISPs full internet speeds as an added bonus. Would purchase again.

The XS512EM works well at 10Gb speeds but will require Cat 6 or better cables and 10gb NICs of course. Was initially concerned that the unit might be too noisy for a small office environment since it has two active cooling fans. While you can hear a slight fan buzz from about four feet away, It's definitely not disturbing. You won't even notice this in a normal office environment. The fans do ramp up when traffic is high. 12 full multi speed 10gb ports are nice with 2 shared SFP+ ports. Link aggregation, Qos and VLAN are configurable. This unit is a bit pricey but the build quality feels solid and lifetime next business day hardware replacement is a bonus.