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  • If you want a 10GBASE-T SFP+ module that doesn't run hot, look for one with 802.3bz support. Any module that supports 2.5G and 5G speeds has newer silicon which runs cooler.

    There is an old but still good list of transceivers with this feature here: https://www.servethehome.com/sfp-to-10gbase-t-adapter-module...

    by oofabz
  • To make it less hot, just use fiber optics.
    by shmerl
  • I am in the market for an SFP+ module and was looking at this exact model! The serendipity made me smile. Cheers mate.
    by goolz
  • I've bought a good bit of 10Gtek stuff over the years. Not sure to what extent they actually are designing their products vs. just acting as a reseller (I think the latter), but either way everything I've bought from them has been quality kit that lasted for years, at a great price.
    by gh02t
  • Does anyone have any recs for GPON/XGS-PON SFP/SFP+ ONTs-on-a-stick that run cooler than average (say 50-65 °C)?
    by debayande
  • I'm also using the WAS groupon stick with a huge fan on it. I really wish they would build a proper fan and cooling duct into the stick and power it with the stick itself. It very much seems like a half-assed solution.
    by qurren
  • fs.com displays wattage ratings on all of their products, pick low watts.

    https://www.fs.com/c/gpon-xgspon-sticks-5607 (I think this is what you're looking for?)

    by colechristensen
  • Comparative power consumption:

    https://www.moduletek.com/en/application_notes/an_00196.html

    by userbinator
  • I tried some 10GBase-T 10GTek SFP+ modules about three years ago and they had a serious overheating problem, to the point where they just were not usable.

    Within the past year, I've tried a number of Chinese 10GBase-T SFP+ modules with the Broadcom chipset and they've all been great. The one's I've got now are WTTOGTEC and WTSFOPTC, which seem to be the same company. They're dirt cheap at less than $30 each, and they're solid. I've tried both the 30m and 80m variants, and have not had any problems at all.

    I've got six of them here that have been running fine full-time for several months. Two of those are in a garage with no climate controls, and summer temperatures lately often over 100℉.

    The six modules I'm using are installed in three Ubiquti USW Pro XG 8 PoE switches.

    by anonymousiam
  • Cheap, low-heat 10G copper is already here. RTL8127 NIC is under $50, $200 nets you a quality 4x switch (CRS304-4XG-IN).
    by poisonborz
  • and the QSW-L3208-2C6T-US is a cheap 8port switch
    by boredatoms
  • What about performance and driver support for Linux? Any issues with suspending to memory or disk?
    by ciupicri
  • I wish multiple-port 10G PCIe cards with this chip were available. I would immediately upgrade by Debian router from 2.5G to 10G. At the very least I would need a dual NIC.
    by drnick1
  • I have a RTL8127 NIC from Aliexpress that uses 1 PCIE 4.0 lane, finally a use for those 1x slots and it does pretty good on 10G speeds.
    by undersuit
  • I've got a mix of both running here and definitely prefer the SFP+ part of the world. Couple of neat tricks it enables like the new "invisible" fiber - looks the same like fishing line basically. Unless you're 30cm away and actively looking you can't see it.

    Replaced a wifi bridge that way...30m run across multiple rooms & hallway...zero drilling.

    by Havoc
  • I know everyone is going to say I’m crazy

    But for cabling, OS2 clear bend rated cable … pre-terminated is like the same price and currently have 25gb optics but I’m able to run over 100gb in my house without having to drill holes etc. (runs along the baseboards)

    The cables are super thin… and clear/transparent

    And I never have to replace the cable again I’m pretty sure haha

    The bidi sfp28s $25 are awesome :)

    And worst case if your service loop just … loops …. Eh haha

    Gonna try using it for other things like hdmi etc too with a cassette :)

    by happyPersonR
  • Some time ago I was playing around with 10GbE using a Macbook Pro. At the time that meant a Thunderbolt adapter (and still does). Thing is, the one I got was essentially just a giant heatsink [1]. It was a beast and belied just how much of a problem heat distribution was. I'm not an EE so I'm not really sure why, other than by looking at what high bandwidth cables have done since.

    10baseT (!0Mbps) came out in 1990 (there were non-twisted pair earlier versions). "Fast Ethernet" (100Mbps) came out in 1995. Copper 1GbE came out in 1999. Copper 10GbE came out in 2006. Ethernet seemed addicted to 10x'ing every version and 10GbE is really where everything fell apart. Or at least, it's where it got hard. We never really got mass market 10GbE. The controllers were too expensive. The cable requirements were quite high. And heat was an issue.

    1GbE really was fast enough and 10GbE was a massive jump that I even remember thinking at the time that there should've been intermediate steps, which is what happened in 2016 with 2.5GbE and 5GbE.

    Now compare to Thunderbolt, introduced in 2011, which has completely surpassed Ethernet bandwidth, in part by putting chips in the cables, but of course the big difference is cable length. A copper cat 6/7 cable can get to ~100 meters, which is also why the power is so high: attenuation.

    but I guess my point is that 10GbE over copper was a mistake. We'd reached the point where you really had to swap over to fiber.

    [1]: https://www.ebay.com/itm/127178476193

    by jmyeet
  • We never really got mass market 10GbE. The controllers were too expensive. The cable requirements were quite high. And heat was an issue.

    It's coming sooner than you think: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44071701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46423967

    by userbinator
  • I don't think that's quite true. Unifi 10GbE switches are cheap enough I have a 24 port PoE+++ one in my house and my 3 main WiFi APs are 10GbE connected. My MBP uses a 5Gbps Thunderbolt adapter that runs relatively cool as well. All of this is over the existing Cat5e wiring.

    I'd say 10GbE has arrived. It is relatively cheap, most of the time works over existing 1GbE cabling, and gracefully degrades to 5/2.5/1Gb based on conditions when it can't reach 10Gb.

    Yes to be 100% guaranteed of getting 10Gb even in bundles of 100 cables running over noisy fluorescent ballasts to a full 100m you need Cat6A but in many environments Cat5e or Cat6 is more than sufficient. It works so well if you fail to get the full 10Gb I humbly suggest you re-do the terminations on both ends before considering replacing the cable.

    by xenadu02
  • I think this is the first time one of my comments has ever gotten mentioned in a subsequent post, so that's cool :)

    Glad it was helpful and not me being an idiot. That's a shame about the temp read out. I just checked my MikroTik and can see the same thing. In fact, the only SFP module reporting a temperature at all is the real fiber one, all of the DACs/converters report nothing. No voltage either.

    by xxpor
  • Thanks for making the comment! It saved me having to bolt a USB fan over the old, misbehaving SFP+ module or something similarly silly...
    by gpjt
  • If you are implementing 10 GBE at distances less than 5-7 m, I highly recommend standardizing on DAC cabling. It removes the need for these kinds of conversions that create these kinds of heat signatures.
    by tcdent
  • Wish apartments would come with those
    by iknowstuff
  • So much this. The rule of thumb is: avoid SFP-RJ45 converters at all costs, you'll be burned by them (literally and figuratively).

    They all are little snowflakes. Compatibility is hit-or-miss. They run hot. They eat more power. They're finnicky. Heck, they plain out lie about what they are (I've got some that pretend to be fibre with 3m of copper, sure).

    So yeah, DAC it is for patch, fibre for anything more.

    by tuetuopay
  • OP here -- yes, 100%! Within my study it's DACs all the way. I only use 10GBASE-T where it's the only option: through the wall cabling, and from the connector on my ISP's crappy router to the mini-PC that acts as the real router.
    by gpjt
  • Speaking of modules that lie about themselves, unifi has an interesting little device called the "SFP Wizard" that can reprogram sfp modules.

    https://www.ui.com/us/en/integrations/accessory-tech/sfp-wiz...

    Previously seen: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45732874

    by wingmanjd
  • fiberstore has them as well, plus you can buy modules, DACS and everything programmed to the vendor of choice, including different vendors on each end

    Especially handy for specific Intel NICs where they refuse to link up if the module isn't in the driver-allowed list and those modules are hard to come by

    by theMMaI
  • I tend to use fs.com optics, but I’ve heard in high rates (100g plus) that flex optic tend to be more reliable
    by hdgvhicv
  • You can also use a BananaPi BPI-R3 for reprogramming. And you can “upgrade“ 10 Gbit/s DACs to 25 Gb/s. Details here https://kohlschuetter.github.io/blog/posts/2026/03/22/unlock...
    by kohlschuetter
  • I feel like we have moved into the era now where if you were putting cabling in the walls for networking you should be choosing fibre now. Not necessarily because we are definitely at the stage where the home needs it, but because the off ramp is clearly happening for ethernet at 10gbit/s and its really high consumption and heat. Switching to fibre after 2.5gbit/s seems like the thing to do now and plenty of us now have access to internet speeds that can exceed 2.5gbit/s.
    by PaulKeeble