Labthrift Labthrift Buy the boring upgrade. Skip the rest.

Notes / 2.5G switches

Editorial, 22 Aug 2026. Specs from maker pages and recent street reports. We have not burned these units in. Affiliate tags are not live.

TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2: the 5-port 2.5G closet default

The shipped 8-port guide assumes eight endpoints. A lot of one-NAS + one-PC closets only need five.

Fanless metal, five 2.5G ports, 25 Gbps fabric, Cat5e 2.5G, no PoE. Maker max draw 5.81 W. External 9 V / 0.6 A brick. 99.8 × 98 × 25 mm. Unmanaged: plug it in.

Amazon listing / MRP $59.99. Gizmodo (22 Jun 2026) saw $39. pricehistory.app logged $34.99 on 4 Aug 2026 as the lowest against that $59.99 MRP. Newegg one listing at $108.99 is a 3P markup — ignore it. Decide port count first: 8-port vs 5-port. Twin 5-port: TL-SG105S-M2 vs TEG-S350.

The short list

BoxWhat it isStreet, 22 Aug 2026Buy if
TP-Link TL-SG105S-M25× 2.5G, fanless, unmanaged, 25 Gbps, 5.81 W maxMRP $59.99. Sale street $35–39 in 2026 snaps. Lowest logged $34.99 (4 Aug 2026).Router LAN + NAS + desktop + AP backhaul, and you counted under six.

Skip

Skip 5-port toys with one 2.5G uplink and four leftover 1G ports. That is not the job you googled. Skip this box if you already have five things and a spare on the way — buy the 8-port default instead. Skip Netgear MS305 at $99.99 next to this street. Skip SODOLA / HASIVO no-names.

Sources

Amazon TL-SG105S-M2 (ASIN B0CMXXPTVH). TP-Link US maker page. Gizmodo, 22 Jun 2026. Street ranges move. Check the live price before you click.

Also in this lane

8-port vs 5-port 2.5G switch for a closet labCount the real endpoints and add two. 2.5G vs a 10G uplink: when the extra SFP+ is worth itBuy the SFP+ box only if one flow can fill 2.5G. TRENDnet TEG-S562 vs QNAP QSW-2104-2SSame recipe: unmanaged, fanless, 4× 2.5G + 2× 10G SFP+.