Labthrift Labthrift Buy the boring upgrade. Skip the rest.

Editorial, 23 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-SG108S-M2: the 8-port 2.5G closet default

The roundup says buy an 8-port fanless unmanaged 2.5G. This is that SKU. The letter in the middle matters: buy the S-M2, not the older SG108-M2.

Fanless metal, eight 2.5G ports, 40 Gbps fabric, 29.76 Mpps, 4K MAC, 12 KB jumbo, Cat5e 2.5G. Maker max draw 9.11 W. External 12 V / 1 A brick. 158 × 101 × 25.4 mm. Unmanaged: loop prevention, IGMP snooping, 802.1p. Plug it in. Wall-mount holes in the chassis.

Amazon listing MRP $79.99. pricehistory.app printed $54.99 on 19 Aug 2026. SpecPicks still had $79.49 on 26 Jul 2026. PC Guide logged a June 2026 Prime print at $49.99 against a $129.99 strike. That is sale weather, not a $130 box. Count ports first: 8-port vs 5-port. Five endpoints and a spare: TL-SG105S-M2.

The short list

BoxWhat it isStreet, 23 Aug 2026Buy if
TP-Link TL-SG108S-M28× 2.5G, fanless, unmanaged, 40 Gbps, 9.11 W max. ASIN B0CMFX748Y. MFR TL-SG108S-M2 V2.Amazon $54.99 (19 Aug snap) against $79.99 MRP. Prime-week prints $49.99. Ignore $129 strike-throughs.The closet default. NAS + desktop + AP backhaul + a couple of 2.5G NICs, and you counted past five.
TP-Link TL-SG108-M2Older 8× 2.5G sibling. Same job, worse street. ASIN B08ZHZL5Q7.Often $100–150. Do not buy this because the title also says 8-port 2.5G.Only if the live S-M2 listing is actually more expensive today. Check the model string on the box photo.
TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2Five-port sibling. 25 Gbps, 5.81 W. See the 5-port note.MRP $59.99. Sale street $35–39.You counted under six and you will not grow this closet this year.

Skip

Skip the older TL-SG108-M2 when the S-M2 is the $55 box. Skip 8-port toys with two 2.5G uplinks and six leftover 1G ports. Skip SODOLA / HASIVO no-names. Skip a managed Omada PoE chassis until you have APs that need that budget. Skip used 1G Catalyst for this job. If one flow already fills 2.5G, you want SFP+ — that is the 10G uplink note, not this SKU.

Sources

TP-Link US maker page (V2: 8× 2.5G, 40 Gbps, 9.11 W, 12 V / 1 A, 158 × 101 × 25.4 mm, loop prevention). Amazon B0CMFX748Y. pricehistory.app $54.99 on 19 Aug 2026 against $79.99 MRP. SpecPicks $79.49 on 26 Jul 2026. PC Guide, 19 Jun 2026, $49.99 Prime print. Street figures move. Check the live price before you click.

Also in this lane

Best 2.5G switch for a closet labBuy an 8-port fanless unmanaged box unless you already know you need VLANs or a 10G uplink. 8-port vs 5-port 2.5G switch for a closet labCount the real endpoints and add two. TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2: the 5-port 2.5G closet defaultA lot of one-NAS + one-PC closets only need five.