I had no idea that one simple sub-$50 UniFi network switch would completely change how I used my NAS, but it did.Here's how a simple networking upgrade delivered a complete overhaul to my homelab that I didn't expect.UniFi gear doesn't have to be expensive Though some of the products do get quite pricey I used to think that all UniFi gear was prohibitively expensive.
At one point, that was the truth.These days, you can actually get some pretty affordable UniFi products.When I originally was looking at picking up UniFi to upgrade my home network, the upgrade was in the thousands.
A Dream Machine Pro, a few big network switches, the whole nine yards.I wanted to go , and it was going to be expensive.So I basically stopped looking at UniFi for a long time.
Eventually, I was ready to upgrade my home networking to 2.5Gb/s, and the last company on my mind was UniFi.Everything they made was expensive, right? Wrong.As I was doing research into 2.5GbE switches, UniFi actually stood out as one of the companies out there for the specs and features.
So, that was it.A cheap UniFi switch was what hooked me on the brand, and it completely changed how I used my NAS from then onward.The 2.5G Ethernet switch is the same price as everyone else But it delivers a fully managed network So, this 2.5GbE switch has to be limited in some way, right? I mean, it's a cheap UniFi item—what's the catch? There is none.
As I was looking for switches, I found lots of companies had five or eight port switches around the $40 to $60 mark, but they were all no-name brands that I couldn't even pronounce.I even ordered one because I thought it might be good, but I quickly returned it when it just didn't work.Then, when I found UniFi's Flex Mini 2.5G switch, I started trying to figure out why it was priced as it was.
The switch was under $50, offered five 2.5GbE ports (one of which is PoE in), and it delivers a fully managed experience—even without running a UniFi gateway or router.So, I ordered the switch to give it a try.At under $50, it was worth the shot.
It worked as soon as I pulled it out of the box, and it even came with a USB-C power adapter, too.These days, I power the switch from my PoE (Power over Ethernet) port on my Dream Router 7 because I've gone all-in on UniFi networking.I have had zero issues with the switch.
I have all of my NAS systems run through it and it works flawlessly for me.Now that network transfers are faster, I use my NAS way more I didn't realize the fix was so simple So, how did UniFi's cheap network switch change how I use my NAS? Well, it more than doubled my transfer speeds for under $50.I used to dread moving large files to my NAS because I felt that it was simply going to take far too long.
In fact, I actively avoided moving files from my computers to my NAS and just used my NAS as a media server.Once I went 2.5GbE, that all changed.Now I can move files at around 250MB/s, which is way faster than 100MB/s.
While it might not sound like a lot, what used to take 10 minutes now only takes 4, and that only extrapolates larger from there.A 60 minute transfer is now just 24 minutes.I'm able to move large batches of files without worrying about how long it'll take.
That wasn't the only upgrade, however.Now that I'm working with 250MB/s transfer rates, I'm able to edit my Lightroom photo library directly off my NAS.This freed up a crazy amount of space for me on my MacBook, as my RAW photo collection takes up nearly 1TB of space as it spans over a decade.
Now, I can keep just the current year on my MacBook, and have everything else on the NAS while still keeping my ability to edit the files without having to move them back to my MacBook.It's quite amazing what a speed increase did for my NAS usage.I'm not saying that need to go 2.5GbE on your NAS to start using it, I'm just saying that it completely changed how my NAS worked in my own homelab.
Deals Score networking deals: switches, NAS & storage savings Find discounts on storage and networking gear, including multi-gig switches, NAS accessories, routers, and Ethernet cabling to speed transfers and streamline your homelab.Browse offers and compare savings to find the best upgrade for less.Deals Explore Storage & Networking Deals Going 2.5GbE also allowed me to move my Plex server off the NAS it was running on.
I had Plex running on my big Lenovo RD440 NAS for the longest time with a dedicated graphics card for transcoding.Once I went multi-gig, I was able to offload Plex to a more powerful server that utilized less power from the wall and have it just pull the movies over the network.There are zero hiccups when streaming Plex, even if there are almost a dozen streams going at one time thanks to 2.5GbE.
Really, standard gigabit networking is what was holding my homelab back and I had no idea.Unifi Flex Mini 2.5G Switch Manufacturer UniFi Type Managed Ethernet Switch Ports 5 2.5Gb Ethernet Ports The Unifi Flex Mini 2.5G Ethernet Switch is a fully-managed network switch delivering multi-gig speeds.It works both standalone or with a Unifi Network Controller, making it a versatile option for your network setup.
You get an included USB-C power adapter, though the switch can be powered over PoE+ from the upstream switch.$49 at Unifi Expand Collapse Sometimes it's the small things that cause the friction we don't even know is there Here's the thing, I had no idea that gigabit networking was holding my homelab and NAS usage back until I solved the problem.I just thought that going to 2.5G networking would be a nice upgrade, I didn't know that it would completely change how I used my NAS.
There's probably a ton of other things doing the exact same thing and I don't even realize it.Here's to finding the small things that hold you back and solving those to have a better tomorrow.
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