TP

Jun 20, 2023

In this review, we are going to look at the TP-Link TL-SH1832. This is another fun one from a reader tip. This switch has the lowest per-port 2.5GbE cost that we can find, especially in a higher-port count configuration like this. There are, however, a few major catches that will either make some more determined to get one, or remove it from consideration.

Since we thought this is one that we thought the YouTube audience would enjoy as well, Alex made a video that is about a third shorter than our normal video length:

As always, we suggest watching this in its own browser, tab, or app for the best viewing experience. Also, if any of our readers are STH YouTube members, thank you. That helped us buy this unit for review.

The switch itself is a 1U rackmount switch. We took the photos without the included rack ears, but this switch includes rack ears that you can see in the video. It can also be used with rubber feet as a desktop unit. On the left of the switch, we get the status LEDs for the 32 ports.

The 24 ports are all 2.5GbE and 1GbE ports. We tested at those speeds, but they are supposed to also work at 10M/100M speeds. The eight SFP+ cages we tested at 10GbE speeds, but have status LEDs for 2.5GbE and 1GbE speeds, but not 5GbE.

On the side of the case, we get a vent, and rack ear mounting. The only rack ear mounting option is on the port side of the switch.

On the other side of the switch, we have another vent.

On the rear of the switch, we just have the grounding point and the AC input.

The switch does not have FCC, UL, or many of the other markings we typically see on switches that are sold and deployed in the US. There is a big buyer beware element to this type of device that we will address more in our key lessons learned section.

This is very simple hardware on the outside, but let us look inside the switch.