Network switches are not exciting purchases until you realize that a standard Gigabit switch is the bottleneck between your router and everything connected to it. The TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2 puts five 2.5 Gigabit ports on your desk for a fraction of what multi-gig switching cost two years ago, and it just dropped to $39, off its $59 typical price and at its all-time low on Amazon. The number one best seller in network switches on Amazon, no Prime membership required.
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Why 2.5G matters more than it used to
Gigabit ethernet was the ceiling for home networking for over a decade, and for most users it still seemed fast enough. That changed when Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E routers started shipping with 2.5G uplink ports, NAS devices added 2.5G interfaces, and gaming PCs began including 2.5G ethernet adapters on their motherboards. A standard Gigabit switch between a 2.5G router and a 2.5G NAS caps every transfer at 1Gbps regardless of what the endpoints can handle, and that limitation becomes visible the moment you start moving large files, streaming 4K locally, or running a home server. The TL-SG105S-M2 removes that ceiling entirely, with five 2.5G ports and 25 Gbps of total switching capacity in a fanless metal box smaller than a paperback book.
