[GUIDE] SFP+ 10Gb Optical Fiber macOS Ventura

[CaseySJ]

@CaseySJ not on z690 but on z790 ProArt I've noticed a weird behavior, the network lights blink even when the system is powered off, so might be one of the reasons why we're having a sleep issues, it doesn't properly shut it off. Need to install windows and see if it repeats.

That’s actually normal and happens on all Ethernet ports. When we shut down the computer we put it into “soft off” state. Small amounts of power still feeds certain components such as Ethernet ports.

 

[Andyapple]

There's no need to redo your whole network. You only need a small optical switch for the few clients on fibre, e.g. a Mikrotik CRS-305-1G-4S+IN.
Alternatively, there are entry level switches like the QNAP M408 series which can accommodate eight "legacy" clients on 1 GBase-T and four 10 GbE clients on SFP+, 10 GBase-T (a real Mac?), or a mix of both.

Cat. 6A/7/8 copper cables are a dead end: Beyond 10 GbE it's all optical.

A bit off topic, but it might be helpful to someone.
Hi! Since I have to change again my network card, I was thinking about your solution, switching to a fiber network in my whole house. @etorix
Can you help me to understand what i need to buy?

I need 10Gb in three different rooms.

I will get the ONT and Modem 10Gbit in the first room, let's call it "A" Room, and in that room I have one Hackintosh that I want to get 10Gb and two printers that don't need 10Gb.
From that room the Internet should go (with a switch I guess) in "B" Room, in which I have another hackintosh that I want to get 10Gb and two printers that don't need 10Gb.
And from that room we go in my room "C" Room, in which I have my Hackintosh that I want on 10Gb, my Playstation, TV and other devices that can go up to 1000 only.

Now all my network is on CAT 5 with some unmanaged Netgear switches 10/100/1000.

I have many doubts, but I know that your solution is the best. I am not able to understand what do I need to buy

For example, in my modem I will have one 10Gb port only. How can I go from that to fiber cable?
Which switch do I need? I think I will have to buy SFP cards for those three hackintosh to get fiber cable to them, and the other things can go to LAN, at the moment max 1000, but it would be useful to have some ports 10Gb maybe.

Obviously, it's not so simple. I guess it's easier to fit a fiber cable than a CAT 8 fat cable,. However, I know fiber it's easy to break. Also, I don't know how to "cut" the fiber cable. (I will buy a long cable to cut in parts, as I did with Cat5 cable years and years ago.)

I'm attaching a pic to explain better what I'm trying to say.

I know this is probably Off topic, but it might be important to switch from an Ethernet card to an SFP card.
And Thank you all guys for the help you have been giving me.

Andyapple

 

[Edhawk]

The QNAP switch is capable of having 4 x 10GB connections that use Ethernet or SPF+ cables, so your 3 x Hacks would be easily served.

It also has 8 x 1GB ports, so the 4 x printers, Playstation and TV would all be served by the one switch with 2 x 1GB and 1 x 10GB ports available for other devices. The printers, playstation and TV can all remain on the existing cable, Cat 5/5e/6 etc. and work at 100/1000mb speed.

New Cat 6e/7/8 Ethernet cables connecting the 3 x 10GB Ethernet cards in the 3 x Hacks would be required along with the switch.

Unless you have a very fast Internet service (5GB+), changing your modem for a 10GB modem might be a waste of money at this time. As your ISP may not provide a suitable connection speed to make use of the 10GB modem.

 

[Andyapple]

It would be only one switch in the first room? Should I bring a cable for each device per room?
Actually I have one switch per room, 1000 MB switch.
I don't understand how can I use one switch only, It would be great, but I think it would be a problem to bring all that cables in one "corrugate"(pipe, I don't know the English term).

Thank you.

Yeah I hope next month to get a really fast connection, now I have FTTC, and they told me they are installing 10Gbit ftth.

 

[Andyapple]

The QNAP switch is capable of having 4 x 10GB connections that use Ethernet or SPF+ cables, so your 3 x Hacks would be easily served.

It also has 8 x 1GB ports, so the 4 x printers, Playstation and TV would all be served by the one switch with 2 x 1GB and 1 x 10GB ports available for other devices. The printers, playstation and TV can all remain on the existing cable, Cat 5/5e/6 etc. and work at 100/1000mb speed.

New Cat 6e/7/8 ethernet cables connecting the 3 x 10GB ethernet cards in the 3 x Hacks would be required along with the switch.

Unless you have a very fast internet service (5GB+), changing your modem for a 10GB modem might be a waste of money at this time. As your ISP may not provide a suitable connection speed to make use of the 10GB modem.

I was thinking and probably that’s the best solution! Thank you!!
Tomorrow I will try to do search for what to buy

 

[Andyapple]

The QNAP switch is capable of having 4 x 10GB connections that use Ethernet or SPF+ cables, so your 3 x Hacks would be easily served.

It also has 8 x 1GB ports, so the 4 x printers, Playstation and TV would all be served by the one switch with 2 x 1GB and 1 x 10GB ports available for other devices. The printers, playstation and TV can all remain on the existing cable, Cat 5/5e/6 etc. and work at 100/1000mb speed.

New Cat 6e/7/8 ethernet cables connecting the 3 x 10GB ethernet cards in the 3 x Hacks would be required along with the switch.

Unless you have a very fast internet service (5GB+), changing your modem for a 10GB modem might be a waste of money at this time. As your ISP may not provide a suitable connection speed to make use of the 10GB modem.

Which QNAP model? Thank you

 

[etorix]

I need 10Gb in three different rooms.

What I describe is suitable to a 10G "island", where all 10GbE clients are close to each other—in the sense that one can cable the devices to the 10G switch.

For example, in my modem I will have one 10Gb port only. How can I go from that to fiber cable?

Simple one: With a transceiver to convert a SFP+ port to 10GBase-T.

SFP+ to 10Gbase-T Adapter Module Buyers Guide

Our buyer's guide for SFP+ to 10Gbase-T adapters. We purchased nine popular models and tested their performance, power consumption, and Nbase-T support

www.servethehome.com

These draw more power, and generate more heat, than regular SFP+ modules so there's a limit to how many can go in a SFP+ switch, and how close these may be.
The other solution is a switch with both types of ports and/or "mixed ports". (E.g. a QNAP QSW-M408-2C with one short Cat. 6a/7 uplink to the modem and then serving clients out its SFP+ ports.)

Obviously it's not so simple, but I guess it's easier to fit a fiber cable than a CAT 8 fat cable. I know fiber it's easy to break. Also, I don't know how to "cut" the fiber cable. (I will buy a long cable to cut in parts, as I did with cat5 cable years and years ago.)

Another simple one: You don't terminate the fibre; leave that to professionals and buy pre-terminated cables of the suitable grade (likely OM4 aqua)

Guide to Indoor Fiber Optic Cable Color Coding

If fiber optic cable coding makes your head spin, we have a guide to the common colors and some suggestions for STH readers on what to use

www.servethehome.com

and suitable connector (likely LC)

Fiber Optic Networking Guide SC or LC Connector

We have a guide for choosing the SC or LC connector for your fiber optic network, as well as a bit of bonus trivia

www.servethehome.com

The same goes for copper cable. Properly terminating Cat. 8 cables will be harder than with Cat. 5.

I'm attaching a pic to explain better what I'm trying to say.

First, keep your existing Cat. 5 network for legacy devices.
If you have sufficiently large conduits and the paths are not too complicated, you may try to pass pre-terminated fibre in there. There is a "BIF" type which is more resistant to bends (minimal bend radius of 7.5 mm rather than 7.5 cm).
But if you need to route new 10G cables through the walls, have a professional do it!

A 10G network may make most sense with some 10 GbE NAS in there. With only one 10 G device in each room, you may be in the "10G island" situation: A cable from room A to B, another from A to C, all attached to a 10G switch in room A. (It should not matter that a print job from the 10G client in room B goes to the 10G switch in A and comes back from there through the Cat.5 network.)
With several 10G clients in the same room, you may need a 10G switch in each room. (E.g. the cheap Mikrotik CRS-305 for up to three SFP+ clients.)

N.B. There are many affordable SFP+ switches out there. I happen to be familiar with the QSW-M408 (currently my main switch) and the Mikrotik CRS-305 (there's a larger CRS-309 if one need more ports), so I use these as examples.

 

[Andyapple]

@etorix

Really I don’t know how to thank you!!
Everything is much clear to me now. I had really many doubts that you are solving.

First, keep your existing Cat. 5 network for legacy devices.

A 10G network may make most sense with some 10 GbE NAS in there. With only one 10 G device in each room, you may be in the "10G island" situation:

I totally understand and agree with you! That’s also what @Edhawk.

Having only one 10Gb device per room can let me keep my actual Cat5 network for all the other devices!

I have to pass pre terminated fiber or better call some expert to do it.

The network would also be better having only one switch and not one per room (and cheaper I guess).
I was also reading, as you told me in one of the first post that there are cheap used Ethernet SFP+ compatible for macOS, so that won’t be a problem.

I have this month to think choose what to buy and what to do. If all goes well next month I will get finally ftth 10gbit.

I was reading something about QSW-308-1C, seems good to me.

Thanks you guy for all your help, It is much appreciated❤️

Good night to all,

Andyapple

 

[Andyapple]

What I describe is suitable to a 10G "island", where all 10GbE clients are close to each other—in the sense that one can cable the devices to the 10G switch.


Simple one: With a transceiver to convert a SFP+ port to 10GBase-T.

SFP+ to 10Gbase-T Adapter Module Buyers Guide

Our buyer's guide for SFP+ to 10Gbase-T adapters. We purchased nine popular models and tested their performance, power consumption, and Nbase-T support

www.servethehome.com

These draw more power, and generate more heat, than regular SFP+ modules so there's a limit to how many can go in a SFP+ switch, and how close these may be.
The other solution is a switch with both types of ports and/or "mixed ports". (E.g. a QNAP QSW-M408-2C with one short Cat. 6a/7 uplink to the modem and then serving clients out its SFP+ ports.)


Another simple one: You don't terminate the fibre; leave that to professionals and buy pre-terminated cables of the suitable grade (likely OM4 aqua)

Guide to Indoor Fiber Optic Cable Color Coding

If fiber optic cable coding makes your head spin, we have a guide to the common colors and some suggestions for STH readers on what to use

www.servethehome.com

and suitable connector (likely LC)

Fiber Optic Networking Guide SC or LC Connector

We have a guide for choosing the SC or LC connector for your fiber optic network, as well as a bit of bonus trivia

www.servethehome.com

The same goes for copper cable. Properly terminating Cat. 8 cables will be harder than with Cat. 5.


First, keep your existing Cat. 5 network for legacy devices.
If you have sufficiently large conduits and the paths are not too complicated, you may try to pass pre-terminated fibre in there. There is a "BIF" type which is more resistant to bends (minimal bend radius of 7.5 mm rather than 7.5 cm).
But if you need to route new 10G cables through the walls, have a professional do it!

A 10G network may make most sense with some 10 GbE NAS in there. With only one 10 G device in each room, you may be in the "10G island" situation: A cable from room A to B, another from A to C, all attached to a 10G switch in room A. (It should not matter that a print job from the 10G client in room B goes to the 10G switch in A and comes back from there through the Cat.5 network.)
With several 10G clients in the same room, you may need a 10G switch in each room. (E.g. the cheap Mikrotik CRS-305 for up to three SFP+ clients.)

NB There are many affordable SFP+ switches out there. I happen to be familiar with the QSW-M408 (currently my main switch) and the Mikrotik CRS-305 (there's a larger CRS-309 if one need more ports), so I use these as examples.

Hi guys!
This night I was thinking on how to do It, and listening to all your advice, I came to draw this:

I am trying to figure out everything that I need What do you think? (BTW this morning they are working and digging for the fiber cable, probably next month I will have It!)

@etorix I have two questions:
1. Which Transceiver should I buy? I need one to go from RJ45 to SFP+ from 10gb LAN modem to SFP+ Switch port, and three to go from Fiber cable to Solarflare SFN5122F.

2. This is the complicated question
I have doubts on which fiber cable do I need to use:


I understood that I have to find one cable likely BIF and

pre-terminated cables of the suitable grade (likely OM4 aqua)

but what I was able to find here on Amazon Italy is this

Is this ok? I also have to take precise measures for the length.
Why is it duplex? Is it because it's too long or because 10Gb?

Anyway, the main problem that I need to solve is that with there pre terminated cables, 99% I won't be able to fit them because of the connector size:

I can probably be able to fit even two of those cable (2 single one for sure, 2 duplex I don't know) in conduits, but without the connector, it is too big to fit I think, it should be removed and put it back after the cable is fully fit in conduits.

So how can I solve this puzzle?
I need to figure out which Transceiver to buy and what Fiber Cable (and how to make it fit in conduits).

Thanks,

Andyapple

 

[etorix]

I was reading something about QSW-308-1C, seems good to me.

The unmanaged little brother to the M408 series. If your ISP delivers over 1 Gbps to the home, with three client PCs you're already one 10G port short for the uplink.
And even a M408 would be one port short to bring in a 10G NAS.

I am trying to figure out everything that I need. What do you think? (BTW this morning they are working and digging for the fiber cable, probably next month I will have It!)

Which leaves some time to think about it and check details.
Does the ISP really delivers 10 Gbps to one home? (mine doesn't)
Is there an option for an optical port in the home, or an alternate "modem" units with SFP+ ports? (Mine does… and even allows to bring your own equipment.)

1. Which Transceiver should i buy? I need one to go from RJ45 to SFP+ from 10gb LAN modem to SFP+ Switch port, and three to go from Fiber cable to Solarflare SFN5122F.

For RJ45, anything like that

SFP+ to 10Gbase-T Adapter Module Buyers Guide

Our buyer's guide for SFP+ to 10Gbase-T adapters. We purchased nine popular models and tested their performance, power consumption, and Nbase-T support

www.servethehome.com

However, a switch with a 10G RJ45 port, or shared SFP+/RJ45 port as in the M408, is probably easier and cheaper.
For optical connections, you need two modules per cable: One on each end, compatible with the device it is plugged in. (the QNAP or Mikrotik switches should be quite generic, same for Solarflare NICs but Cisco switches or Intel NICs may be vendor-locked.)
For the computer in room A, a Direct Attach Cable may do (that's a high quality copper cable, with non-removable SFP+ ends; short run only, but lowest cost and latency, and still lower power than RJ45 copper because everything is engineered to purpose).

2. This is the complicated question
I have doubts on which fiber cable do I need to use:

From the extensive 10G resource here, the recommended BIF cable would be this:

Customised LC-LC OM4 Uniboot BIF Fibre Patch Lead - FS.com Europe

Buy customised LC UPC to LC UPC Duplex 2.0mm OM4 Multimode Uniboot BIF Fibre Patch Lead from reliable fibre patch lead supplier-FS.COM!

www.fs.com

But I have to admit I'm a bit out of my depth here.
My setting is a lot simpler than yours:

ISP -> box, directly feeding the TV area because it's close
+
long RJ45 cable to my desk,
currently feeding into a QSW-M408-2C
10G NAS (RJ45 from SoC in Supermicro A2SDi-H-TF)
10G hacks with whatever Chelsio T520 SFP+ or RJ45 I fancy to put in at the moment
legacy 1G clients (old Mac mini, laser, Pi-hole) and TP-Link Powerline adapter ~~~
~~~ the rest of the house (backup NAS, secondary desk for homeworking during lockdowns…) gets wired networking from Powerline.

My "10G island" is just around a desk, so I get by with DAC and short Cat. 7 cables. There's SFP+ but no actual optical transmission, so I'm not fully up on the intricacies of OM ratings, SC/LC connectors, UPC/APC terminations but OM4, LC and UPC seems to be the right combination for home.

Why is it duplex? Is it because it's too long or because 10Gb?

Ascending and descending links. Networking is best when it goes both ways
The OM4 BIF above has both fibres in the same sheath.

I can probably be able to fit even two of those cable (2 single one for sure, 2 duplex I don't know) in conduits, but without the connector, it is too big to fit I think .It should be removed and put it back after the cable is fully fit in conduits.

You need equipment costing thousands of euros—and the training to use it!—to terminate optical fibre in the field; the killer part is polishing the end. The sole alternative to passing through pre-terminated cables without damaging them is to hire a technician.