[ale] Looks like time for a new wireless router

[Alex Carver]

10 GbE copper is not half-duplex. Everything runs full-duplex whether 
you're running fiber or copper. It's in the 802.3an specification that 
only full-duplex is supported no matter the physical connection of the 
copper (10GBASE-T, SFP+ direct attach, 10GBASE-K* backplanes). In the 
case of twisted pair copper, there's a hybrid splitter/combiner at the 
ends of each pair on both ends of the connection so that data can be 
sent in both directions simultaneously using all four pairs at 2.5 Gbps 
per pair.

As for the rest of it it's all true though the power level quoted 
(3W/port) is probably a bit on the low side. Some SFP+ to copper 
adapters use closer to 10-15 Watts to power a modest distance link of 50 
meters.


On 2024-12-30 15:08, Solomon Peachy via Ale wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 30, 2024 at 03:48:05PM -0600, Leam Hall via Ale wrote:
>> Interesting. I've never really needed high internal network speed so I
>> had no idea 10G copper was worse. What are the options and rough
>> costs? I'm not sure what the future holds, but since my wife has let
>> me buy servers before, I may need to get back to it.  :P
> 
> 10G over Copper:
> 
>   * Half duplex
>   * ~3W/port just to run the PHY, more for longer (>30M) runs
>   * Higher-grade cabling necessary for longer runs
>   * Upper limit of 330ft (like all copper ethernet)
>   * 2-4us added latency
>   * Transceivers are expensive (~$50ish, more for 2.5/5G capable stuff)
> 
> 10G over fiber:
> 
>   * Full duplex
>   * <1W/port for the PHY
>   * Even the cheapest multimode fiber will get you 200M distances
>   * effectively zero latency
>   * Transceivers are a lot cheaper (<$15 for generic stuff)
> 
> Meanwhile, cost favors copper for short runs but for longer runs the
> curve swings decisively to fiber, especially if you need shielded,
> plenum-grade, or armored stuff.
> 
> A disadvanage of fiber is that you're almost guaranteed to need to run
> it through conduit; it's a lot less resilient to abuse.
> 
> If you need to connect things that don't share a common electrical
> ground (or live in a lightning-prone location) then the non-conductivity
> of fiber is a highly desireable property.  (For example when I was on
> DSL I isolated the modem from the rest of the network with a 1M fiber
> run)
> 
> My longest run (so far) is 100M, and that's over direct-burial-rated
> armored singlemode stuff (in a conduit) that connects my office shed to
> the main house.  fiber is overkill for the server rack but given that
> only one of the servers has a native 10G port, it was simply cheaper to
> use fiber.
> 
>   - Solomon
> 
> 
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