According to RouterOS 7.3 release notes, the as the CRS305-1G-4S+IN features a 98DX3236, it should be now capable of using 2.5G transfer rates:
"sfp - added 2.5Gbps rate for SFP+ and QSFP+ interfaces on 98DXxxxx and 98PX1012 switches (requires disabled auto-negotiation);".
Question 1: can someone confirm it please ?
In fact, I'm looking for a SFP(+) module compatible with a CRS305-1G-4S+IN in order to connect a 2.5Gbps Base-T capable AP to it over a short distance (up to 5m). As a bonus, I would like to have the power consumption as low as possible and price as low as possible as well ("who asks nothing gets nothing").
I'm currently considering the following options:
- Mikrotik S+RJ10 (Max consumption: 2.4W, price: 74 CHF, max 2 can be plugged into the CRS305-1G-4S+IN for heat reasons, but it's ok as other modules will be optical ones)
- FS SFP-10G-T (Max consumption: 2.3W, price: 67 CHF, but is it compatible ?)
- Edge 10G-SFP-T (Max consumption: 2W, price: 49 CHF, according to their supprt it should be compatible if the CRS305 supports 2.5G)
- FS SFP-2.5G-T (Max consumption: <2W, price: 48 CHF, but is it compatible ?)
- Edge 2.5G-SFP-T (Max consumption: unknown, price: 15 CHF, according to their support it should NOT be compatible as "the module must be plugged into a 2.5G port" <- I don't get this last part)
Options 1-3 seem to be capable to negociate rate at 2.5G and I guess that @2.5Gbps the real power consumption would be lower than the max announced comsumption. However as I'm sure I'll never use a 10G-BaseT device with this module, they are kind of overkill for me, and they are more expensive than "fixed" 2.5G-BaseT SFP solutions. As such options 4-5 seem to be more matching my requirements, but these are SFP modules and not SFP+ ones and I have no clue if they are compatible with the CRS305-1G-4S+IN. Last but not least, maybe there are better options I'm not aware of...
Question 2: Which copper module would you recommend to use for 2.5Gbps-BaseT with the CRS305 (i.e. based on your experience) ?
Thank you a lot in advance for your help !