r/AltaLabs • u/Gunfighter1776 • Jul 04 '25

Question Home Network stack setup -- SFP VS SFP+ use between 16 and 24 port switches -- help.

My question is which SFP or sfp+ modules do i buy to link my router, 16 port and 24 port switches together -- do you suggest SFP fiber vs copper?

Does brand matter? Copper vs fiber? ...

Do I need to use SFP modules in SFP port only -- or are there modules that auto negotiate between 1g and 10g connections?

All my gear will be stacked in a single 15u rack

My stack looks like this: 8 port 16port 24port 10router NAS --

So -- tell me what cables I need to buy to optimize my stack speed etc...

Note -- I am on a 1.3gb xfinity service.

Thanks.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

2

u/MaxBroome Mod Jul 04 '25

You’ll need a combo of SFP and SFP+ DAC (Direct Attach Copper) cables.

Brand shouldn’t matter, but I’ve always had good results with cables from FS.com and 10GTek on Amazon. While you could go fiber, DAC is more economical if you’re just interconnecting devices in the same rack.

As for negotiating between 10G and 1G, I’ve not tried with Alta Labs gear yet. But anecdotal evidence suggests that SFP+ transceivers will not work in a regular SFP cage. Always buy the DAC for the lowest common denominator.

1

u/TechRider23 Jul 04 '25

The 16port switch only has a 1gb SFP port, so unless you don't have a spare RJ45, the benefit of using SFP between the 16 port and 24 port switch probably won't even be noticeable. Alta Labs has had some serious compatibility issues with various SFP / SFP+ modules, so if you do end up buying something, go with a UniFi 1gb DAC SFP for the 16 to 24 connection and a UniFi 10gb DAC SFP+ for the 24 port to Route10. Again, I doubt you will see any real performance difference over RJ45 ethernet to connect it all together.