TheLostSwede
Very Senior Member
It seems like no-one really noticed that Realtek announced a few 2.5Gbps Ethernet controllers (and a PHY) at Computex, myself included, despite going to their booth. Admittedly I was looking for something entirely different there, but it wasn't something they were highlighting either.
It looks like they'll have a few different variations.
Judging by the fact that Realtek supports USB 3.1 (mostly likely gen 1), we might get to see some sub $30 dongles, even if they're not based on Aquantia hardware...
Pair this up with their multi-speed (up to 10Gpbs) 8-port switch controller (which they told me would cost under $30 a chip) and we might actually get some quite affordable 2.5Gbps switches coming out soon as well. It looks like 2.5Gbps is set to be the new 1Gbps for consumer applications at least, where's 5 and 10Gbps will still be reserved for more corporate applications or those that have deeper pockets.
Impress PC Watch have a few pictures of the products - https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/event/1126138.html
Full press release here - http://www.realtek.com/press/newsViewOne.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=0&PFid=1&Level=1&NewsID=454
It looks like they'll have a few different variations.
- RTL8125/8125AG: Supports the PCIe 2.0 interface for PC embedded applications
- RTL8156/8156AG: Provides a USB3.1 interface for external Dongle and Docking applications
- RTL8226: A physical layer transceiver that supports 2500BASE-X, SGMII+, and USXGMII (2.5G) interfaces, and is ideal for Switch, Router, and other communications network devices
Judging by the fact that Realtek supports USB 3.1 (mostly likely gen 1), we might get to see some sub $30 dongles, even if they're not based on Aquantia hardware...
Pair this up with their multi-speed (up to 10Gpbs) 8-port switch controller (which they told me would cost under $30 a chip) and we might actually get some quite affordable 2.5Gbps switches coming out soon as well. It looks like 2.5Gbps is set to be the new 1Gbps for consumer applications at least, where's 5 and 10Gbps will still be reserved for more corporate applications or those that have deeper pockets.
Impress PC Watch have a few pictures of the products - https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/event/1126138.html
Full press release here - http://www.realtek.com/press/newsViewOne.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=0&PFid=1&Level=1&NewsID=454
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