It depends, but for typical networking I'd say Ubiquti is actually offering better pricing here (outside of 10G LR) - and I'm saying that as someone who has sold 10s of thousands of FS modules to customers.
Note: Prices in () are the costs outside of the limited time mark-down period.
Side note for the HN crowd: For ridiculous homelab 100G shenanigans look for Intel 100G-CWDM4 on sites like Ebay. They go for $4 and work with SM LC fiber from 0-2000 meter runs, making great DAC replacements (cheaper+thinner replaceable cabling). They run great, I've had 8 going for a year. Even if all 8 failed tomorrow and I bought 8 more that's still cheaper than a single 100G SR4 from FS. You can pair these with used 100G NICs for ~$100, making a 100G direct connection between 2 machines ~$250 after shipping+tax.
For high speed home stuff, I usually pick up some old Mellanox infiniband cards and cables. They're usually dirt cheap and insanely quick. Difficult to work with if you do not know what your are doing.
> Ubiquti is actually offering better pricing here (outside of 10G LR)
Ubiquiti's 10GB LR of $59 is for a 2-pack, not per-module. So that still comes out cheaper than FS for the sale duration at least. Not by a lot, granted, but still cheaper.
Whats the best solution for short runs (rack) between Mikrotik switches and Dell servers. Will a DAC still work between different vendors or is it always best to buy individual transceivers?
Agreed. I have a 10 Gb DAC connecting my workstation and a small server to a Mikrotik. They are way cheaper, use less electric, and run cooler compared to a UTP SFP. I don't like UTP for 10Gb as its both costly and less efficient though that is going to get better with time.
It won’t get much better because that’s just a limitation of how 10GBASE-T works. There’s never a good reason to use it. Always just use a DAC or fibre.
Nice prices from Ubiquiti. I think fs mostly competes against Cisco which have much higher prices. IIRC we hade like a 95% discount off Ciscos list price for optics.
They're dramatically less expensive than original OEM, but UB clearly is targeting them with this release/aggressive pricing.
It remains to be seen if UB's pricing (particularly $50 on the "Wizard") is just temp to get their foot in the door. I suspect it is; and we'll see the price increase later.
> I suspect it is; and we'll see the price increase later.
I used to use Ubiquiti gear a number of years ago, but left when they started moving into an Apple-esque "prosumer" direction with corresponding price increases. That, and the constant bugs.
Ubiquiti's G3 Instant entry level camera was launched at $30 in 2021; which is $55 adjusted for inflation, but they're actually selling it for $80. The G4 Instant is $99 and G6 Instant is $180(!). Keep in mind this is their cheapest, entry level, offering in the camera space.
Whereas if you contrast these prices with a Reolink E1 Pro which is $55 (with free shipping) and superior to the G4 Instant in every metric (lens quality, pixel count, PTZ, ONVIF support, et al). This essentially makes this a space that Ubiquiti is no longer interested in competing in.
