SonnetSolo 10G Thunderbolt 3 to SFP+ 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (SFP+ [SR] Included)

Definite must-have for heavy work flows with FTTD. We deployed 10GbE single mode FTTD to 28 workstations for 4k RAW & LOG video editing work flows from at work and two users wanted to add their Dell Precision laptops to the environment. Transfer speeds to and from the flash network attached storage arrays are exactly what you'd expect from 10GbE (hovering around 1GB/sec (that's gigabyte, not gigabit). Game changer for power users that utilize mobile workstation laptops for editing. Could also be useful for Mac users that can't add a PCIe internal network adapter to their desktops. Couldn't be happier with this device. Although it's kinda silly to include a muktimode SFP+ with it. I'd rather it come with no SFP honestly and just shave off a few bucks but that's just me being picky. NIC isn't supported by Win 10 / 11 natively so you'll need manufacturers drivers (Aquantia Aqtion AQC107S chipset) Five stars all the way.

For all of those that are saying the NIC gets hot and / or overheats...you unfortunately cannot beat physics. 10Gb NICs get hot by their nature.1. Small size2. Quietness3. AffordabilityPick 2 out of the 3 above. 3 out of 3 are impossible.You can have a small, affordable device with a tiny, whiny internal fan that will stay cool. You could have a small, affordable device with an intricate and expensive heat sink design but it would be expensive. You can have an affordable device with a cheaply made but giant metal heat sink that will stay cool.NOW, with that said, I want all 3 :). Luckily I'm an engineer, so this wasn't a challenge. I simply purchased the following 80mm fan for $11 and affixed it to the heat sink side of the housing:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G059G86/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_nNoGEbTA4E9H6The design of the housing and the assembly is actually very well done from a thermal management perspective.I disassembled the unit and verified that the ribbed side of the housing is thermally connected to the controller. From the factory they applied thermal interface material to the controller and created a raised area in the housing to make contact with the TIM. They also placed a thermal pad on a secondary SMD. I replaced the TIM with higher quality since I had it open anyway and replaced the pad with a fujipoly of the same size. That was totally unnecessary, but I figured why not since I had it open anyway.Now the unit stays warm to the touch at best with the fan on the lowest setting.Yes, you can buy another brand of external NIC for the same price that already has a fan, but they sound like jet engines. My solution, while ugly lol, is very effective while remaining quiet.

Product works fine with a laptop as long as you have a Lightning 3 port that is separate from the charging port. 10g sfp+ uses a lot of power, most laptops will go into "low power mode" on their external ports that provide power if the unit is not plugged in. So if you have a windows laptop and it has 1 Lightning 3 port, BUT that port is also used as a charging port for the laptop... this device will most likely not work for you. The port will be in low power mode when it is unplugged from the wall and then you plug in the soho 10gb sfp+ adapter and it will want to draw too much power and it cannot get it. A message may be displayed... "Thunderbolt device functionality might be limited"... you need a device that is not powered by the single thunderbolt 3 plug and you will need the laptop plugged in while using this device

I got this because my PC and NAS have 10 Gigabit but my MacBook Pro only had wifi or gigabit to work with on its Thunderbolt dock (the PC only had one TB4 port and the NAS has none so I couldn't do direct attach), I was able to hook this up via fiber to my switch's SFP+ port with a transceiver. I did have to raise the priority in the Mac's networking two or three times (I think based on the port and which dock) and the set jumbo frames but I'm editing videos with multiple streams over 5K resolution directly from the NAS.One thing I'd like to see on a future version say a 20/25 Gigabit is a slightly longer Thunderbolt cable allowing better cable management, the one it comes with is quite short (it can be changed but it is captive).You can swap the transceiver to something else, even copper if needed.

The main reason to buy the Solo is its ability to host SFP+ transceivers. Preferably optical or DAC, as the RJ45 variety can lead to the unit overheating. Installation was painless, the unit is self-powered (even from a dock), and after a quick network setting update, the thing was online. The SR optical module with LC connectors worked out of the box with my infrastructure.The Thunderbolt cable is very short and fixed. It's barely long enough to loop around the Caldigit dock without a major kink, for example. A Thunderbolt 3 receptacle to allow a choice of cables would be a welcome upgrade. Also, be sure to fully seat the thunderbolt 3 plug as even a millimeter of gap led to a disconnected transceiver.I found the unit to work flawlessly though after several hours of very heavy work, something went awry - either the transceiver or the mac freaked out, kernel panic, and all that. Hasn't happened since but at the same time, I haven't had a black/power screen in years.Externally, this thing is as hot as the Caldigit line of TS Docks.

Heat is the #1 problem with 10 GbE so after reading many review I opted for this one and it did not disappoint. Works out of the box with macOS and it's 100% silent and just barely warm (using a DAC cable to my switch). Performance was as expected (and will be better with Jumbo packages which it supports). I'll be getting at least one more.Only cons: at $200 it's a tad expensive compared to a simple PCIe add-in card.EDIT: fixed typo "barely work -> barely warm" LOL. Note, this is the SFP+ version which will run cooler than the Base-T version. It's important to state which because of this.