Do DrayTek Vigor2962 and VigorSwitch G2540x take third-party SFP+ optics, or only DrayTek modules?
We are moving the office uplinks from copper to fibre and the quote that came back has DrayTek-branded optics in every line. Before I start arguing about the difference against ordinary 10G modules I would like to know whether the hardware actually cares what sits in the cage, because the datasheets only ever say SFP and SFP+ and stop there.
Kit involved:
- DrayTek Vigor2962 as the border router
- DrayTek VigorSwitch G2540x in the comms room, VigorSwitch P2280 in the second office
- planned: 10G modules for the SFP+ cages, 1G fibre for the P2280 uplink
- the two switches in the main rack are a metre apart, so a DAC would do there
What needs populating:
Vigor2962 SFP+ WAN 10G, single mode to the handover
G2540x SFP+ uplink 10G, to the router
P2280 SFP uplink 1G, fibre to the second office
G2540x <-> switch in same rack DAC instead of a pair of opticsWhat I have checked already: nothing in the manuals mentions approved vendors or an unsupported-transceiver style command, and nobody here has ever put a non-DrayTek module in these boxes, so I have no first-hand evidence either way.
Does DrayTek lock its SFP ports to its own modules, and is there a published list of parts that have actually been tested in them?
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Comments 2
No lock. DrayTek says as much itself: the cages on the Vigor routers and on the VigorSwitch line are ordinary SFP mechanically, and nothing in the firmware checks who made the module - meet the spec for that cage and it is expected to come up. Their statement covers the whole span people usually ask about, from the Vigor2952 and Vigor2962 through the Vigor3900 and Vigor3910, and the G2280, G2540x, P2280 and P2540x switches.
Their knowledge base also keeps a list of parts they have actually put in the ports. It is explicitly not exhaustive, but it is a decent sanity check before you order: the names on it are 10GTek, MNC, AXCEN, ZyXEL, HP/StarTech and Ipolex, in both the gigabit and the 10 gigabit optical flavours. For the hop inside your rack there is DrayTek's own passive copper cable, the DAC CX10, offered in two lengths, a metre and three mettres, and switch-to-switch is exactly the use they list it for.
What actually bites people is the rate class rather than the brand: a gigabit module belongs in an SFP cage and a 10 gigabit one in an SFP+ cage, so match the part to the port and do not expect the port to sort it out for you.
Worth appreciating how good that is compared with the rest of the market, because "does it work" and "will anyone help you" are two different questions.
Cisco sits in the middle. On something like a Firepower 2130 or 2140 the fixed SFP+ ports have a published list of optics, SFP-10G-SR and -LR and -ER with their -S variants, plus SFP-H10GB-CU DACs and SFP-10G-AOC cables, and the platform does not block anything else. But Cisco tells you plainly not to use untested modules, and TAC can decline an interoperability case that has a third-party optic in the path. There is no document that forbids them either, the compatibility matrix plus the warranty wording is the whole official position, and unlisted simpyl means unsupported.
Then there is the other end: Moxa's FAQ answers the same question with a flat no for the EDS-518A family, stating its switches support only SFP modules suppllied by Moxa. Nothing technical is described there, it is a qualification and support stance, but if you ever need to escalate you are on your own.
So with DrayTek you get both the technical freedom and a list they will admit to having tested, which is rarer than it should be.