UniFi Switch 16 XG LNA addition

Table of Contents

As previously described, I had replaced the fans in my UniFi US-16-XG, but until today I had not put in any low noise adapters (LNA).

That changed today, I added two LNA NA-RC10 (8.3 m³/h, 12.2 dbA) because the switch is still the most noisy piece of equipment in my homelab.

Before LNA Addition

Quick look at fans and temperatures before adding the LNAs. Before LNA addition my Noctua NF-A4x20 FLX fans (9.4 m³/h, 14.9 dBA) handled cooling decently but the noise was still annoying me.

$ ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin  swctrl env show
General Temperature (C): 58
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              58           Normal           64            75            
REAR             44           Normal           50            75            
CPU              43           Normal           49            75            

Fan Duty Level: 67
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            5465        67          Operational    
FAN-2            5465        67          Operational    

After LNA Addition

Right After the Modification

The switch had time to cool down while I did the hardware modification.

$ ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin  swctrl env show
General Temperature (C): 47
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              47           Normal           47            75            
REAR             35           Normal           35            75            
CPU              33           Normal           33            75            

Fan Duty Level: 54
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            4390        54          Operational    
FAN-2            4368        54          Operational    

After 5 Minutes Uptime

still warming up

$ date ; ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin swctrl env show
2021-11-21T13:28:25 CET
General Temperature (C): 51
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              51           Normal           51            75            
REAR             38           Normal           38            75            
CPU              35           Normal           35            75            

Fan Duty Level: 59
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            4526        59          Operational    
FAN-2            4518        59          Operational

After 15 Minutes Uptime

pcfe@t3600 ~ $ date ; ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin swctrl env show
2021-11-21T13:38:14 CET
General Temperature (C): 60
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              60           Normal           60            75            
REAR             44           Normal           44            75            
CPU              41           Normal           42            75            

Fan Duty Level: 69
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            4795        69          Operational    
FAN-2            4817        69          Operational 

After 30 Minutes Uptime

$ ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin uptime ; ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin swctrl env show
 13:52:59 up 30 min,  load average: 0.13, 0.20, 0.16
General Temperature (C): 63
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              63           Normal           63            75            
REAR             47           Normal           48            75            
CPU              45           Normal           45            75            

Fan Duty Level: 73
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            4909        73          Operational    
FAN-2            4922        73          Operational

After 1 Hour Uptime

$ ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin uptime ; ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin swctrl env show
 14:23:41 up  1:01,  load average: 0.31, 0.19, 0.20
General Temperature (C): 64
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              64           Normal           64            75            
REAR             49           Normal           49            75            
CPU              47           Normal           47            75            

Fan Duty Level: 74
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            4936        74          Operational    
FAN-2            4936        74          Operational 

After 2 Hours Uptime

$ ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin uptime ; ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin swctrl env show
 15:31:02 up  2:08,  load average: 0.14, 0.16, 0.14
General Temperature (C): 64
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              64           Normal           65            75            
REAR             49           Normal           50            75            
CPU              48           Normal           48            75            

Fan Duty Level: 74
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            4958        74          Operational    
FAN-2            4945        74          Operational  

After 3 Hours Uptime

$ ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin uptime ; ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin swctrl env show
 16:22:45 up  3:00,  load average: 0.23, 0.18, 0.15
General Temperature (C): 64
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              64           Normal           65            75            
REAR             49           Normal           50            75            
CPU              48           Normal           48            75            

Fan Duty Level: 74
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            4949        74          Operational    
FAN-2            4945        74          Operational    

After 7 Hours Uptime

$ ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin uptime ; ssh sw-10g.mgmt.pcfe.net -l admin swctrl env show
 20:22:52 up  7:00,  load average: 0.16, 0.21, 0.18
General Temperature (C): 65
Temp Sensor      Temp (C)     State            Max Temp (C)  Alert Temp (C)
===============  ===========  ===============  ============  ==============
PHY              65           Normal           65            75            
REAR             50           Normal           50            75            
CPU              48           Normal           48            75            

Fan Duty Level: 75
Fan              Speed       Duty level  State
===============  ==========  ==========  ===============
FAN-1            4972        75          Operational    
FAN-2            4958        75          Operational  

Conclusion

So it looks like I gained ~7°C and lost ~500RPM on the fans, but they now run at ¾ of what they will maximally do.

I think I’ll remove the LNAs again in the next switch maintenance round.