Silence and update firmware on a HP ProCurve 2810-48G Switch

Hey all,
I just picked up this HP ProCurve 2810-48G switch for $50 bucks of FB marketplace and it works just fine, but man it is loud…

I don’t have a USB → Serial dongle + serial → RJ45, and was hoping to upgrade the firmware or enable the WebUI, but have not figured out how to do that just yet. I tried to see if it got an IP by searching for it’s MAC address, but nothing came up. I read over the documentation for upgrading it, but everything I saw required Console serial access, which I don’t have the dongle for. I do have the serial to RJ45 cable though.

It’s currently running in dumb-switch mode with no assigned IP for the management console, so I could just use it like that, but would prefer to get the management stuff set up for vlan and other stuff like that.

As for silencing this beast, I found a reddit thread where they have swapped out the fans with some noctua fans, but didn’t want to spend as much as I did on the switch for fans… Here’s the references:

What do you guys think? Should I try to silence this, update it + enable web mgmt or just sell it and get something else?

Thanks in advance!

Just my opinion here. If you don’t have a need for a full managed switch, then get a “smart switch” that will allow you to assign VLANs. Unless you have a desire to learn networking, don’t spend the time and effort. I say this as someone that’s currently studying for a CCNA certification and using the type of power hungry, loud ass switches you currently have.

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I did CCNA back in 2005, so I don’t need it for that. I was just thinking that for the price it was worth it. I bought that netgear 8 port managed switch on BF for $20. So I don’t need it, but everything else I was seeing was way more. Maybe I’ll just use it if I ever move the rack into the garage…

Well damn, you know your answer then! LOL. If I were you, if you didn’t need the ports and them being managed. Save ya electric bill.