GigE Dumb Switches - e.g. unmanaged

[sfx2000]

Prices are coming down... last round here on SNB was a couple of years ago... ok, more than that, e.g. 2007...

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-reviews/30195-8-port-gigabit-switch-roundup

Just picked up a Linksys SE-3008 un-managed 8 port GiGE switch - 40 bucks cash at Fry's in SAN... replaced an older D-Link 100BaseT 5 port -- DSS-5+ Switch II - died the other day after 15 years of good service..

No need to sacrafice a port for "uplink" - all ports are smart, and they're "green" with power off on unused ports... It honors VLAN tags, along with Q0S tags as well, and Jumbo frames seem to be ok... what I like is that the ports are "smart" with regards to cables and link detection - even with my ancient Linksys 10BaseT (model number ESWHUB) which I use for some packet capture stuff...

All good stuff... just thought I would share...

 

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FWIW - TP-Link, D-Link, and Netgear were pretty much at the same price point - went with the Linky as the ports are on the "back" and the link status indicators are on the front, so a bit cleaner on the desktop... if it were in a "rack", the indicators/port arrangement would be a negative perhaps.

Prices compared to 5 ports - negligible - 8 ports are a better value, IMHO...

The only other downside, subjectively speaking, and I think this is probably common now that we're at the sub-$50 segment, the AC adapter seems a bit lightweight... pretty much same as one would see with a smartphone...

 

[abailey]

Amazon currently has the TP-LINK TL-SG108E easy smart switch for $29.99. Incredible price for an 8port gigabit managed switch. Prices are getting so low on introductory managed switches, they are often times as inexpensive as dumb switches.

 

[sfx2000]

Amazon currently has the TP-LINK TL-SG108E easy smart switch for $29.99. Incredible price for an 8port gigabit managed switch. Prices are getting so low on introductory managed switches, they are often times as inexpensive as dumb switches.

Yep... there's some decent deals to be had out there... Staples also carries the TP-Link device in their brick and mortar stores at the same price as NewEgg and Amazon.

Just wish that TP-Link wouldn't limit admin tools to just Windows on the TL-SG108E

 

[sfx2000]

Well, going into a month on the low-end SE3008 Linksys 8 port GigE switch..

No drama, just works... at this price-point, 40 bucks, one can't expect much more... i want toast, it makes toast - it doesn't have options for waffles or muffins...

Managed switches at this price point, well, that's asking for trouble perhaps... esp. in a cross platform environment where the management app might be platform specific (and one might not have that platform in house)

 

[KenZ71]

I've had a netgear gs108 running for about 4 years. It's like a hall light, it just works, no drama.

 

[zakoh]

Well, gee, that's the tech progress for you. Moore's law and all that. I remember around year 2000-01, a managed gigabit switch could cost the price of nice used car...

 

[System Error Message]

Most of the managed switches you see that are inexpensive are only semi managed. After switching from semi managed to fully managed the difference is massive. Still if it is an option between dumb and semi managed its always better to get semi managed if the switch features worked properly and it gives you basic controls over your network such as combining ports, vlans and a little security. The cost of semi managed switches cost the same as dumb switches did last time.

Dumb switches are sometimes a better option for basic networks usually since there is no configuration and less firmware bugs to worry about.

The only issue managed switches have is that they cannot handle as many packets using other configurations used such as a configurable firewall,QoS while some inexpensive switches may not be able to handle as many 64 byte packets. A configurable firewall on a switch lets you control broadcast and multicast packets to prevent floods and either limit the rate or which computer/port/such can use them for example and perform a bunch of other things too. On my mikrotik router i use L2 firewall as part of my main firewall and QoS.