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GS105 vs GS305

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ronorbar

Regular Contributor
GS105 vs GS305 What is recommended between the two for the expansion of ports to the router?
 
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Those are both managed switches, AFAICT from a look at netgear.com. I agree that the difference between them isn't very clear (other than the fact that the GS305E is out of stock, which might mean it's about to be discontinued?).

But ... do you really need a managed switch rather than a simple plug-it-in-and-forget-it unmanaged switch? I'm a bit skeptical of the use-case for managed switches with only 5 ports.
 
GS105Ev2 vs GS305E What is recommended between the two for the expansion of ports to the router?
GS105E v1: End of life.
GS105E v2: Not End of life.
GS305E: Discontinued.
Do you have them? Yes.
Are they good? No.
Do you recommend them? No.
Port expansion: Unmanaged switch.
 
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Those are both managed switches, AFAICT from a look at netgear.com. I agree that the difference between them isn't very clear (other than the fact that the GS305E is out of stock, which might mean it's about to be discontinued?).

But ... do you really need a managed switch rather than a simple plug-it-in-and-forget-it unmanaged switch? I'm a bit skeptical of the use-case for managed switches with only 5 ports.
GS105E is a higher model of GS305E. GS305E doesn't support DHCP. Components of GS105E are better than GS305E.
Warranty.
GS105E: Life time.
GS305E: 3 years.
 
I'd still say to buy an unmanaged switch if you don't have a concrete reason why you need a managed one. If you want Netgear, the original GS105 (not E) is still available and is a decent choice -- I have one that's approaching its tenth birthday, and it's still plugging along without a lick of trouble. If you're open to other brands there are a ton of choices, because plain old ethernet switches are very much commodity gear at this point, especially for small port counts.
 
I'd still say to buy an unmanaged switch if you don't have a concrete reason why you need a managed one. If you want Netgear, the original GS105 (not E) is still available and is a decent choice -- I have one that's approaching its tenth birthday, and it's still plugging along without a lick of trouble. If you're open to other brands there are a ton of choices, because plain old ethernet switches are very much commodity gear at this point, especially for small port counts.
What difference between v2 and v3?
 
What difference between v2 and v3?
(a) almost certainly none that you'd notice, and (b) it's unlikely that you have a choice, assuming you're buying new gear. They probably stopped making v2 when they started making v3.

BTW, my nigh-ten-years-old GS105 is v4, so even if you can find v2 or v3, don't buy it. It is probably refurbished and is certainly ancient. Current manufacture is likely some higher revision yet.
 
(a) almost certainly none that you'd notice, and (b) it's unlikely that you have a choice, assuming you're buying new gear. They probably stopped making v2 when they started making v3.

BTW, my nigh-ten-years-old GS105 is v4, so even if you can find v2 or v3, don't buy it. It is probably refurbished and is certainly ancient. Current manufacture is likely some higher revision yet.
I mean gs305....
 
Besides the warranty, are there other differences?
Perhaps if you asked Netgear's customer support, you would get an answer to that ... but I bet not. You are wasting your time and everyone else's too asking it here, because nobody outside Netgear has access to that sort of detail.
 
Besides the warranty, are there other differences?

Unlikely. The one is 5-ports while the other is 8-ports. It's possible they use a slightly different switch chip or use the same but have disabled 3 ports in its firmware. No one really fully knows, and as others have mentioned, ask NG.

@follower stop spewing crap!
 
@ronorbar, just get any recognizable brand 8-port unmanaged switch (TP-Link, D-Link, Netgear) for like $20, plug it in and forget about it. The price for 5-port and 8-port is very similar. What I would be looking for is ports placement - rear or front. Both are available, whatever works best for you.

I personally would get this one - Netgear GS208 with rear ports and front connection/activity indicator LEDs:

1675088069780.png

I don't know what's the price in your place, but it's $24 on Amazon in the USA. Cheap and looks good for a home setup.

If you prefer black color - TP-Link TL-SG1008D for about the same price:

1675088435260.png


Both will do what you want and are set and forget devices. There is nothing much to compare in specifications.
 
I brought a bunch of used NewGear GS-105, GS-108s .,..they are probably v2? v0? and they are working excellent... I had another brand that was not passing gigabit speeds.. so I paid less than retail for the used NetGear swtichs but maybe the same price as some cheaper new swtiches.
 
I brought a bunch of used NewGear GS-105, GS-108s .,..they are probably v2? v0? and they are working excellent... I had another brand that was not passing gigabit speeds.. so I paid less than retail for the used NetGear swtichs but maybe the same price as some cheaper new swtiches.
Latest models.
GS105 v5.
GS108 v4.
@ronorbar, just get any recognizable brand 8-port unmanaged switch (TP-Link, D-Link, Netgear) for like $20, plug it in and forget about it. The price for 5-port and 8-port is very similar. What I would be looking for is ports placement - rear or front. Both are available, whatever works best for you.

I personally would get this one - Netgear GS208 with rear ports and front connection/activity indicator LEDs:

View attachment 47583
I don't know what's the price in your place, but it's $24 on Amazon in the USA. Cheap and looks good for a home setup.

If you prefer black color - TP-Link TL-SG1008D for about the same price:

View attachment 47584

Both will do what you want and are set and forget devices. There is nothing much to compare in specifications.
They are too old models. The durability and performance are horrible. And They have plastic housing. They are usually $10 to $14. Present price is overpriced for somewhat reason. TP-LINK SG105 and SG108 are the best for the price and performance. TP-LINK SG105 and SG108 switches support IGMP even if they are unmanaged switches, but they support IGMP. If they are on sale
SG105 is $13.
SG108 is $16.
 
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My SG105 (purchased new off Amazon) would not do gigabit speeds...maxed out at 700Mbit... Replaced with a used GS105 and 940 Mbit no problem.. I assume I had a dud but it turned me off to TP-LInk ...
 
My SG105 (purchased new off Amazon) would not do gigabit speeds...maxed out at 700Mbit... Replaced with a used GS105 and 940 Mbit no problem.. I assume I had a dud but it turned me off to TP-LInk ...
I am running 2 Netgear GS105PE in my network, one is actually connected to the PC i use the administer my network and do all my network testing and i have no issues reaching +900 Gbps speeds. Before that, i had a Netgear GS108PE hooked up to the same PC and also no issues with reaching these speeds. In general not a fan of TP-Link. My take on this is simple: you get what you pay for.
 

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