Suggestions for affordable, reliable 48 port gigabit switch?

[Tuthmose]

Howdy all,

Now that I've sourced my router, the next step to construct the home network is finding a decent gigabit switch. Here again, I could use some savy advice from the folks who know their business. The home network will be composed of 32-36 CAT6 ports scattered throughout the house, and will support 8-10 machines for a host of things including video editing, work-related functions, streaming video and audio, and VPN remote access. What I'm looking for:

- a close to simple plug-n-play as I can get. Ideally an unmanaged switch like my current 24-port TP-Link would be grand, but I know that almost nobody makes an unmanaged 48-port unit. So, whatever management software is there shouldn't be so complicated as to stymy hooking it up as a simple "dumb" switch
- reliable. It's not a mission critical situation here (most of the time), but I don't really want to dropping bank in a year or so to replace the thing when it burns up or implodes
- reasonably quiet. The network cabinet is mounted on the wall in the downstair rec-room. I can easily replace stock fans with quieter ones if that's the only issue, but I'd prefer a switch that doesn't sound like a 747 taking off
- reasonably affordable, or, since that's probably not going to happen, common enough that I can pick it up second-hand/used for south of $250

I've got my eye on either a Netgear GSM7248 or a DLink 1248T based on what I'm seeing on ebay, but I've low confidence in those choices based on my obvious lack of experience here. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
-Ron

 

[thiggins]

Consider two 24 port switches. They will be quieter... some have no fans. The only managed feature you might want is link aggregation so that you can get 2000 Mbps in each direction for switch to switch uplink.

Many manufacturers now have lifetime warranties on their business switches. NETGEAR does on all its ProSafes. So does D-Link.

Here are a few suggestions:
48 Port "smart"
NETGEAR GS748T ~$500
D-Link DGS-1210-48 ~$500 NO FAN

24 port "smart"
NETGEAR GS724T-300 ~$200
D-Link DGS-1210-24 ~$250 NO FAN

 

[GregN]

As usual Tim has nailed it, I have a 24-port older managed Dell switch, the only feature I use is link aggregation, and it has a not quiet 7x24 fan.

I can recommend checking eBay for used switches, quite a few datacenters have liquidated their older equipment and large managed switches can be had for a song.

 

[Tuthmose]

Thanks guys. The idea of a pair of 24-port switches had occurred to me, but I was concerned about the potential bottleneck between the two. Though it would probably be a rare occurrence, if several machines were streaming or communicating with each other at the same time, I could be hindered by the switch-to-switch pipe, even with LAG, no? Or an I being silly about a theoretical that would never really happen in a network such as mine? I'm do have a bad tendency to overthink/overengineer stuff when I get into unfamiliar territory . . .

I have been following GregN's advice and stalking ebay. It looks like I can score a 48 port version of either of the two switches we discussed for $200 or under. Cost being equal, is there some reason I shouldn't do a 48 port switch? Or should I just go where the bargains lead?

Are there any known issues to be cautious about with either of the switches I mentioned? My research is inconclusive. You know how that goes - for every good review on something, there seems to be a bad one to match, making it hard to reach a solid conclusion.

Thanks again for taking the time to help - I appreciated it!

Best regards,
-Ron

 

[thiggins]

Downside to buying on eBay and 48 port switch are no warranty and possible loud fans.

You know your traffic patterns. Unless you are doing a lot of large file transfers between devices on the two different switches, you won't run into a problem.

 

[GregN]

Tim is right again, when it comes to switches it is often difficult to answer the question 'Is this Loud?' on the manufacturers spec sheet. Is fan noise an issue for you?

I think the warranty is less of an issue, the only thing I've ever heard of failing on an net switch is the PSU, and that was a very old switch. If you go for Dell, you can ask the seller for the service tag, and check its history online.

Some of the older switches require initial configuration ( really just ip address ) using a serial port, so you might need a serial cable and to install putty.

 

[Tuthmose]

Thank you gentlemen (sorry for the late reply - having a pair of toddlers is a sure-fire recipe for terminal projectus-interruptus . . .). I appreciate the helpful advice. I have no problems replacing loud fans with less annoying alternatives, so it seems that, all things considered, the 2x24 vs. 1x48 choice is going to come down to price in the end. It's off to ebay I go, lookin' for the deals . . .

Thanks again,
-Ron