Want to replace my current switches to Zyxel GS1900 or TP-Link TL-SG2008.

[HHawk]

Okay, currently I own 2 switches at home with a lot of stuff connected to them; multiple PC's, laptops, NAS, etc.

The current switches I use are: 2x Zyxel GS-108B v2

With the Zyxel GS-108B v2 I am quite displeased. For some reason my performance through LAN is always disappointing. I cannot seem to fix this, though I think it's caused by the automatic QoS ports/system it uses. Since it's unmanaged I am left to dry. But, this is probably my own mistake because they were cheap back then.

Anways, after doing some research and reading many reviews, I narrowed down my selection to the following two switches:

- Zyxel GS1900-8 (not HP version, no need for it)
- TP-Link TL-SG2008

Both were featured in reviews on smallnetbuilder (thank you for that), however the reviewed Zyxel version was with PoE (-HP model), but shouldn't matter much.

I also read reviews on Newegg (not so helpful) and on Amazon (also limited). However 2 reviews on Amazon about the TP-Link TL-SG2008 kinda put me down: http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-8-Por...?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

If you are not willing to read them, can't blame you, it's about security issues / flaws, the switch being unstable and TP-Link not being interested in fixing it at all? I don't know how true these reviews are ofcourse, it can be just a bad experience from one user, however; instability and security issues for a switch, don't sound to get excited about.

So, currently I am leaning towards to the Zyxel GS1900-8 at the moment. I don't know what you guys think? Please advice.

I also did check other things; price, power usage, etc. are similiar between the two. As for looks; I don't care much.

Oh and I also checked how frequent the firmware is getting updated on both switches, apparantly Zyxel is a bit more active with that than TP-Link.

So what is your advice on this?

Thank you for your time and answers in advance!


Sidenote; unfortunately smallnetbuilder never updated their review on the Zyxel what switching chip it uses. Would be nice to know nevertheless.

FYI:
SNB review on Zyxel GS1900-8 (HP-version though) is located here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanw...-8-port-gbe-smart-managed-poe-switch-reviewed

SNB review on TP-Link SG-2008 is located here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanw...-and-tl-sg2008-8-port-smart-switches-reviewed

 

[System Error Message]

personally i find tplink firmwares to be buggy but they do well with basic features. If they are unmanaged and you only need switching than either one would do but if you are going to use managed it would be better to go with zyxel. Once you get your switch do a performance test and see if it improves, if not return and go for the other.

QoS shouldnt affect LAN performance as long as there is enough bandwidth. If the switch chip doesnt have enough capacity than you will run into issues. Old switches even 5 port ones only provided 90% of one way capacity in total switching bandwidth. Using multiple switches can also cause performance issues if there is limited bandwidth between the links.

 

[azazel1024]

Dunno, I've never encountered buggy firmware with TP-Link switches, but I am only currently using one (SG2216). I'd personally look at the SG2008.

 

[wbond]

I've been using a TL SG2008 for several months in my home lan and have been happy with it. I don't think it's been rebooted in the past two months, but I'm not where I can check at the moment. I'm not using all the features, mainly using vlans and snmp. The switch sits between my router and the rest of the lan, so it's constantly seeing traffic. I think I bought it after reading the review here.

It looks like one of the negative reviews in the Amazon link is for a different model TP link switch (SG2424)

I also have a pair of TP Link SG3424 switches on the same lan. One of them would lock up occasionally and sounds like the same problem mentioned in the second Amazon review, although it's a different model number. After updating my SG3424 switches with the latest firmware they've been running without any problems.

The main reason I bought the TP Link switches was the feature set and price point but I don't regret the purchases at all. I can't speak for the Zyxel as I've never used one.

edit: SG2008 uptime is currently 133 days

 

[HHawk]

Thank you guys, but still this doesn't make my choice easier.

The only experience I ever had with TP-Link was with a router, but had many problems with it. Don't recall what exactly, but then again, it was cheap back then. So that could be it also.

In regards to the negative reviews on the SG-2008 are the following two:

The TL-SG2008 ships with a big stack of security flaws, including the use of SSLv2 years after most sensible vendors have stopped shipping it. The biggest problem, however, is the version of VxWorks shipped in the switch--it's vulnerable to more than ten publicly known flaws, at least one of which goes back five years.

After some initial problems getting TP-Link support to understand the problem, I finally talked to someone who confirmed that the switch is vulnerable--all of their "2-series" switches are.

They have no plans to issue fixed firmware.

Sadly, I didn't discover the problems until I was outside my return window. I've removed it from my network, however.

Dates back from late October 2014, so it's still kinda recent.

But the other one is indeed about a different switch. So that's my bad.

So only 1 really negative review actually. Might be a disgrunted buyer.

 

[azazel1024]

Yeah, I am aware of the review.

I happen to be related to the guy who wrote it

The sticky whicket is this, most switchs have security vulnerability issues, because most switches are based on the same or similar hardware and firmware stack. There is certainly differentiation, but short of going for an enterprise switch...most likely you'll have issues with weak crypto or other security issues.

Just a question of how worried you are about it. Personally I am not terribly concerned about it, as it would mean any attacker would have had to of compromised my router first, which is likely to do a lot more damage than compromising my router and THEN compromising one of my switches.

For a larger organization I can see this being a concern.

Its an issue of price point, you aren't going to see someone selling a semi-managed/manage switch at, say, $80 or even $150 staying on top of security and bug fixes as much as someone selling a "similar" switch for $400.

One thing I will say, looking at several other "bargain" network suppliers (DLink, Trendnet, Linksys and Netgear), TP-Link actually has more firmware updates for their switches than the other guys. Of course that could be because TP-Link ships buggier products and has more fixing to do, but I tend to lean more towards them actually supporting their switches more than the other guys do...even if they aren't going to do comprehensive security fixes and such forth. I've also seen them add features to their switches through firmware, not just bug stomping.

 

[Samir]

Depending on what your budget is, I'd just pick up some used Cisco catalyst switches. I've found some good deals on ntc-tech.com.

 

[Shonk]

I posted the specs of the ZyXEL 1900 series here the other day

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=22766

Its a RTL8380 on the 8 port
and a RTL8382M on the 24 port
530k packet buffer
500mhz mips cpu
64 mb ram

With smb multipath im pulling 227MB/s over two connections
and around 225-226 with EEE enabled

The web interface is snappy

I did actually order the 24 port tp-link before then, just after i went on the forum
aparently link aggregation is broken on it and they havnt updated the firmware since release in 2013 and have no interest in keeping the product updated
or even getting features in the spec sheet working

so cancled quick sharp on looking around i decided on the XyXEL
its latest firmware is jan 2015 btw..

Here's some images of the interface

 

[HHawk]

Thank you all for the answers. So far, especially considering firmware updates, I am really leaning towards the Zyxel.

I contacted Zyxel 2 weeks ago about their products and what processors / chipset the switch used. They replied with the following, might be useful to others as well.

GS1900-8/8HP RTL8380M
GS1900-16/24E/24/24HP RTL8382M
GS1900-48/48HP RTL8393M

I think both the TP-Link and Zyxel are decent to good switches in general.

Thank you all for your (detailed) answers. Highly appreciated.

 

[azazel1024]

I posted the specs of the ZyXEL 1900 series here the other day

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=22766

Its a RTL8380 on the 8 port
and a RTL8382M on the 24 port
530k packet buffer
500mhz mips cpu
64 mb ram

With smb multipath im pulling 227MB/s over two connections
and around 225-226 with EEE enabled

The web interface is snappy

I did actually order the 24 port tp-link before then, just after i went on the forum
aparently link aggregation is broken on it and they havnt updated the firmware since release in 2013 and have no interest in keeping the product updated
or even getting features in the spec sheet working

so cancled quick sharp on looking around i decided on the XyXEL
its latest firmware is jan 2015 btw..

Here's some images of the interface

Which 24 port TP-Link? I won't swear to it, but they updated the firmware on the SG2216, which is the 16 port version, this past fall.

Link aggregation deffinitely is not broken on the 16 port version and I haven't seen anything to suggest it is broken on the 24 port either.

(if you want to get picky, I am getting 235MB/sec with SMB Multichannel through my SG2216 and a pair of Intel NICs in both desktop and server :-D using 9k jumbo).

 

[wbond]

FWIW, the firmware on the SG3424v1 was updated on 11/06/14 (the version I'm using) and again on 12/18/14. I have several LAG's setup and they work fine between ESXI servers and a desktop.

 

[azazel1024]

Oh, hey, 12/18 update for my switch too. Didn't see it before. Now I am itching to get home and load it up.

 

[Shonk]

You should be pulling around 247MB/sec with jumbo frames

125MB/sec Throughput
Standard Frames 91% efficiency = 113.75 x 2 = 227.5MB/sec
9K Jumbo Frames 99% efficiency = 123.75x2=247.5MB/sec

(if you want to get picky, I am getting 235MB/sec with SMB Multichannel through my SG2216 and a pair of Intel NICs in both desktop and server :-D using 9k jumbo).

 

[Shonk]

The SG3424 is totally different hadware though it has sfp ports and actually gets updates once in a while

i was talking about the TL-SG1024DE which is TP-Link's standard smart managed switch

http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/TL-SG1024DE_V1.html#Firmware

either way im glad i went with what i did
zyxel have pushed two firmware updates since i have had it
which is a good sign

FWIW, the firmware on the SG3424v1 was updated on 11/06/14 (the version I'm using) and again on 12/18/14. I have several LAG's setup and they work fine between ESXI servers and a desktop.

 

[coxhaus]

Have you ever considered a layer 3 switch? If you run a guest network or other VLANs having all the core networking in your switch instead of the router seems better to me. I tend to fiddle with my firewall settings on my router alot. I find once I set it up layer 3 switch it just handles all the core networking and I don't mess with it. I have a Cisco small business layer 3 switch. It seems fast for a home switch. They are pretty cheap used now.

 

[azazel1024]

You should be pulling around 247MB/sec with jumbo frames

125MB/sec Throughput
Standard Frames 91% efficiency = 113.75 x 2 = 227.5MB/sec
9K Jumbo Frames 99% efficiency = 123.75x2=247.5MB/sec

The problem there is that standard 1500MTU frames are ~95% efficient and jumbo are 99%.

That does not include SMB overhead, which takes up a few bytes of each packet too. Plus other things, like flow control frames, etc.

I've never personally seen ANY NIC hit over 118MB/sec with 9k jumbo frames (Intel, Broadcom, Marvell, etc.). Mine hit 117.5MB/sec individually (Intel Gigabit CT) and 235MB/sec max with SMB Multichannel. Typically I see in the 210-220MB/sec range, but I have some disk limitations going on generally.