Topic: Gigabit Network Switches, are they all created equal?

[DigiGal]

Interested in picking up an 8 port Gigabit Network Switch for a SOHO Network upgrade.  Recommendations or personal experiences with gigabit switches would be appreciated.  It will be vertically mounted and I like the ports in the back with LED's in the front, not interested in units that run hot or have fans.

Have looked at these two so far:

Linksys SE3008 is $79.76

TRENDnet TEG-S80g is $31.00

The Linksys model references QoS (Quality of Service) and TRENDnet does not.  There's quite a price difference between the two, does that equate to functionality or reliability?

[adrianf74]

Somebody in IT once told me that a switch is a switch is a switch.

Personally, I've run TRENDNet products in the mid-2000's and they were okay but there's always something to be said about Linksys/Cisco and the fact that most corporations use their products.  In a SOHO setting, I don't think Linksys would be so critical at the end of the day because the part could be replaced 2.5x by the time you paid for the Linksys so... I'd go with whatever is cheaper and works. 

BTW, reviews of the TEG-S80g seem okay.

[Gordon]

Somebody in IT once told me that a switch is a switch is a switch.

well there's managed and unmanaged.  for most home and very small business a unmanged is just fine.  I have an 8 port asus and a 4 port netgear and both have been rock solid for a few years.

[Ultfris101]

In this range they are largely the same and just need to work. You don't have smart capabilities like vlans and trunking. Do you need QoS?

I have had good experience with the Netgear Prosafe line for many years at home. Blue, metal cases being the hallmark. I believe they only have the ports and LEDs on the same side tho.

I have an 8 port gig unit unit in my home network distro box. Works great.

I have a five port Netgear Prosafe gig unit and a trend net 5 port gig unit as well and never had trouble with either but I also haven't done any real performance comparisons or anything.

I watch for good deals on the Netgear Prosafe devices when I'm in need of a new device. Like hard drives, you'll find people that have had good luck and bad luck with all the brands probably.

If nothing else, the Prosafe line feels solid with the metal case to me.

[DigiGal]

Somebody in IT once told me that a switch is a switch is a switch.

well there's managed and unmanaged.  for most home and very small business a unmanged is just fine.  I have an 8 port asus and a 4 port netgear and both have been rock solid for a few years.

Upgrading from an unmanaged Linksys 8-port 10/100 network switch which has been trouble free, reliable and was easy to set up.  Never used TRENDnet switches before so I've no experience with them.  Some earlier Linksys switches (the EG008W) were reported to be prone to overheating failures but haven't seen any reports on the SE3008.

[DigiGal]

In this range they are largely the same and just need to work. You don't have smart capabilities like vlans and trunking. Do you need QoS?

I have had good experience with the Netgear Prosafe line for many years at home. Blue, metal cases being the hallmark. I believe they only have the ports and LEDs on the same side tho.

I have an 8 port gig unit unit in my home network distro box. Works great.

I have a five port Netgear Prosafe gig unit and a trend net 5 port gig unit as well and never had trouble with either but I also haven't done any real performance comparisons or anything.

I watch for good deals on the Netgear Prosafe devices when I'm in need of a new device. Like hard drives, you'll find people that have had good luck and bad luck with all the brands probably.

If nothing else, the Prosafe line feels solid with the metal case to me.

Not sure if QoS is important or not but 3D HD video streaming would be utilized on one of the lines and HD video streaming on another.

Do NETGEAR switches ever need to be re-booted, had seen some mention that they did.

[Gordon]

the only time I've rebooted mine was when I moved it and unplugged it.

[Ultfris101]

Do NETGEAR switches ever need to be re-booted, had seen some mention that they did.

I haven't needed to power cycle any of my switches in recent memory but we also have power outages periodically so they have restarted. I don't have them on UPS. Do you recall if the mentions of this were in regard to specific lines? I've heard many people say disparaging things about Netgear (and other brands too for that matter) but they often have very little experience except with one or two of the basic, plastic devices if I choose to dig. I also keep things like that up to date with firmware which can help.

It's a little odd to me for a switch to need to be power cycled unless it's also got a router or something built-in tho I definitely had some old plastic switch that if the power went out at the house at all then I'd have to go and pull the power on it and bring it up again or it wouldn't work. This was a long time ago and was probably Linksys or an off brand but really can't remember. I've stopped deciding based solely on price because of experiences like that tho I bit on super cheap trendnet gigabit switches on Newegg a while back. I actually have a 5 port netgear prosafe and a 5 port trendnet gig still sitting shrink wrapped in boxes awaiting another device to die.

I do have a Linksys Wireless 802.11n router that I have to power cycle once in a while. Seems like maybe I had to cycle the Netgear wireless router I used long ago but it was also one of the plastic, lowest end ones. The wireless/firewall units at the lowest end really are crap in my opinion and it's worth spending a little extra.

I didn't go with wireless at the time, but I bought a Soekris 4801 (or was it a 4501?) unit about ten years ago that I still use as my main home firewall running m0n0wall (FiOS router is in bridge mode): http://www.soekris.com/. Love that little thing. Tops out at 25mbps tho so probably nearing its end of life soon. but I digress.

[DigiGal]

Not sure which NETGEAR model was specifically referenced, it was actually mentioned in a user review of TRENDnet TEG-S80g, they mentioned their previous NETGEAR switch required frequent reboots and the TRENDnet TEG-S80g did not.

I don't think I'll go with NETGEAR since it looks like all their switches have the status LED's with the connectors.  I'm looking to keep the connectors at the back with LED's up front.  Definitely looking for a switch with a metal enclosure as it should help dissipate heat.  Our current Linksys 10/100 switch has a plastic case but heat buildup doesn't appear to be a problem for 10/100. 

Can't find much info, a manual or user reviews of the Linksys SE3008 so I'm guessing it might be relatively new.

Have found that TRENDnet has a newer TEG-S82g which has 256 KBytes RAM data buffering instead of 128 KBytes like their TEG-80g.   Their newer model however does not have shielded connectors or wall mounting and it's LED's only indicate network activity where the TEG-80g LED's illuminate a different color to indicate 1000 connection versus 100 connection.  Our computer cabling is all Shielded CAT 6a and video streaming devices are CAT 6 UTP 550MHz to eliminate the possibility of introducing a ground loop into their connected audio systems.   

Guess at the moment I'm leaning or trending ; ) toward the TRENDnet TEG-S80g, it has; a 3 year warranty, cost less, LED's in front that indicate connection speed, shielded connectors in the back, metal enclosure and has lots (1000's) of favorable reviews.  Comparatively the Linksys SE3008 costs more, only has a 1 year warranty, doesn't have LED's that indicate connection speed or many user reviews.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I'm not ordering right away so definitely still open to other possibilities and user feedback.  The thread could serve as a reference for anyone else interested in Gigabit network switches.



edit to add:

Just discovered the HP V1410-8G Switch for around $65.00, it looks promising and offers a lifetime warranty.

[DigiGal]

Decided to go ahead and order the TRENDnet TEG-S80g.

The HP model mentioned in my last post is discontinued, the replacement (HP 1405-8G v2) utilizes a different form factor with a plastic enclosure.  While the new model added green networking among other enhancements it took away desired features like LED's that indicate connection speed and lifetime warranty was reduced to a 3 year warranty.  While I'm sure it is a nice switch, it doesn't match what I'm looking for in this particular application and its price is around $85.00.

Looks to me these devices are moving away from LED's that indicate connection speed as new models are rolled out.  It's probably a manufacturing cost reduction decision but just because a switch is capable of 1000 speed doesn't mean all connected devices are running or capable of 1000.  For me it's nice to be able to see the actual connection speed of each port.

[Colin Liston]

What's the difference between managed and unmanaged switches?

[DigiGal]

What's the difference between managed and unmanaged switches?

Basically...  Unmanaged is plug and play.  Managed requires configuration.

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

I paid about $25 for my 5 port switch that lives next to the TV. It's a D-link. Works fine and has been rock solid for a few years now. I have it hooked up to the PS3, Slingbox, Media PC and the TV itself.

As others have said, if you don't know what a managed switch is, you probably don't need one. I'd be very impressed if you ran enough data through a gigabit switch that it required QOS.

I think this is the 8 port version of what I have. $25. It says it has QOS in this one. Like I said, it's doubtful you'll need it.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SG1005D-1000Mbps-Gigabit-Capacity/dp/B000N99BBC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1393447489&sr=8-3&keywords=d-link+4+port+switch

[Colin Liston]

What's the difference between managed and unmanaged switches?

Basically...  Unmanaged is plug and play.  Managed requires configuration.

Thank you!  I thought it was the other way around.

[DigiGal]

We certainly don't need or want a managed switch, plug and play is why my search was restricted to unmanaged switches although I didn't mention that in my OP a managed switch was never a consideration for us.

QoS is a big question mark though, would it be beneficial now or perhaps down the road idk.   It's listed as a feature on some of the switches while others don't have so I thought someone here could shed more light on this. 

Our old Linksys 10/100 has been transparent, trouble free and reliable for years but it's time to upgrade to a gigabit switch.  Had expected it would be easy to find an identical type of replacement in a 10/100/1000 version but one doesn't exist.  Kind of disappointing that the recent and current crop of 8-port switches are really 7-port switches just like the 5-port switches are really 4-port switches, what's up with manufacturers dropping a dedicated uplink port?  Now it looks as some manufacturers are cheaping out by dropping other standard type features, gone from new models are LED's that indicate actual connection speed for each port and TEG-S82g drops shield connections from it's ports along with screw mounting slots.  Sure US typically doesn't utilize STP category cables but others countries do primarily and there are benefits to using STP over UTP.

Ultimately I ended up ordering the TRENDnet TEG-S80g which doesn't list QoS, it's other features were desirable for this application.  If adding additional switches down the line some of the other switches could do just fine but if this one works out well and is still available when another is needed we'd probably just stick with it again.  However since their newer TEG-S82g offers some improvements it also cut some corners so if that's where their future offerings are at the time we'd go with something different.