Hi
Thinking of adding a network switch at home to allow for some more flexibility as I often need a wired connection in the study etc.
Looking on Amazon and there are some Netgear ones which are quite cheap - £12 or so. Like this the NETGEAR GS205-100UKS 5 Port Gigabit Ethernet Desktop Switch.
Is this the sort of thing that I need or should I be looking at a managed switch of some kind?
Don't know much about switches and just want something simple and fuss-free. Must allow some ports to be used all the time (or connected all the time) and some that can be plugged into and used as needed without any issues.
I found an old Netgear Dual Speed DS108 hub in a cupboard (10/1000Mbps) - will that be any good??
Thanks
The hub will work fine for you. I think hubs broadcast the traffic everywhere whereas switches route it better but for everyday desk up use the gigabit hub should be fine. I have a Netgear presafe GS105 switching my stuff at home only other tip is I would buy an 8 port switch as the ports soon fill up (mine is full).
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Originally Posted by MB2
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The hub will probably be fine, if you buy a new switch I'd recommend the Netgear ProSafe range (GS105/108) - they're bomb proof. Fit and forget.
Cheers,
Plug
Don’t get a hub, I’m surprised they still sell them, get a switch instead. I’d look at the ten port range of switches from Cisco in the SG-300 range. They’ll do everything you’ll ever need and more. Look pretty good too.
In normal use with a small number of connected interfaces, you won't notice the difference between a switch and a hub, assuming 100 Mbps is adequate (I suspect your 1000Mbps was a typo in this case). If you regularly transfer large files between devices likely to be connected to the hub then you might want to invest in a gigabit switch, if you care about the speed at which that happens.
Netgear GS105 or 108 will keep you right. The occasional socket can go but this takes years.
Taking a closer look, the GS105 looks great. I would definitely go for a gigE switch, 1000M against 100M.
Just don’t create any loops in your network!
I bought this - has done the job for £10
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...E&gclsrc=aw.ds
All much the same really. Buy a branded Gigabit (really needed if backing up somewhere) one.
Quick update. Finally got round to sorting this out and went with a Netgear GS208. Took the advice to for the 8 port version instead of the 5 port one and good thing too as 4 ports are already in use.
Sitting there just doing its thing and has increased flexibility enormously.
Thanks for all the advice and tips.
I use the GS308 units for local distribution in a couple of rooms - really can't see the benefit in most domestic systems for a switch.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
At £16 - a bargain;
I needed one of these and bought the plastic one for a couple of quid more.
I bought the plastic one as I wanted all the cables at the back and not on both sides. The metal one would probably have been better long term, but I needed the cables to exit from the back. Think I paid £15 in all for it so I'm pretty happy with that.
Its given me a lot more flexibility and speed on some of the connections seems to be better and more stable - like Sonos for example.
Well the 8 port should have a much bigger switch fabric in the middle than the 4. Good choice, putting in a switch that is almost fully used up on day one doesn’t seem like much of a plan.
It's still a switch every port is in the same vlan that can't be changed, I'm guessing what you mean by "really can't see the benefit in most domestic systems for a switch" is a switch that can carry multiple VLANS AKA 802.1q.
I use 3 x Linksys LGS308P to carry multiple vlans round the house over Devolo powerline adaptors, I have User, Guest, IOT, DMZ and Voice VLANS and also carry 3 of these over a Ubiquity AC Pro access-point.
https://www.linksys.com/gb/p/P-LGS308P/
You'd be lucky to find a hub these days :)
Yes, I have 24port switch and patch panel in the garage, feeding 2 sockets in every room in the house (including hall cupboard - presumably for alarm and maybe NAS). The 8-port Netgear units cover the TV/media units in one room, and printers/NAS etc in my office. Wifi is on a 3-channel Netgear router.
I find netgear or TP-Link to be pretty reliable makes and have 2x 8 port switches, one in the office on the end of a wifi - ethernet converter to give me a wired connection when I need it ( hardware only obviously as i'll still be limited by wifi speeds) and a gigabit version downstairs hardlined into my router for streaming etc.
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