SPCR

Does anyone know of a good low-power network switch?

Ideally need 8 ports 100 megabit.

It seems silly that I'll have a Fit-PC Slim on my network soon which uses about 6 Watts. And a switch which uses as much or more power. Example the Netgear FS108 uses about 7.5 Watts.

I mistakenly posted this in another area, reposting here.

I'm not sure of their power consumption but D-Link advertise a series of "green" network products including a couple of switches.

Ah thanks!

This D-Link "GreenEthernet" looks quite interesting.

I found the DGS2208 at NewEgg for $35 after a rebate, and free shipping.

Very good deal and they claim a max of 6 Watts at full utilization on all 8 ports. When cable lengths are shorter or not all in use it powers down those ports to save energy. This looks very promising. I will put my Watts Up? meter on it in operation and see how much it actually uses.

A link to the D-Link Green page explaining their products:

http://www.dlink.com/corporate/environment/

Perhaps we can start a thread on powercomsumption for peripherals (if it's not there already)

~4W - Sitecom LN-116 4port Gigabit Switch (not under heavy duties)

Wow!

Got new switch in ran a quick compare:

Existing switch was 5-port SMC gigabit switch. Consuming 8 Watts no matter 5 ports active or zero ports.

DGS2208 used about 4 Watts (bouncing up & down) during boot. But once it was done booting, showed ZERO watts with no ports active. Okay this just means it was sub 1-Watt on my Watts Up? meter. With 4 ports active it was showing 1 Watt occasionally bouncing to 2 Watts.

Quite a difference!

So much computer hardware has outlandish marketing claims it cannot live up to. This product does what is claimed. I will post a positive review at Newegg.

I'm pleased whenever I can reduce my power usage from a green standpoint and of course money. Another of my objectives is longest run-time I can get in a power outage.

My home network closet is powered from a APC 700XL UPS which has the web management card. Came with external battery pack add-on, picked up the whole thing for $20 at a University surplus shop so none of the batteries are new circa 2001. I love this thing for being able to pull up all power info, have it email me when there's an outage, etc. etc. It powers DSL modem, router, the switch, a WAP55AG, and a PoE module that powers a rooftop WRT I use to broadcast signal to share with a couple of neighbors. Just changing out this switch added 45 minutes runtime. I'm currently down to 4.6% of the capacity of the UPS which management card says gives 10 hours 24 minutes runtime.

So assuming it is on 24/7, no activity most of the time saves about $8/years, so the payback time for the $40 (after rebate) switch would be about 5 years, not including tax, shipping, etc. (if active 24/7, payback in about 6 1/3 years.)

But nice to know about if one needs a switch; or has a limited power budget (as from solar, or battery) ...

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My main reason for posting was to add links to two other discussions here on the same topic (too bad there isn't a way to merge threads).

viewtopic.php?t=45856
viewtopic.php?t=44487

In my little town there are usually multiple high-wind days. Last one knocked down trees which knocked out power for 28 hours in my 'hood.

But I really like the green aspect of this switch and will recommend it to friends.

Got me a big old 12port 3Com Superstack 100Mbit switch, can't remember model off hand, but takes up about 20W all the time. Generally has just 5 ports in use.

A list of recommended switches would be dead useful. Have been thinking of moving up to gigabit, so would be an ideal time to look at low power models. But yeah, even a new model at 5W would only save me about £13 a year...

Power consumption of D-link DGS-1005D "dlinkgreen" 5 port gigabit unmanaged network switch:

Plugged to wall without LAN cables: (1 +- 1) W
Plugged to wall with one Gb connection: (1 +- 1) W
Plugged to wall with two Gb connections: (1.5 +- 1) W

The part is specified by D-link to consume 3 Watts. This thing uses less power than the D-link DES-1008D 100M switch it replaced.

Printed on the retail box:

Model No: DGS-1005D
H/W Ver.: E1

One reason (other than wanting to save money, or be 'green') I try for lower power is that the UPS that powers my server (that runs email etc) and internet based phone, handles a longer power outage.