Reliable, low-cost gigabit switch?

matt_garman · Post by **matt_garman** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:50 am

What do SPCR folks recommend for an eight to 16 port gigabit switch? I don't want to spend thousands on a fancy Cisco managed switch---this is just for my home LAN.

I've been using the NetGear ProSafe GS108, and it recently died. This thing was ideal until it died. Read the reviews at newegg. The oldest ones all echo my experience with this switch: great performer, fast, cheap, etc. Then you start to see increasing reports of the "blinking lights of death" problem, which is exactly what I experienced (also a dreadful high-pitched whine when it's plugged in). I bought this in March, so it's not even a year old!

My previous two switches were Netgear, and I never had problems with them, so this is pretty frustrating. Seems like all the "budget" level switches like this have some major pitfall. The "next higher price bracket" Dell 2716 seems to have some good reviews on the 'net.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Matt

fwki · Post by **fwki** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:21 am

I've used the GS608 for a few months now and have had no problems. These things are commodities now and I am sure manufacturing is price-driven, so I would not be surprised if it gives out a year or two down the road. It gets a workout with 2 pc's and 3 laptops on my home network with daily backups and all media files on a central server. Here's a recent review of low-priced gigabit switches: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30195/51/

donu · Post by **donu** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:37 am

Consider the HP ProCurve Switch 1400-8G (J9077A).
Mine makes no noise and gives off very little heat.
http://www.hp.com/rnd/products/switches ... erview.htm

LAThierry · Post by **LAThierry** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:38 am

I've used the Netgear GS108 for a bit under one year. I can't complain since it's doing its job.

Now that the price on 8-port switches is finally reasonable, I wonder when the same will be true of 8-port firewalls...

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:41 am

I got a 3COM OfficeConnect Gigabit Switch 16 (3C1671600) about a year ago, it was dirt cheap at the time, and works perfectly, It doesnt support large MTU sizes which can speed up Gigabit ethernet and it does have a fan.

Not recommended if you have the thing anywhere near yourself as the fan it temperature controlled, if its not anywhere near yourself its a good product.

I also have an 8-port Netgear product that worked fine for a couple of years until something large heavy and dusty landed on it and destroyed the product, fanless - silent, I personally have the 5-port product that is also good.

The 8-port version is the GS608

Andy

djkest · Post by **djkest** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:42 am

The best solution is to get an HP Procurve used off of E-bay. Seriously. My friend works at HP as an IT guy, they have many of the 10/100 procurves that have been running for over 10 years straight.

cb95014 · Post by **cb95014** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:30 am

Between my home and office, I have 2 GS608's and 3 GS605's and they all work fine. Just make sure that there is sufficient space for good air circulation. FWIW, I have all of mine mounted vertically.

Nick Geraedts · Post by **Nick Geraedts** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 9:01 am

cb95014 wrote:Between my home and office, I have 2 GS608's and 3 GS605's and they all work fine. Just make sure that there is sufficient space for good air circulation. FWIW, I have all of mine mounted vertically.

They might work alright, but their performance is terrible! They don't properly support jumbo frames, and if they do, you still won't get a full 1Gbps connectivity speed out of them. If you don't believe me, run iperf on two machines - one as a sever, the other as a client. I was never able to get more than 780Mbps through the GS600 series switches.

@OP - If your GS108 is less than a year old, why not get it replaced under warranty?

If you really want a new switch, the Dell 2708 is a top notch performer.