D-Link DSS-5+ 5-Port 10/100 Switch, Desktop Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been replacing my ethernet hubs with switches (because the throughput on a switch is much better than on a hub). After extensive review, I decided to get one D-Link 5-port switch and one Netgear 5-port switch, both auto-sensing for 10/100 rate. The truth is, they both work great! They both perform well, and were equally easy to hookup (no software to deal with). I will add one thing, and that is that the D-Link box was a much nicer design than the Netgear. First of all, it is much smaller (the picture of the D-Link here is deceiving). Secondly, the Netgear has the LED lights and the ethernet ports on the same side. For my setup, I prefer the ports on the back and the lights on the front. I think the Netgear switch was fashioned more for a rack. Style aside, a big thumbs up for both of these switches!

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The D-Link DSS-5+ is a powerful desktop Dual Speed 5-port 10/100Mb Ethernet/Fast Ethernet NWay auto-negotiating switch.It functionally eliminates unnecessary traffic and relieves data congestion by delivering dedicated bandwidth for each of the five ports. An individual port can connect to either an Ethernet or Fast Ethernet device. NWay auto-negotiation automatically determines the transmission speed of the attached device on each port.
The DSS-5+ provides dynamic buffer allocation that employs network-load balancing for faster data handling. The uplink interface connection enables easy expansion. The DSS-5+ uses fast store-and-forward architecture to ensure low latency and high data integrity. It supports stacking through the MDI II uplink RJ-45 connection, which is shared with port 1 for flexible media connection and expansion capabilities.

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Zoom ADSL X6 5590 - Wireless router - DSL - 4-port switch - ATM - 802.11b/g - desktop Review

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(More customer reviews)I worked for a small ISP/Telephone Company and this is the modem we installed in every new DSL install we performed. We sold several speeds of DSL over the years from 1.0Mbps to 12Mbps. Once our service hit 3Mbps standard the older modems would die from overheating. These Zoom's never had any issues. Company wide in several thousand installs over three years I had to replace around 6 of these and most of the time the problem was determined to have been a lightening strike. Since leaving the company a couple of years ago, I have used my x6 as a wireless router since all we can get is cable broadband. I disabled the DHCP to allow my cable modem to handle that task and it has worked like a charm and saved me the $50 or so for a stand alone wireless router. Every few months our Wii won't connect and we have to reset the modem. This is most likely a Wii issue since the easiest way to get a new IP assigned to the Wii is to just reset the router. My only issue is now the wireless G technology is outdated by N, but I've never had any issues even with the Wii, a couple of laptops and a Wifi enabled cell phone connected. We even stream Netflix over this thing on a regular basis and never have any issues other than the occasional blip probably on the Netflix side. I'm not sure where all the negative comments come from, but I've had a great experience. To top it off, the last firmware update was in fact October of 2008 and the website is still up.

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NETGEAR FWG114P ProSafe 802.11g Wireless VPN Firewall 4-Port 10/100 Switch with USB Server Review

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(More customer reviews)I've applied the new flash upgrade, and performance is still quite good. Most of my comments from January still apply. Setup is quick, Citrix & terminal services work without modification, and I can connect to my main office via Cisco VPN client. Games are still working too.
As with most vendors, I suspect you'll have better compatibility if you use a Netgear WiFi NIC with this unit. I can get it to work with a Cisco Aironet NIC, but I cannot get WPA encryption to work. WEP (for what it's worth) works, but I'll probably have to spring for the corresponding Netgear NIC if I want to move to WPA.
The print server took a hit with the flash upgrade, however. Now it will only work as long as the PCs using it never reboot. If they do, you lose the connection to the print server until the firewall is rebooted. Tech support has been, um, less than helpful in resolving the issue. For that reason, my rating still stands at 4 stars. I strongly recommend you check the printer compatibility list on Netgear's site before you count on this as a print server.
A couple of other notes:
- The firewall is solid. I'm a networking guy, and I've tried to hack my way in a couple of times. Nothing's perfect, but this is a good solution in the home or very small business market. The worst I've been able to do against this unit is a denial of service, which disabled the Internet connection to my home network until I rebooted the unit.
- If you plan to use MSN Messenger 6.2 and/or Windows XP's Remote Assistance, you'll need to enable UPnP on this unit, which is a bit annoying, but more of a Microsoft issue.
- The e-mail logging is VASTLY improved over that of the previous flash. My logs are much more manageable, and the number of false-positive security alert messages is minimal.
- You can now create up to two remote access VPN tunnels with the new flash. I tried it and it works, although as a home user I can't imagine ever needing that feature. Difficult to set up, though, so unless you have a solid understanding of IPSEC VPN protocols, good luck.
Still, I believe this is a good unit for a home office. For me, combining the functions of print server, wireless access point, and hardware firewall into a single device make it worth the price.

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Belkin Wireless G Router F5D7230-4 - Wireless router - 4-port switch - 802.11b/g - desktop Review

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(More customer reviews)I use a slightly different model (F5D7231-4) for three years now. I use it only with wire connections and with those connections it's rock solid. And I mean, rock solid: often you forget about its existence for many months. Its just working without problems. I use all router ports and more (via additional 4 ports switch) so this is heavy load environment.
I periodically download 4G DVDs with linux images and never has interruptions due to router failure. Never. I also use YouTube and never have any problems with streaming media.
Previously I used two Linksys routers: one wireless and one regular. Both were unstable with wire connections and disconnected once in a week or so. One wwas pretty hostile to YouTube. Also often both of them were unable to obtain DHCP address from [...] that I use as a provider. That was tremendous hassle.
I think most negative reviews for this router are about stability of the wireless connections. I agree that the defualt settins are stable with wireless connections. But wireless part of the router can be tuned using very helpful review of other Belkin model ([...]) written by ChurchOfJesusChrist.Net on Sep 27, 2007 (it has most helpful votes and is the first review for this router). The recommendation is to turn off any non standard modes (in wireless settings set turbo mode to off and set protected mode to off). That really improves stability.
In any case if you need wired connections it is probably one of the best low cost router you can get.
It has some sophisticated features. You can have "infinite" DHCP leases, essentially static IP assignment with flexibility of DHCP; Linksys cannot do that. You can also put one computer on "DMZ" before firewall and test the application. This way you can detect which ports the applications uses and then open them in firewall. My Linksys models were unable to do this. Ability to put one server in DNZ make it usable with Asterisk and other VOIP PBXes.

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NETGEAR GSM7324 24-Port Layer 3 Switch Review

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(More customer reviews)I used to hate network uptime. When the LAN was up for more than a few days at a time, I would get angry and punchy.
That has all changed, friends.
Now that I have the Netgear GSM7324, I don't have to worry about the network being up for too long; it automatically kills the LAN on it's own.
The best part is, it is totally unpredictable, so each time my users yell "Hey, I can't get to wiki" or "Is there something wrong with the Internet?", it's like a special surprise for everybody.
I mean really, do you really _need_ access to your gateway while trying to commit CVS at the end of the day? And who wants to be able to read email while at work? It's much better to pay a bunch of software engineers and marketing consultants to sit idle while the IT guy is power cycling all the switches on the network trying to clear up whatever happy fun issue is taking down LAGs and VLANs one by one.
Sure, I could have bought a Cisco, but that drab bluegreygreen color totally clashes with my server room. Also, there is my hatred of a stable network to consider.
I'm sure if I was just using this switch to do simple layer 2 stuff my LAN would stay up longer, but since I wanted to actually break the network as fast as ARP'ingly possible, I made sure to turn on some of the features Netgear claims this box can support.
I would have given this unit a higher rating, but sometimes my network is up for nearly half a week before it dies. That's nearly two and one half days without my users sitting idle while I troubleshoot, or going home early because they can't get anything done at work.
One last advantage of using this Netgear "layer 3 switch" is their superb support team. I used to have to sit on the phone with other company's support staff, getting answers to my questions, or offers to VPN in to take a look at the situation. Now, I am all smiles as I get the same exact say statement each time I call support.
I don't have to worry anymore about getting help with the problem from a qualified network engineer type.
Could you pass the Dosas?

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2PORT CAT5 RJ45 Manual Switch Beige Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought one of these 5 years ago to disconnect myself from the cable modem when I wasn't surfing (I have a cable phone service so it is always is on). I have never had one problem with it. I was looking for another today because I now have a wireless network with my wife's laptop and a printer on it. So now we have to leave the wireless router on for my wife to print her many photographs. I still like taking my system off our network while she surfs but now I also want to separate the router from the Internet so she isn't exposed while just using our network printer. So I am getting another one. This unit has little suction cup feet and stays where you put it. This is a good quality item and is well made. You may say I'm paranoid, but when I throw my switches no one can get into our system(At least online). Just a note it takes about 30 seconds or less when I reconnect to the router to get back on the net.

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Network Pair Splitter, 10base-T, Cat5, Single Review

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(More customer reviews)It doesn't split the signal so that two machines can access simultaneously, because thats not how it works. Networking standards don't allow for splitting in the same way you think about splitting a cable signal. That's what a router or hub is for..

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Cisco SD205 5-port 10/100 Switch Review

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(More customer reviews)This Linksys SD205 switch rules. First, its mesmerizing because its the same size as the Ipod. Second, it does what its advertised such as connecting other computers together and most importantly, it regenerates signal. I was seriously considering buying a repeater, but they cost a couple hundred dollars. Technically, a hub is supposed to do the same thing but who wants that passive crap. The signal in my network started to attenuate and needed regeneration. This badboy fixed it and its back to full strength. I highly recommend this product if you are needing a component to branch out your network.

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This newly-redesigned Linksys 5-Port 10/100 Switch can significantly increase your network traffics speed. A switch serves the same function as a hub in a network design -- tying your network equipment together. But unlike a simple-minded hub which divides the networks bandwidth among all the attached devices, a switch delivers full network speeds at each port. Installing this cost-effective 5-Port 10/100 Switch can potentially increase your network speed by five times. It is the perfect way of integrating 10Mbps Ethernet and 100Mbps Fast Ethernet devices, too. All five ports are auto speed negotiating, and have automatic MDI/MDI-X crossover detection, so you dont have to worry about the cable type. Each port independently negotiates for best speed and half- or full-duplex mode, for up to 200Mbps of bandwidth per port.

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D-Link DIR-330 NetDefend 802.11G Wireless VPN Firewall 8 4-Port 10/100Mbps Switch Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the absolute worst product I ever bought. I bought it explicitly for the VPN accessibility. I never got that to work. If you have to forward a port..make sure you know what you're doing cause once you choose the port, you can't go back and change it.
Also, which was rather nice (sarcastic)....the people in support were able to establish a vpn connection to my router but I couldn't. I used 3 different machines with the trial software they recommend. Their solution was that instead of using the trial software..BUY their product and then try it.
I never write reviews but I don't want anyone getting screwed with this thing.

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Cisco-Linksys EZXS16W EtherFast 10/100 16-Port Workgroup Switch Review

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(More customer reviews)After an unfortunate power spike that fried 3 of the 8 ports on my old switch, I felt that as long as I need to replace, I may as well upgrade at the same time.
With the expansion of the wireless market, switches like these are coming down in price. Life is good. If you can accomodate the wiring it's tough to beat the Mbps/cost ratio that wired networking provides.
This switch is just as easy as its little brother. Plug it in, plug in the CAT5 and you are up and running. The LEDs let you know at a glance if there are any collision or speed issues.
This switch provides enough performance to share the DSL connection, play skipless music and video over the network and make the transfer of large files quick and easy.
With 16 ports, I doubt I will be filling out the switch anytime soon and I will probably upgrade to Gigabit networking before then anyways.

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Migrate your network to Fast Ethernet 100Mbps speed with the EtherFast10/100 Workgroup Switches. These new compact switches from Linksys offer a new compact design that perfect for space-sensitive applications. Apply this switching power to your 10BaseT network, and your data traffic efficiency improves several times over. Connect your file server to the Switchs auto-sensing ports, and speed up access time for all your users in just one move. And when youre ready, switch your way to full duplex speeds of up to 200Mbpshe speed is yours. And that not all Every Switch includes a complete suite of advanced data error detection and correction features for surefire communication every time. Auto partitioning, data-collision control, signal regeneration, and incoming frame retiming ensure that not a single bit of data is lost, even during heavy network traffic.

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Netgear FS105NA Switch 5Port Metal Review

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(More customer reviews)With switch prices coming down to about $10-per-port, it's hard to justify buying anything less than a 10/100-switch for all but the most cost-conscious buyer.
As most 5-port 10/100 switches have the same capabilities and cost about the same, there's not much to distinguish one from another. Still, I particularly like the Netgear FS-105 5-port switch. Like other products from Netgear, this switch is a little nicer than the competition because it has:
- Nice sturdy metal construction instead of plastic. The case also has a grounding tab in case you're using the switch in a (electrically) high-noise environment.
- Connection status indicators built into the jacks, so you can easily tell which cable is connected and is active. (The "vistajack" feature.)
- Right-angled barrel power connector which reduce the likelihood of disconnecting power accidentally.
- An easy-to-access switch to toggle port 1 between station mode and uplink mode. Unlike some hubs where two jacks are wired together, this design prevents accidentally shorting a station to an uplink.
- Screw-mount notches on the underside allows for easy attachment to the wall, underside of a counter, etc.
With a 1000-MAC address buffer and 200 Kbytes-per-port packet buffer, this switch can easily handle the typical traffic load of small- and medium-sized networks.
The Netgear product is not the cheapest 10/100-switch (check out the D-Link Fast Ethernet Switch, for example), but for overall design and value-for-money, I still like the Netgear the most.

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The NETGEAR FS105 ProSafe 5-Port 10/100 Desktop Switch provides your local area network (LAN) with a reliable 10/100 Mbps auto-sensing connectivity for five users.
Sturdy and Reliable Design NETGEAR's FS100 series desktop switches are housed in a compact sturdy metal case designed without the need for internal fans, keeping operation both silent and more reliable. It can be placed on a flat surface or you can use the included wall mount kit.
Simple Setup and Stellar Performance Plug in your Ethernet cables and connect a power cord, and you're ready to go. There is no software to install or settings to configure. The switch features auto negotiation, which automatically obtains the fastest possible connection, and Auto Uplink takes care of the MDI/MDI-X connection. There are no toggle switches or special crossover cables. If your network has existing 10BASE-T devices, they will work seamlessly within a higher bandwidth environment with each port achieving its full speed.
Every port supports up to 200 Mbps in dedicated bandwidth. Automatic flow control ensures smooth traffic. The FS105 has 64 KB of buffer memory and an address database size of 1,000. The switch has status LEDs for power, and link, speed, and activity for each port.
The NETGEAR FS105 ProSafe 5-Port 10/100 Desktop Switch has a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of 390,000 hours and is backed by a lifetime warranty. The power adapter is backed by a 2-year warranty.
What's in the Box FS105 Desktop Switch, wall-mount kit, power adapter, quick installation guide, warranty/support information card.

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TRENDnet 5-Port Ethernet Switch (5 x 10/100Mbps Auto-MDIX RJ-45 Ports) TE100-S5 (Blue) Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this product while looking for a way to split the LAN at my job into two. We get one ethernet cord running to our desk and that's it. I was worried that my company would have some kind of block to not allow this to happen (they don't allow streaming video, audio, etc... so they block a lot of things). I found the unit on sell (about half price) and decided it was worth the price to try it. I tried it at home at first and it worked great (I have a router at home, so don't really need this at home, but just wanted to make sure it worked at home so if it didn't at the office, then I'd know it wasn't the device). I unplugged the ethernet from one computer, plugged this in and plugged in two computers. So, basically, there was one ethernet cord going from the router to the TRENDnet box and two computers branched off from there. Worked great - no set up needed, just plug-n-play. So, now for the big test: I took it to work. Worked with no big problems - same plug-n-play. The only thing is that when I plug my computer directly to the work LAN, it says the connection at 1 GBPS, but through this device, it shows up as 100 MBPS. I can't really tell any problems so far with speed - everything is working as normal, but now I have online access on both my work computer and my laptop. So, for me, this device works as advertised and meets my needs.
PS - sorry for my non-technical review, but I'm no tech expert!
PPS - don't forget you'll need an additional ethernet cord to make this connection. I didn't think of it at first, but luckily remembered before I finished my transaction and was able to pick up a cheap 3-footer.

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TE100-S5 is an Auto-MDIX switch designed specifically to boost network performance by eliminating network congestions and unnecessary network traffics. Each port on the Switch provides dedicated bandwidth and can negotiate between 10/100Mbps network speeds and half/full duplex modes. Plug and Play provides cost-effective and high performance solutions.

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D-Link DES-1105 5-Port 10/100 Desktop Switch Review

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(More customer reviews)Bought one of these for under $15. I have a powerline Ethernet adapter connected to my router. On the other end of the second powerline adapter (which uses your house electrical wiring), I connected this switch. To the switch, I connected my DirecTV DVR and also an Ethernet to USB adapter to connect to my series 2 TiVo (which only has a USB connection). Everything works perfectly. No configuration needed (obviously, couldn't do it when connecting to non-computer devices). It just works. Both the DirectTV DVR and TiVo DVR work fine, simultaneously!

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Unmanaged Ethernet Switch, 5-Port, 10/100Mbps

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