request recommendation of a good ethernet switch.

13 years ago

I had 10 CAT6 ethernet drops installed in our 1800 sq ft house by a contractor yesterday. Really appreciate all the help I got from this forum. The contractor also put a patch panel free of charge, but he only had a 8-port patch panel. So this morning, I ordered a 12-port CAT6 patch panel and c2g patch cables. I need to order a network switch to extend my current Linksys wireless-G broadband router. The contractor will come back this week to finish the final connection of patch panel, cable modem, and network switch.

Would an 8-port network switch be enough in my case or would it be better to buy a 16-port switch?

I saw the following cisco model had good reviews, but it has 8 port. I don't know if it's still good enough for me.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004OA721C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

The following is another cisco model with 10 ports, I don't know if it needs configuration. I'd like to buy one plug-and-play.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041ORN6U/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=AIQCJCU6OX783

The following netgear model has 16 ports. But it did not say if it supports gigabit. I don't know if it's good.

http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-ProSafe-16-Port-Ethernet-Desktop/dp/B000063UZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352744879&sr=8-1&keywords=netgear+16+port

Any recommendation of a good ethernet switch is greatly appreciated.

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Comments (5)

janesylvia
Original Author
13 years ago
Or the following one:
http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-ProSafe-16-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0002CWPOK/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352745599&sr=1-3&keywords=16+port+gigabit+switch

Is it comparable to the cisco one functionally? But it's cheaper and has 16 ports.

Thank you very much.
tjdabomb
13 years ago
I use these all the time, very reliable, manageable and gigabit:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313&_nkw=dell+2724&_sacat=0amp;_from=R40
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alan_s_thefirst
13 years ago
Cisco/Linksys are more or less "THE" switches, Cisco's one of the first companies to build networking equipment.

That being said, Netgear stuff is fine too. Switches are fairly dumb devices, as long as it's gigabit (which you'll only benefit from transferring files across your network unless you have an amazing internet connection, >100 megabits.)

Just reading a little more closely, the Cisco one is managed, which means you can configure it to manage data more intelligently and give certain traffic (eg video streaming) priority which may be nice.

As others alluded, the modem/router your ISP gave you may already do this for the ports on it, so you may not need this feature in your switch. Another thing to ask your cable tech is whether the gateway (your cable modem/router) will act as a DHCP server for devices on your switch (give them all IP addresses.) I recently discovered the gateway my ISP gave me will only distribute IP addresses to the ports on it. If I want more devices, I need a second router which probably means I should ignore the ports on the modem/router, and keep my whole network on my own router.

If you don't mind figuring out how to operate the cisco, go for it, if you want simpler, go for the Netgear. They probably make a managed one as well.
tjdabomb
13 years ago
IMO, Cisco gear is overpriced and Linksys is cheap quality. Though Linksys is owned by Cisco, their offerings are inferior to that of the parent company. I have had many of their wired/wireless routers and each one of them have had issues of some sort.

Netgear isn't too bad, though, I still prefer the Dell switches. Easy to use, easy to manage and they are rock solid. The same can't be said for Dell's computer offerings, but, that's a discussion for another day.
weedmeister
13 years ago
I would get a 16-port gigabit switch and plug all the cables in to it. I would not use the patch panel (unless it was for coax). I would replace the WirelessG for a WirelessN dual band unit, or wait until the new WirelessAC standard settles out.

You can certainly get wireless extenders (or access points) for the Linksys if you want.

Unless you're planning on running a datacenter, there's no need for the Cisco. The Netgear is fine.