Hey All,
Has anyone had any real experience with switches from Zonet, Trendnet (by Trendware), Hawking, Gigafast, or Compex? I am specifically looking at 24 port managed switches here. These will be on a rack in a more or less hostile environment (ie: communications closet so probably not the best temp/dust conditions).
Its not that these are bad brands, I've actually heard of and used some of them in soho environments, but this time around the quality of the equipment is a definite issue (Just behind their cost - DOH!). That is, I'm looking for that fabled 100% uptime, and not have it crap on the network with garbage data the minute that 6pm-8pm heavy load kicks in.
I'll include a few links to clarify on which models, and if anyone can recommend one over the other, I'm all for it. And I'm looking for some definitive answers here. Not "I like Hawking 'cause my 4 port hub/kvm from them is great." I'm more looking for a "We've deployed hundreds of these and they've worked great." Followed by a "These specs will provide good network performance." (How big should a MAC table be anyway?) : >)
Hawking Technologies
- Keep in mind the pdf data sheet for the hawking isn't correct (as will be obvious if you click on it.) Not a promising start.
Zonet
- If nothing else its a damn impressive site! (Don't let the product info page fool you.) Though there was a typo on the front page's "company profile." I hope I'm not detecting a pattern here.
Compex
- Ok, now I've never heard of this one! But they do appear to be big with the British vendors, and their specs are some of the better ones in this price range.
And last but not least
Gigafast
I'm sure we've all seen their consumer wares at NewEgg or what have you, but can they pull off a managed switch?
Originally I was going to go with a slightly better name in an unmanaged configuration, but I've actually discovered these managed units for less!
Yes, Yes, I know I'm probably shooting my self in the foot here for going cheap, but budget is a real factor, and entirely unrealistic. I previously posted another thread that will give some incite into the project.
This post is a pseudo-continuation of the one found here:
"The other thread"
Here are the really the important parts:
I'm setting up a network in an apartment building, and for the sake of security (yes like the fabled unicorn), I would like to keep everyone from seeing each other.
So here is the top down look:
T1 and router -> Wireless connection to building (assume multiple buildings) -> main switch in building -> secondary switches that will connect up to 140 apts, and many may even have more than one pc via a hub/switch in the apartment itself.
Though right now we are only talking one building, there are actually 4x7story buildings in the community, all of whom may want to do the same thing, in which case we would simply connect them to our building to save on isp costs etc. So we are talking a lot of traffic! And maybe even a lot of ports!
And I know someone is going to ask "What the hell are you thinking?" The answer is, I'm not sure. But all of this is a direct result of the following situation.
As it stands I'm already looking at blowing past my budget with all of the equipment and wiring, and there is no other way to get internet access to the building due to 40 year old phone lines (Bellsouth Strikes again! !@%$ing @$$#*!!$), no cable access (internal television via direct tv), and the only isp that has enough bandwidth for the whole building (satellite would be saturated to easily) is a local wireless internet company.
Got all of that? Good! ; >)
- DigitlDrug
Has anyone had any real experience with switches from Zonet, Trendnet (by Trendware), Hawking, Gigafast, or Compex? I am specifically looking at 24 port managed switches here. These will be on a rack in a more or less hostile environment (ie: communications closet so probably not the best temp/dust conditions).
Its not that these are bad brands, I've actually heard of and used some of them in soho environments, but this time around the quality of the equipment is a definite issue (Just behind their cost - DOH!). That is, I'm looking for that fabled 100% uptime, and not have it crap on the network with garbage data the minute that 6pm-8pm heavy load kicks in.
I'll include a few links to clarify on which models, and if anyone can recommend one over the other, I'm all for it. And I'm looking for some definitive answers here. Not "I like Hawking 'cause my 4 port hub/kvm from them is great." I'm more looking for a "We've deployed hundreds of these and they've worked great." Followed by a "These specs will provide good network performance." (How big should a MAC table be anyway?) : >)
Hawking Technologies
- Keep in mind the pdf data sheet for the hawking isn't correct (as will be obvious if you click on it.) Not a promising start.
Zonet
- If nothing else its a damn impressive site! (Don't let the product info page fool you.) Though there was a typo on the front page's "company profile." I hope I'm not detecting a pattern here.
Compex
- Ok, now I've never heard of this one! But they do appear to be big with the British vendors, and their specs are some of the better ones in this price range.
And last but not least
Gigafast
I'm sure we've all seen their consumer wares at NewEgg or what have you, but can they pull off a managed switch?
Originally I was going to go with a slightly better name in an unmanaged configuration, but I've actually discovered these managed units for less!
Yes, Yes, I know I'm probably shooting my self in the foot here for going cheap, but budget is a real factor, and entirely unrealistic. I previously posted another thread that will give some incite into the project.
This post is a pseudo-continuation of the one found here:
"The other thread"
Here are the really the important parts:
I'm setting up a network in an apartment building, and for the sake of security (yes like the fabled unicorn), I would like to keep everyone from seeing each other.
So here is the top down look:
T1 and router -> Wireless connection to building (assume multiple buildings) -> main switch in building -> secondary switches that will connect up to 140 apts, and many may even have more than one pc via a hub/switch in the apartment itself.
Though right now we are only talking one building, there are actually 4x7story buildings in the community, all of whom may want to do the same thing, in which case we would simply connect them to our building to save on isp costs etc. So we are talking a lot of traffic! And maybe even a lot of ports!
And I know someone is going to ask "What the hell are you thinking?" The answer is, I'm not sure. But all of this is a direct result of the following situation.
As it stands I'm already looking at blowing past my budget with all of the equipment and wiring, and there is no other way to get internet access to the building due to 40 year old phone lines (Bellsouth Strikes again! !@%$ing @$$#*!!$), no cable access (internal television via direct tv), and the only isp that has enough bandwidth for the whole building (satellite would be saturated to easily) is a local wireless internet company.
Got all of that? Good! ; >)
- DigitlDrug
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