Look for a switch recommendation

[Thraxen]

I'm in need of a 8+ port switch for my home network. I looked at the DLink DGS-2208, but some of the reviews indicated that connecting mixed speed devices will cause every port to run at the speed of the slowest device. I don't want that since I know I will indeed have a mix of 100 Mb and 1 Gb devices connected. I'm also not looking to spend over $100. Anything out that there fits my needs?

 

[Kelemvor]

I got one for $125 that will work for you... But it's not a gig switch... but who really needs that...

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
I'm in need of a 8+ port switch for my home network. I looked at the DLink DGS-2208, but some of the reviews indicated that connecting mixed speed devices will cause every port to run at the speed of the slowest device. I don't want that since I know I will indeed have a mix of 100 Mb and 1 Gb devices connected. I'm also not looking to spend over $100. Anything out that there fits my needs?

I have the 5 port version and the thing kicks some major ass
I love it and never had a problem with it

 

[jlazzaro]

Originally posted by: Kelemvor
I got one for $125 that will work for you... But it's not a gig switch... but who really needs that...

lol @ shameless plug...

check out the HP 1400-8G...10/100/1000 with jumbo frame support for $80.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Is that HP better than the cheaper Trendnet one? Also, I have a 5 or 6 year old Asante switch that APPEARS to support gigabit since the last two indicators say "Gigabit Ethernet" but the fan in it is becoming really loud and failing. Should I keep this or grab a new switch? Sorry for the thread grab but I am in a similar situation to the creator of this topic.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
I'm in need of a 8+ port switch for my home network. I looked at the DLink DGS-2208, but some of the reviews indicated that connecting mixed speed devices will cause every port to run at the speed of the slowest device.

The DGS-2208 will be fine. Don't get confused by the type of folk who also complain that the DGS-2205 should really be advertised as a 4-port switch because you need one port to connect to the router.

There is an issue, but it only concerns concurrent downloading from the same server with a mixture of speed. You can spend several times more than the DGS-2208 and still have this problem. There are a number of simple solutions: (1) Where you're going to be transferring a lot of data, upgrade the NIC to be gigabit (this is sort of a "duh"). (2) Work around by not transferring a lot of data at the same time (this is implicit in most cases, as there isn't a lot of concurrent transfers in home networks). (3) Disable flow control on the server NIC.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30212/54/

 

[Pheran]

That mixed-speed review was nonsense. I just got the DGS-2208 recently and it is very nice. See my detailed review of it on Amazon titled "Excellent upgrade over 100 Mbps switches".

 

[Thraxen]

Thanks guys for the input. I went ahead and ordered the DGS-2208 today. The link Madwand1 posted was especially helpful in explaining the speed issues some people reported and how to avoid them. I don't think I'll ever be doing simultaneous transfers to multiple devices anyway.