Question Switch recommendation for 20 connections

[kellykinsey]

\Hello - We have 18 cashiers and a server that are currently connected on an unmanned 1 GB switch. (This system is not on the internet....but just a local intranet in same room). We are having some data drops and were told to look at a 2GB switch and upgrading our cables as a solution. I would love some advise on a good switch and good cables to use as we have to stop the data drops, We only use it for a custom point of sale system and it is dropping scans which cost us money.

 

[JackMDS]

It will a good Help if you provide more Tech data.

Like.. the LAN "Speed" you get now and hardware that is currently use?

 

[aigomorla]

If your tight on budget and If used gear is acceptable, there are a lot of excellent yet affordable 2nd hand enterprise class switchs on ebay.

I personally like Zyxel, Ubiquiti, Cisco, Mikrotik.

I personally hate, Tplink, Anything labeled "gamer", anything labeled "SOHO" in the consumer isle, (other unknown chinese brand).

I am sort of impartial, meaning both love and hate, netgear, and linksys. Even tho Linksis owned by Cisco.

 

[JackMDS]

I am sort of impartial, meaning both love and hate, netgear, and linksys. Even tho Linksis owned by Cisco.

Linksys ownership.

Independent (1988–2003)
Cisco Systems (2003–2013)
Belkin (2013–2018)
Foxconn (2018–present)
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That said I fully agree with the Quoted Statement.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Personally I am fond of using real enterprise gear for production networks like this. That said, you need someone who understands networks to be able to typically setup and configure this kind of gear as this gear is usually managed switches (which is what I would recommend), as you can then setup VLANs for your point of sales system, turn on port security to prevent someone from disconnecting one of your devices and attaching their own to the port, and possibly setup some basic quality of service settings to prioritize certain traffic (like your the sales system traffic).

If you are trying to do it on a budget and don't have any kind of need of SLA's (although a point of sales network would usually mean you want something covered by support/warranty), you can always look at used/off-lease/recertified items. I am partial to Brocade switches, particularly the ICX-6610, but for your needs, the ICX 6450 would work for this kind of thing. There are both 24 and 48 port versions (of both switches), but you need to be aware that these are end-of-support life and not receiving new updates, but for your situation, that probably is not an issue. These will be somewhat noisy (remember they are datacenter switches, not something that you would have on the office floor). The nice thing about these is that they are about as user friendly of a datacenter managed switch as they come (with a web interface/gui that can let you do most things), as well as the typical command line access that you would expect with an enterprise class switch (the commands are very similar to CISCO, so if you had someone who knows CISCO switches, they should have no problem managing these).

I run a 6610 on my home network, and it is great for that (options for some 40GbE connections (QSFP+ ports), 10GbE connections (SFP+ ports), and 1GbE RJ45 ports). My main server is connected via 40GbE and most of my other devices via 10GbE (including my wifi access point at 10GbE), with a few 1GbE for things like game consoles/blu-ray players. I got mine for about $200 off ebay, but that might not be a solution for a business. These are still around $1,400 new (without any licenses for advanced features) to $6,000 (with the licenses).

 

[fkoehler]

This is the old 'Its the network' issue again.

Who is the 'someone' who told you it was the network dropping packets?
What sort of tests did they do to prove it was the network?

A shotgun approach that involves replacing a switch AND cabling implies to me that your expert is not actually an expert.

A clear counters on the switch should show wiring issues either immediately, or at least within a day or two if there are environmental factos affecting the wiring.

You have 18 cashier POS's each on 1Gb switched port, with 1 server also on 1Gb port.
POS should not be too bandwidth intensive, unlike 18 ports streaming cat videos. Even then, that should still be within the realm of 2nd tier no-name 1Gb class switches.

18 sessions on a decent server should also not be much of a problem. However, if your 'network problems' are always on different/random machines, then it as likely that your server might be at fault.

I know the OP will never come back, they probably had an actual tech come in and solve the problem, or the Big Boss just signed off on a network upgrade, and possibly 2 weeks later, a server upgrade...