By photoman
on 23rd Feb 2007
photoman's Ratings| Time Modem and Networking Equipment Owned | Over 1 Year |
|---|
| Ease of Set Up | 10/10 |
|---|
| Ease of Use | 10/10 |
|---|
| Value for money | 9/10 |
|---|
| Overall value | 8/10 |
|---|
 photoman's recommendation |
Good Points
Auto negotiation
Bad Points
In summer this device becomes hot
General Comments
I have this switch for about 4 years. It serves me very well and never failed.
Switch enables connectivity between network devices like: computers, printers, routers, other switches and etc.
Hub it is just a box with wires and not complicated electronics, which enables connectivity too and less expensive than switch, but it does not use efficiently the network, it just connects.
Hub is able to detect collisions, and switch is able to prevent them, it stores ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) tables and enables directly to send and receive information from one station to another, while others are transmitting and receiving other information.
Also this switch has auto negotiation, it lets to connect between stations that have different speed (for example, usually older network printers have 10mbps speed, while modern computers 100mbps and even more).
This switch supports 10/100 mbps speeds, it is fully enough for internet access and file exchange.
Switch is actually a computer which manages networking (on a simple level, not like some routers that are able to send packets on different paths, but these routers are very expensive and serves other purposes).
Switch has all advantages over Hub, and in most cases to enable connectivity (cost and performance efficient) between devices you must have it.
For example, if you have two computers and Internet modem and no switch (or hub), you need at least 3 NICs to enable access from both to the internet, and if the first which is connected to router is shut down, second one has no Internet access and computer consumes much more electricity than switch.
What I don't like in this switch, that it heats very much in the summer, much more than switches of other brands (at least those that I tested).
This switch enables all basic functionality that needs home and small business and my switch is never failed in many hours of everyday use.
I recommend it for home and small office use.
