NETGEAR 8 Port Gigabit High Performance Desktop Switch (GS608) NETGEAR 8 Port Gigabit High Performance Desktop Switch (GS608)

Pros: I've had this switch in my office since 2006, serving a wireless router and from 2-5 computers (a mix of PCs & Macs which has changed over time) at all times. All devices have always worked fast [expected 1000Base-T performance] & flawlessly, connected to a company network (whose equipment has also changed over time). It sits on it's little vertical stand on top of a wireless router and runs completely cool to the touch.

Cons: My 2006 model has a bulky AC adapter. It's rather cheap looking (but stylish?).

Pros: Front facing LEDs, rear facing ports and power

Cons: Having owned 4, three of which have failed I'm inclined to think that there is a 75% chance of a failure after ~ 3 years of ownership... this failure (in my case) took one of two forms:

1. Despite blinking lights, allows no actual TCP traffic to pass through it in both directions (happened twice within a month)
2. Start to degrade in such a way packets go missing in larger and larger numbers... and some ports refusing to work in Gigabit mode.

Other Thoughts: As far as I am concerned, Netgear gear is now verboten in my home unless it has a lifetime warranty and/or ships with a free replacement unit for when (not if) the first fails.

Pros: It looks pretty. Can keep paper from blowing away.

Cons: Failed just shy of 3 years. MTBF is 10 years? Right.... Back that up with a warranty.

Ports would light and devices would connect, they would even move some packets, but on heavy use the switch would squeel in agony, literally make noise .. lights would flicker on and off and transfer rates were sub 10 Mbps. It didn't matter which ports I plugged devices into. I have three other switches around the house, one of them going on 10+ years old, that are still rock solid. This is my first and last Netgear product.

Other Thoughts: Half a benjamin every decade is reasonable. Half a benjamin every three years is robbery.

Pros: I plugged it in, plugged a bunch of computers into it and it worked! What more could you ask for?

I needed gigabit and 8 ports and this delivered.

Cons: Not easily wall mountable. I have my network "closet" in my basement and wanted this on the wall. The existing stand for it doesn't support wall mounting.

Other Thoughts: I have a number of other netgear products and they have always worked beautifully.

Pros: * Inexpensive
* Looks nice
* Works well, when it actually works

Cons: * Doesn't hold up long term

Other Thoughts: I bought this switching hub just over a year ago and it's worked fine until now. However, it has started randomly glitching. All the lights stay on and it LOOKS like it's working, but it won't transfer data at all. Unplugging and re-plugging it fixes it for a while.

If you're a small business and rely on your network 24x7x365, then spend a little extra money to get a Cisco or other professional grade switch.

Pros: Sleek, simple and fast. Takes little space on shelve and quiet. No configuration as it's not a Layer 3 switch.

Cons: Just for the sake of joking: Too easy to setup.

Other Thoughts: Current user of a NetGear DGDN300, Ready NAS 2 ULTRA plus and the GS608. NetGear has good and affordable products for basic and advanced home users.

Pros: Nice case design. I have it mounted from the top under a shelf supporting a printer, which is probably worst case for heat buildup. It has worked reliably for well over a year. I use Jumbo packets between this and Intel Gig add in cards and embedded interfaces. No problems with linking at all. Transfers are about 26MB/s win7 (Sandy Bridge) to WHS2011 on Intel Atom.

Cons: When I bought it, I think I paid quite a bit more...

Other Thoughts: This switch connects to two other gig switches (DLink and TrendNet) and two 100mb gateway routers (Linksys and NetGear).

Pros: works fine, even at gigabit speeds, grant it i have only two computers with gigabit, the rest of my devices run at 100mb speeds, but like i said i have two of these that i purchased at Newegg, and still running strong!

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: I got them on sale here for 28.00 each, great buy! Newegg Rules!!!!

Pros: I am using this switch behind a gigabit/wireless dual-band router to feed a gigabit pathway to hardwired ethernet jacks throughout my house, where I have either PCs, internet-enabled TVs, or blu-ray players installed. The installation was a breeze. I simply ran a Cat 5e cable between one of the gigabit ports on my router and one of the eight ports on the back of the switch, then plugged the Cat 5e cables from my wall plate lines into the remaining seven ports. There was no configuration necessary, and the connections between computers, media devices, and my NAS are very fast. An easy upgrade, and it looks sleek too!

Cons: None

Pros: Has worked well for several years now, even after 18 months in storage.

Cons: Will switch gigabit ether fine at 1500 byte frames, but won't pass jumbos at any size. Tried with two matching Intel PCIe cards, with various settings, and no luck.

Has "frozen" once or twice, and stopped passing traffic, but recovered after a restart.