NETGEAR 24 Port PoE Gigabit Smart Switch w/ 2 Combo ports - Lifetime Warranty (GS724TP) NETGEAR 24 Port PoE Gigabit Smart Switch w/ 2 Combo ports - Lifetime Warranty (GS724TP)

Pros: Relatively inexpensive for what it does - PoE and Gig-E on all ports
Reliable (so far, and at least for me)

Cons: Very noisy
Buggy web server implementation
Very poor technical support

Other Thoughts: I'm the Phil who wrote several years ago that this product was unacceptable. I'd like to increase my rating from unacceptable to moderate.

My main reason for my poor rating was the nearly unusable web management interface. I have since learned that it supports only a limited number of simultaneous TCP connections, one that most web browsers exceed. So if you can lower that limit in your browser, the web management works fine and the management features become usable.

I don't remember how I eventually figured this out, but it wasn't easy. It certainly wasn't on Netgear's support pages at the time.

The rest of my evaluation is largely unchanged. The unit is so noisy that I had to banish it from the hall closet to the garage. But there seemed (and still seems) to be no smart or managed switch of its size with gig-E and PoE on every port that doesn't have noisy fans.

The STP and VLAN features seem to work but I haven't exercised them heavily so I can't vouch for them in more challenging environments. Same with SNMP.

IGMP (multicast) snooping also seems to work. This is especially important if you have AT&T U-verse which sends video as high speed (over 7 Mb/s) IP multicast streams though I've organized my network so I don't have to rely on this feature in my switch.

I can say the unit has not failed in the several years I've been using it (knock on wood).

Pros: This switch is a beast, have it in 3 of my jobs doing everything, Poe WAP, home automation, video streaming. Networking. No problems so far. My oldest install is 3 years and no problems so far.

Cons: Fan is loud, but all other switches with the same specifications as this one are as loud or louder.

Other Thoughts: Would definitely continue on using and would definitely recommend this unit.

Pros: Relatively cheap

Cons: Loud

Other Thoughts: Out of the box PoE was not working, now I have to spend $25 form return label and all this time with RMA process.

Pros: Seemed to have the configuration I was looking for.

Cons: I should have listened to the other reviews. Switch is beyond noisy. It also seem flaky. We replace 2 smaller switches due to heat issues. We had no connectivity problems. Added the NetGear Switch and all of a sudden we were having connectivity issues with the Drobo and other network related issues. The entire network cabling system had been upgraded and checked, so there were no other explainations for the problems other than the switch. Please look elsewhere. Between the restocking fee and the return shipping ($100) it was a total loss.

Other Thoughts: Look at the competitors.

Pros: There is a lot I like about this switch but there are also a few deal breakers which is causing me to return this unit. The Good... Decent price point for a Gig POE Switch, Fairly Decent Web Interface even though as others mentioned it is a little buggy. From a switch stand point it is very fast and rack mountable. The POE part works like a dream with newer compatible equipment.

Cons: DO NOT Buy this switch IF you are going to do anything with VLANs as there are some known issues with it. First of all you can NOT edit VLAN 1 at all. This is a "Confirmed" issue in ALL of the firmware versions and is even mentioned on their website. When I contacted them they said that this is a decision they made on all new switches. I have a GS724T (none POE Version) and this is running a newer firmware and I don't have any issues. I need pass Tagged VLAN Traffic through to 3 other Netgear Switches and you can not do it with this switch. The Web Interface is SLOW but will eventually load although sometimes not completely so you do have to refresh. The fans are LOUD so make sure that isn't going to be an issue for placement. No consistency throughout their product line.

Other Thoughts: I personally own about a dozen or more Netgear Products all from their Prosafe Line and this is the first one that I have been complete unhappy with and will be returning. The issues may eventually be resolved through firmware but I can not wait for a possible fix so I am returning this and ordered the Cisco Small Business SG300-28P in its place.

Pros: Great POE switch, we run all of our Shoretel phones, AP, and other POE devices. Data speeds seem to be fast. So far it has been very reliable.

Cons: Web interface could be much faster.

Other Thoughts: We are about to purchase a second unit since we are out of available ports already.

Pros: As a POE switch this one does ver well, gives you control over priority of POE and which ports are on and off etc.

Netgear's switches are running in both of my datacenters and now in my new office's server room as well. I've always been happy with them.

Cons: As someone else mentioned the Web Configuration does lock up A LOT, but it's not nearly as bad as they make it out to sound. I just had to take my time and not go trying to click all the links and buttons at as quick as I could. If you click and WAIT for it to respond it doesn't seem to lock as much.

Also, once a switch like thisis configured it's not like u change it daily. But if your the control freak IT guy that has to be in the switch every day, maybe another switch would do you better...

Pros: Looks great on paper: has PoE and 10/100/1000 on all ports so you don't have to switch outlets between, e.g., one switch that can do PoE but not gigabit, and another switch that can do gigabit but not PoE.

Cons: Loud fans make this unacceptable in a residential environment except in a garage.

Management web interface is so extremely buggy as to be completely unusable, so this unit should be evaluated as if it were an UNmanaged switch, i.e., without VLANs, ACLs, etc.

Other Thoughts: Even after upgrading to the latest firmware, the web management interface remains seriously broken. Pages often load incompletely. Even when they do load, configuration changes may not "take" when you click "apply". You might get a little farther by keeping five different web browsers on your computer and trying them all. Others report similar problems.

An online HTML verification service reports many HTML violations, which probably explains why it sort of works with some web browsers some of the time and not others.

The Netgear forum is useless. You must register all but low end products before you can even access the forum (and see how buggy their products are); postings about such products in the open area of the forum are censored.

I basically wasted $600 on this piece of garbage.

Pros: great switch, our 2 kingstons finally died after ~9 years and I had to scramble to replace them. Picked 2 of these up here for 300 bucks each some how. anyways using 1 to power ~20 Polycom 450's the other one is just passing traffic around. the VLAN works great, it supports port based or 802.1q which is awesome.

Cons: none yet

Other Thoughts: wish i could find it again for 300 bucks, i need another one for the engineering lab so we can move off the hodge podge i have back there and move the 8 port netgear up to the front

Pros: I talked with NetGear tech support and there is a typo on the spec sheet on their page and this one. The buffer memory is 3Mb per port not per system.

Cons: none yet