WD My Net 8-Port Gigabit Switch - 8x Ports, 10/100/1000 Gigabit, Port-Based QoS, Plug-n-play WDBJVC0000NCH-NESN WD My Net 8-Port Gigabit Switch - 8x Ports, 10/100/1000 Gigabit, Port-Based QoS, Plug-n-play WDBJVC0000NCH-NESN

Pros: This small form factor Gigabit (1000BASE-T) network switch is advertised as having the capability to perform basic quality of service (QoS) functionality right out of the box. This is true with 2 ports labeled "LAN/LOW" and 4 ports labeled "MID" and 2 ports labeled "HIGH." The intent, I believe is to plug devices into the network that are more network intensive (i.e. streaming video to a HTPC or a TV should be plugged into the "HIGH" ports while another computer or laptop can be plugged into the "LAN/LOW" port). This concept of giving the user some very limited control over QoS-type functions is limited - see cons.

The physical switch itself is small with good looking flat black and semi-gloss plastics. LEDs are not overly bright and indicate network connections, network activity per link, and a power LED. The switch can be wall mountable as well and actually fits quite well with its small and slim design in tight networking cabinets or rooms where space is premium. It also looks good sitting on your desk being that's where most home users would place it.

Cons: Though there is not much needed in order to successfully connect a network switch to a home network, there is very scant documentation provided. Literally, only a few page pocket-sized foldout that resembles a quick start-up guide. The documentation mentions nothing concerns what types of devices to connect to what ports on the switch to enable QoS functions appropriately. One has to guess, on whether to connect a laptop to the "LAN/LOW" port or whether to the "HIGH" port because that laptop is sometimes used to stream online video. This leads to another major issue, which in order to change the QoS speeds going to specific ports on the switch to specific network equipment requires the user to unplug the cable and connect it to a different port. This is unacceptable being that network equipment is commonly repurposed to perform other functions that may or may not be network intensive (i.e. Can the "MID" port handle streamlining online content across the network? Can the "HIGH" ports handle 1080p video being streamed, or can the "MID" ports handle it. Nothing provided by Western Digital indicates what a specific QoS-related port can or cannot handle.)

Additionally, not even one single Ethernet cable is included in the box. This is absurd being that Ethernet cables are incredibly cheap. This does not make this device completely ready right out of the box.

Other Thoughts: Western Digital is attempting to fill a niche by offering a network switch that will be used in a home theater and entertainment environment. If this is solely the role for a consumer purchasing this device then it might suffice. This device is not intended to be used in a normal home network in which one or more computers and a router and/or network printer and/or NAS is attached. Due to this very narrow focus and failing to address the specific niche, as well and very sparse documentation and lacking some basic accessories, this device only receives 3 eggs.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with your Western Digital My Net Switch, as this is not the typical nor intended experience with the product. We highly recommend becoming familiar with the My Net Switch's ports and features by visiting our Support site and downloading the User Manual.
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/UM/ENG/4779-705070.pdf
On Page 4, you will see the following information.
The port priority assignment allows users to configure their device’s priority on the network with a physical configuration, by means of the switch’s 8 ports, which are segmented into the following:
HIGH (Dark Green): VOIP, Online Gaming
MID (Light Green): Video Streaming, Music, Data
LAN/LOW (Orange): Web Surfing, Email, Router/LAN Connection
Should a user decide that a server, computer, DLNA streaming media device or any other system requires priority on a LAN over other devices, a port on the back of the My Net Switch of higher priority is utilized for these demands.
Prioritizing your device's on your LAN is completely up to the user, to decide which device's they prefer to have as a higher priority over other devices. Should you be interested in a device that automates the prioritization of QoS for you, you may be interested in our My Net N900 Router, which has Fasttrack Plus technology. You can read more here.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=710
Is there anything we can do for you at this time? You may contact us directly at (855) 842-5370, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/contact/contact.asp?lang=en&ct=networking
Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.

Pros: This thing is simple, light, and oddly tough.

At first glance I thought the plastic casing felt loose and flimsy. So I dropped a 12” x 1/4” x 1/4” square steel rod onto it from about 6 or 7 feet high repeatedly to no ill effect outside of some scratches. So yeah, weird case with a couple spots that seem loose, but I guess it can take the punishment.

Compared to my other networking equipment this thing also seems to run much cooler, which was also unexpected. To be fair, I haven't been able to tax this thing with my current network setup, but to also be fair my other switches and routers heat up much more, so yeah, take from that what you will.

This thing is also ridiculously easy to use – it is a (mostly) dumb switch after all. I plugged it in in front of my router and then moved all my cables from the router to this switch. It just worked, no trouble.

The port based QoS is a neat idea that could, in theory, simplify the hassle of network configuration, particularly if your home network consists mostly of boxes with dedicated functions.

Cons: If you need to be able to configure stuff down to the last detail, this probably isn't for you.

Performance wise, I got respectable speeds (100 MB/s +) most of the time, but lots of small file transfers were a bit slower.

Honestly, I don't really have much negative to say about it per se, I just find it odd.

Other Thoughts: This is a strange product (I think).

My guess is that there are fairly few home users with enough devices centrally networked to need one of these (In my experience the average home either has a modem and a wireless router, or a modem + router combo). Most of the few houses that need an extra switch will probably (I'm guessing) opt for a considerably cheaper dumb switch without port-based QoS. My guess is also that most people who know what QoS is will opt for something that lets them set up priorities based on packets and protocols rather than ports.

All that said, if you happen to have, say, a VOIP phone, a HTPC server, a couple regular PCs that just use the Internet, and maybe a teenager that you'd just love to de-prioritize, this makes things simple.

I just doubt the people who are the most likely to find a product like this useful are tech savvy enough to realize it or have enough networked devices to need it.

I'm also not sure I managed to make my network busy enough to really get the QoS in to play. I could stream various videos and play a multiplayer game and such on different computers just fine.

Pros: So Western Digital is getting into the networking business -eh? Okay, I'll bite. EVERY house/office network that transfers medium or larger files NEEDS A gigabit switch or router. Hard drives can easily read and write near 100MB/sec and of course SSD's blow that out of the water. Any 10/100mbit router thus has the theoretical max speed of about 12.5MB/sec. (FYI: A gigabit is a 1/8th of a gigabyte (1000Gbit = 125MB). Now you know why marketers use gigabit instead. ) That's more than a half an hour copying something huge like a Bluray ISO (25GB). With a gigabit you should do it in just over three minutes (duh I know 10X faster). So let's see what we have. I started to test it between two high end Windows 7 x64 computers, not connected to the internet, transferring between two RAMdrives that can read and write over 5GB/sec. (thus I can assure you there is no bottleneck in system). I also used high quality 6' factory made Cat 6 (not Cat5/e) cables, and gigabit ports on the computer, latest drivers. No data was sent through any keystones, patch panels, or other wiring was used. ***This is as fast as it gets.*** Fake data with synthetic benchmarks are so entirely useless. So this is real data, with a stopwatch. I'm sure my gaming reflexes will add about a split second, but it's still real world accurate. The two computers were plugged into the ""fast"""" ports of the router. More on that later.

The Results:

-Large Single File (several Gigabyte - movie)
114.35MB/SEC (pretty good, nearing maximum of 125MB/sec but there is overhead)

-A few GB of several hundred """"medium"""" sized files (MP3's and photos all between 3 and 10MB).
76MB/sec (respectable)

-Tens of thousands of tiny files ~1K each (.html, .etc)
2.05MB/sec. (small files are killer slow for everything)

Cons: Compared with my Asus gigabit router and D-link, the WD is actually 10% slower on the small and medium files. Identical speeds for the single large file. I find this interesting but acceptable. I wouldn't choose another router because of this slowness. I am very conscious of sound and I can indeed say that this is 0db quiet, and after 1 hour of transferring stuff constantly, it's still cold to the touch. I never like electronics that get unbelievably hot after a while. It says it's low power too. Good.
--Switches are something that you hope to never have to think about. They should just work and work always. I don't know what this is priced at now, but it only has a 1 year warranty. Countless other switches have a lifetime warranty. I think that should factor into play, it would with me. Especially gigabit, because this should last you a long time. Sure warranty length doesn't correlate (or does it) with product quality, but if I'm going to buy it, and there are plenty of other lifetime warranty options, I'm going to go with them.
The warranty length is the ONLY reason this looses two stars. It's also plastic which is fine, but I'd rather have a metal netgear with lifetime warranty if they are similarly priced.

Other Thoughts: Interesting is the high, mid and low ports, a sort of priority that probably will throttle down other lower priority switches if needs be? A switch doesn't share bandwidth, each port has the full 1,000 bits, regardless of what the other ports are transferring. And I can't really imagine any home or work network that is transferring so many terabytes all day long, that someone streaming a HD video would be choppy video (HD @ 20-30mbits/sec = 2-3% of 1 part). I mean a gigabit is a LOT of bandwidth. Anyone needing serious network speeds, wouldn't be getting one of these entry level switches. IF this port is cheaper than like metal Netgears ports with lifetime warranty, I'd consider it. But with only 1 year warranty, I'd go get something else for my switch needs.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with your Western Digital My Net Switch, its provided features and/or warranty.
The port priority assignment allows users to configure their device’s priority on the network with physical configuration, by means of the switch’s 8 ports, which are segmented into the following:
HIGH (Dark Green): VOIP, Online Gaming
MID (Light Green): Video Streaming, Music, Data
LAN/LOW (Orange): Web Surfing, Email, Router/LAN Connection
Should a user decide that a server, computer, DLNA streaming media device or any other system requires priority on a LAN over other devices, a port on the back of the My Net Switch of higher priority is utilized for these demands.
Is there anything we can do for you at this time? You may contact us directly at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/
Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.

Pros: No telling what this machine can do!

Cons: Power source was not shipped with the switch.

Other Thoughts: Would have loved to give this a try but without the power cord that was not in the box I will have no chance.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the My Net Switch, as this is not the typical or intended experience with the product. We do apologize for the missing adapter. You can contact us at any time and we will be able to send the adapter to you at no cost, in the interest of customer service and satisfaction. You may contact us at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/. Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.