TP-LINK TL-SF1008P 10/100Mbps 8-Port PoE Switch, 4 PoE Ports, Metal case TP-LINK TL-SF1008P 10/100Mbps 8-Port PoE Switch, 4 PoE Ports, Metal case

Pros: Solid, quality feel. External PS for easy replacement. Low price for the quality you get and the 4 PoE ports.

Cons: Reviewers have noted the wattage rating is higher than reality-- 1 egg off for that b/c I am easily annoyed by inaccurate specs, especially when it's something as concrete as power output (as opposed to battery life of a laptop).

External power supply makes neat wiring more difficult (but my customers complain much louder about replacing an entire switch b/c of a failed PS versus messy wiring).

Other Thoughts: Not gigabit, but not a con because it's not a gigabit switch! If that's what you want, then spend 3 times as much and you'll get it.

I have 2 of these running at a client for the past 4 months, each powering 4 AT&T IP phones. No issues whatsoever. They are connected to a 16-port gigabit TP Link switch that has also worked great.

Pros: So far, this makes the 2nd TP-Link Product that I've reviewed and I have to say that I've been EXTREMELY IMPRESSED with their equipment AND the way they make them. This company KNOWS HOW to make parts the RIGHT WAY, and it shows! To me, when ANY company STAMPS their name on the product, that shows that they have pride in the company. GOOD JOB TP-Link!!! Keep up the good work!

The unit itself is about the size of a Red Clay Brick and weighs about the same. It comes in a METAL BOX (WHICH I LIKE) and is just the right size and weight for an 8 Port Switch, plus it's heavy enough that your cables aren't going to pull it off of your desk. That's one less worry. It's TOO SMALL for a Rack Mount, but then again, it's ONLY an 8 Port Switch so that would be kind of dumb.

The Switch has the PoE feature built into (to the 1st 4 Ports) which means that it'll supply (Supposedly UP TO 53Watts) of power to devices like IP Cameras, IP Phones, and other IP Devices. The biggest advantage that I can see with this Switch is that it includes 4 PoE Ports in such a cheap price range. At this price range, you could buy 2 or 3 or even 4 of these units and still make a killing on any other PoE Switch out there.

It has the standard Link/Activity AND 100Mbps indicator lights that we've all seen and also has 4 PoE Indicator lights as well for the 1st 4 PoE Ports. The PoE Indicators will also light up if ANY PoE Devices are plugged in.

As far as speed goes on this puppy, it's about on Par with other 10/100 switches that I've used in the past. This is NOT a SPEED DEAMON after all, it's NOT a Gigabyte Switch.

Cons: NO Gigabyte! BAD IDEA!!!

NO Rack Mounts AND/OR anyway of mounting it under your desk.

It comes with a LARGE External Power Brick (WHICH I HATE!) - BUT I DID LIKE the way they implemented it. Even though it is a LARGE UNIT, at least they designed it so it doesn't eat up ALL your space on your Power Switch.

Kind of an ODD Color - BUT hey, that's just me... After all, I am odd anyway!

Comes with 4 (Stick-On) Rubber Feet. NOTE: The Glue is NOT REAL STRONG!

Other Thoughts: As I don't have ANY PoE Devices in our house, I really couldn't test this feature out, so I can't say if it'll work or not. I imagine it does, BUT I don't know for sure. Some other reviewers have claimed that the PoE Max Rating (53 Watts) is wrong, but as I didn't check this out I can't say whether or not this is true or not. Sorry, but you'll just have to try it out for yourself.

Would I buy this item for myself??? NO. For the simple reason that I REQUIRE a Gigabyte Switch AND ALSO that we DO NOT have ANY PoE Devices in our house. At least, not yet anyway...

Would I recommend this unit to others??? Probably not! For the simple fact that MOSTLY ALL of my customers REQUIRE Gigabyte Switches (LIKE ME) and if they have ANY PoE Devices they would probably find a Gigabyte Switch that has the PoE option built-in. Sorry TP-Link, BUT leaving the Gigabyte out of this unit was the deal breaker.

One FINAL thought to everyone! IF you don't REQUIRE a Gigabyte Switch, OR if you do have any PoE Devices in your House/Office, then this is a GOOD choice for a fairly cheap (AND WELL MADE) 8 Port Switch.

To TP-Link I say this. If you had made this unit in an 8 Port PoE configuration WITH the Gigabyte speed option, (for about the SAME price) then you would have had a definite winner here. I'm sorry to say that it's back to the drawing board.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Joe,

We greatly appreciate your detailed review of our product. It is information like this that we as a company at TP-LINK appreciate. We will utilize this excellent review to improve our products for you our customers. Again thank you Joe for your detailed review.

Best Regards!
TP-LINK Support Team
(866)225-8139
http://www.tp-link.com/us/support
http://www.facebook.com/TPLINK

Pros: - the price is a steal for a switch with 4 PoE ports... as long as you don't need management, you could buy 2 of these and replace a $500 Cisco PoE switch and stack them up as you needed more phones or cameras
- built very tough with heavy gauge steel enclosure, you definitely don't have to worry about it being damaged in under other equipment etc... it is surprisingly heavy.. like a brick... you could defend yourself from a mugging with it
- has 4 PoE ports to run cameras or IP telephones
- uses the Realtek 8309G 9 port 10/100 switch controller which has a ton of horsepower and 1.6Gbps throughput
- is VERY small... think a couple of decks of cards next to each other
- comes with a 60 watt 48V power brick to run up to 4 15watt devices... the external brick makes the only probable failiure point in this switch easily replaceable... so that's nice
- plenty of ventilation holes for all that power passing through it

Cons: - the power supply isn't internal.... I actually prefer internal supplies to keep al lthe cabling mess down somewhat and to use standard PC power cords... since this thing is PoE it's more likely a small business thing and in my mind that means internal, less messy power... however I do give up easy replacement of power supply wanting it that way
- no brackets to rack, wall or under desk mount it making it very hard to secure in an office environment

Other Thoughts: I've used TP-Link products several times and they are top notch.... very very well constructed, tanks really... they use standard, proven companents that run all ports at max speed without difficulty... and fit and finish is top flight also.

I loaded all 4 PoE ports with IP phones and it ran fine. I also loaded it up with 8 devices and ran loopback at 96Mb on all ports simultaneously sop this product performs in top flight fashion.

The main use for PoE switches like these are either:

IP Telephones that support them like Cisco, 8x8 / Packet 8, etc. when used in this mode they are very handy because you have one ethernet cable going to a desk that runs the phone, it's power and then a port off the back of the phone to a desktop machine.

or

PoE security cams... these are great for small businesses and homes.

This switch is very inexpensive but very well made.... you can stack a bunch of them up and save a great deal of money over buying big brand switches and run small to medium sized offices very simply. Very nice product.

Pros: It is pretty compact, durable, has lights to identify connectivity and data activity, stays very cool, and has 8 ports!

The switch itself is about the size of the base of my monitor, if not smaller. It's less than the size of my speakers and external hard drive. Might even go ahead and say it's close to the same size of an internal hard drive.

The casing of this switch is metal also. So it can withstand some hits (not that you would want to be hitting the switch exactly). It also has a bit of weight to it also, so it won't easily slide off of a desk due to cables pulling it down. It comes with 4 rubber "feet" as well, which is even more defense against sliding, and are a nice addition to the switch.

The lights on the front are pretty standard, for the most part, and are easily readable.

The switch has never been warm or hot to the touch after having it on all day, and with heat running in the same room.

And this switch has, 8 ports! For most residential users, this should be plenty.

Cons: It's not Gigabit. My networking conditions don't exactly require gigabit anyway, so this doesn't really affect me. But if you do need a Gigabit switch, you may wish to look elsewhere.

Also the switch color itself doesn't exactly suit my tastes (might of preferred black or silver). This of course doesn't affect the switch's performance in any way, just slightly throws off the color scheme of equipment on my desk :p

Other Thoughts: For the lights on the front, you got your power light, Link/Act(ivity) lights for all 8 ports, and 100Mbps indication lights for all 8 ports. This router does feature PoE, or Power-over-Ethernet technology though. There is a light for indicating whether or not PoE is at full power limit, and indication lights for the first 4 jacks to determine if PoE is active and working. The first 4 ports can be used for standard Ethernet however, and if you are using them for standard ethernet, the PoE lights won't come on.

This switch has also helped me with a connection issue I was having in my house. A computer and TV receiver in another room couldn't connect to my router, due to there not being any ethernet cables around that were long enough. I simply moved the router itself closer to the other room, and now have my main equipment on this switch, which then has a cable leading to my router. Decent little setup :)

Pros: I wasn't sure how well these would work, I was powering cameras with them for video surveillance (2 high resolution cameras, 4 low resolution, 2 switches). The products worked well for my needs, and no problems so far. They don't appear to get all that warm.

Cons: There is not a great way to wall mount these. I resorted to zip ties unfortunately. Some sort of bracket would be nice, or screw holes, etc.

Other Thoughts: TP link equipment has been working well when I order it. I've had no problems with their equipment that I've ever used.

Pros: Nice metal case, not cheap plastic. Running 4 IP cams at 4 watts each, still running after a year.

Cons: The power brick is pretty large, I would prefer the power supply be built into the case instead of cluttering the desk.

Other Thoughts: I've owned this switch for about a year, it was the least expensive PoE switch I could find at that time, and probably still is. I just purchased a second to power cameras at a different location. I haven't been able to overload it like other reviewers have.

Pros: Great price, Compact size, Nice build quality of the metal case.

Cons: I completely agree with the other review regarding the over-stated power specs. I bought this for use with IP cameras. I was using basic indoor IP mini dome cameras with no IR, heaters, blowers etc. They were rated at 5.8W max so I figured I was fine with the 53 W max rating of this switch. I installed the cameras one at a time and the third one brought up the POE Max light and the fourth camera would not power up. I had to quickly acquire a replacement switch to avoid delaying my customers install. I bought a Netgear ProSafe FS108P and it powered all four cameras with no problem even though it is only rated at 32 Watt max.

Other Thoughts: Lesson learned - You get what you pay for. I used this switch at another install that only had two cameras and it has worked great. it's not a bad unit, just be aware the advertised power output is not even close to actual.

Pros: PoE is working, 4 ports of PoE at this price is hard to come by...

Cons: Added 3 IP cameras that consume 4 watts each and the PoE MAX light came on. Not sure if that means it is over the power buget or just reached the power budget. Added a 4th device and it could not power it properly (kept rebooting). It appears the max PoE output on this switch is between 11 and 16 watts... not the 50 watts reported.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear customer,
This is Howard from TP-LINK Support Force.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the product.
We tested the PoE power in our lab and confirmed it can provide 54Watts on the 4 PoE ports.
If possible, could you please tell me the model no. of the IP Cameras? So that I would help you to solve this problem and you won't waste your investment.You may send an email to me, howard.he@tp-link.com.
Thank you!

Best Regards!
TP-LINK Support Force
http://www.tp-link.com/us/support/
http://www.facebook.com/TPLINK

If my suggestion solves your problem, could you please update your review?
Thank you in advance.