NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch (GS208) - Essentials Edition

Pros: I'm a little late with my review, but that gave me additional time to put this through its paces. The switch was well packaged and requires no setup other than being plugged into the wall and connected to the network. Speaking of the power cable, the end comes off perpendicular to the surge protector, so you don't have to block outlets when you plug this in. This is something I really like. All 8 ports are autoswitching so you can use any network cable you might have laying around. I tested it in two scenarios. First was as my main switch directly between my FIOS router and my LAN. There were no changes in network speed. I write large files (> 1GB) to my unRAID server on a daily basis. Transfer speeds have always been 90 - 95MB/s. Swapping out an old 3COM switch with the new GS208 and there was no change in speed. Scenerio number 2 was using the switch as a secondary device upstairs in my office. In this test, the switch was connected to the wall and then I plugged in my devices to that switch. Once again, transfer speeds were unchanged. This device can definitely perform as advertised.

Cons: I would have preferred that the status LEDs change color based on link speed. Most switches use orange for 100Mbps and green for 1000Mbps. The GS208 does not. It's always a quick, easy way to verify transfer speeds. I'm also not a fan of white networking gear, but that's a person preference. I don't think either of these cons justify deduction of an egg.

Overall Review: For the price, this is a great device. Small, compact, easy to install and just as quick as devices twice its price. There are a few things I would change, but nothing that would keep me from buying another one if needed. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this switch to my smaller clients.

Pros: I tested this switch on quite an expansive home network, making use of all 8 ports. I’ve never really “stress tested” a switch before, so I did the best I could. I had 8 machines plugged into it, all streaming media (720p)/transferring files to each other in the following patterns: 1) 4 pairs of 2 machines streaming to each other 2) 7 machines streaming from 1 3) All 8 machines streaming to each other (7 instances of VLC running on each machine) 4) 1 machine transferring 50 small (~3mb) files to 7 others 5) 1 machine transferring 1 large (~3gb) file to 7 others 6) All 8 machines streaming and transferring 50 small (~3mb) files to each other (400 total files transferred) 7) All 8 machines streaming and transferring 1 large (~3gb) file to each other (8 files transferred) The only time I was noticing lag / hiccoughs while streaming video were in scenarios 2, 6, and 7 (rare scenarios for home use). For science, I also tested streaming a Steam game from my primary gaming PC to another with no issues. This thing does a pretty darn good job managing network traffic by default, even though it’s an unmanaged switch.

Cons: A gigabit switch means it has a theoretical top file transfer speed of 125 megabytes per second. I did my best to set up ideal conditions (2 computers with pretty beefy specs using SSDs) to see how close I could get to that top speed. I was getting speeds around 95 mb/second. Pretty darn good, but since these SSDs have a known and tested read/write speed of 510 mb/sec and 200 mb/s the switch is probably the bottleneck.

Overall Review: This is a pretty solid switch. The plug and the switch didn’t get overly hot during stress testing. The price is pretty competitive, and I think its ability to keep up the streaming and file transfers between multiple machines definitely make it worth it.

Pros: Plug and Play. Compact. Supports jumbo frame. Inexpensive. Autoswitching.

Cons: Plastic case with little or no ventilation. No mounting holes. No visual indicator of speed, i.e., no amber lights, just green.

Overall Review: Like most people who've worked with networking devices, I just don't trust airtight plastic cases. I like the feel of a heavy metal box and its heat dissipation capability; I like to be able to feel around ventilation holes and get a rough gauge of how hot the air moving across the chipset may be. I've had enough experience with overheating during critical backups to just never trust a sealed plastic box. For that reason alone, I wouldn't ever recommend this device in a SOHO network except to provide non-critical connections. For home use, it is OK. By that I mean that I could not make it fail, not with 3 wired devices streaming simultaneously and a large file copy occurring at the same time. It did not increase temperature to the touch, nor did it slow down, maintaining a 76MBps throughput rate, peaking at 82MBps. I'm more than fine with that. The only two points of failure I've ever seen on switches: #1 - HEAT, and #2 - Insufficient power in the wall wart causes voltage irregularity and damages the switch. For cause #2, I will never never EVER complain about a wall wart being too big or too powerful. That is just plain silly. 1 Amp DC requires a fair-sized transformer, and this unit's wall wart is comfortably big and heavy to get my trust. For Home. A similarly priced metal-case switch from TrendNet or TP-Link can be found at NewEgg, and may be a better choice, given the case and better visual indicators. I am giving this 4 eggs just because I couldn't find any fault with it. A ventilated/metal case would garner 5.

Pros: This is a great little plug-and-play switch with great speeds and no hassle. Support for auto-MDI/MDIX, low power and low heat makes it a great multi-purpose switch, whether you plan on leaving it in a network closet or plan on constantly plugging and unplugging devices. It's very compact, which somewhat surprised me when I first opened the box, and it should have no trouble finding a home in small spaces Finding a Gigabit switch with full 16Gb/s switching capacity is fantastic at this price point, especially one that sips power.

Cons: The exterior enclosure of this switch makes the device feel cheap, even though the internal components are solid and work well. The white plastic casing feels flimsy and the case slides around a lot, as it doesn't have any sort of rubber feet. I had trouble getting it to stay still when it was plugged into a stiff cable that wanted to push it around. There also aren't any keyhole mounts for hanging on walls, something that should be extremely common on networking gear

Overall Review: Great internal components, but the case could use some work. I wouldn't have any problem setting this up as a daily-use switch on my network

Pros: - Unmanaged, Simple Plug and Play - Auto Cable Detection (No crossover cables) - Super Green (My Kill-A-Watt showed this device was right on par with saving energy and only supplying power to the connected ports) - Sturdy Build (for a plastic switch) - 2 Year Warranty - Price is Spot On

Cons: - An included Cat6 Cable would have been nice. Granted I swapped this unit out with another unmanaged Netgear switch and needed no other cables. - The power cable is big as usual for these types of devices. I would rather see a power supply inside the unit or outside (like a laptop charger) rather than on the actual plug, as it takes up a lot of space on the surge protector or outlet. - I'm not big on the white plastic, although it isn't horrible. This would look great with a bunch of plastic Mac's (Not a Mac guy...)

Overall Review: Overall I feel this switch performs as it should. Be careful. I noticed the information on Newegg is listed incorrectly and shows this switch supports only 10/100 Mbps speeds on all 8 ports. However, this is in fact a full Gigabit switch and supports 10/100/1000 Mbps. Newegg, you need to correct this. I swapped this switch out for another Netgear Gigabit switch I had been using. It was only a 5 port and was full so the possible expansion options are nice. There is not a whole lot that stands out about this switch. With that being said, I get exactly what I would expect out of an unmanaged Gigabit switch. Instant connectivity and instant expansion off of my router. This switch is great for any home user wanting to expand their Gigabit network from the typical 4-5 ports on their router to something bigger. I use this to run a file server as well as 4 other wired machines. I also now have the ability to expand. This switch isn't perfect but I do think it is a great switch for the typical novice tech that wants to get into home networking. If you need something that is simple and allows you to expand your home or small business wired connectivity, then this is for you.

Pros: Small footprint, low power consumption, stylish white case, auto-uplink, decent-sized wall wart, good transfer speeds, 8 gigabit ports, great price point.

Cons: Status LEDs are almost worthless. Would have been nice to see a port up/speed LED, and a separate LED for traffic that flashed faster for more data transfer. Very light, easily falls off where you place it due to it's lack of weight when multiple cables are plugged in (you need to think of your wire management with this switch).

Overall Review: I'm using this on my workbench where I previously had a 10/100 switch. I'm able to pull files down from our server rack at the rated gigabit speed (I saturate the uplink port) to multiple machines when doing new setups. This is a great little switch, and with the addition of velcro it will no longer slide away and fall behind my workbench.

Pros: 10/100/1000 port speeds power saving 4000 MAC address table 192K memory buffer Auto uplink 8 ports

Cons: n/a

Overall Review: mounted it under my desk, and connected 1 laser printer, and 3 other computers. 2 used for gaming at the same time while for a few hour and either using TS3 or Skype to talk to someone else. now I been able to move my raspberry Pi system to my desk when I want to work on it. it is nice to have the extra ports.

Pros: Great speed

Cons: Slippery, no feet

Overall Review: This switch from Netgear is a great offering for the home user. It’s a great price and serves its purpose. Nearly identical to it’s sibling, the Netgear GS108, it’s just as solid in performance and uses less power. One of the few discernible differences is its plastic housing as opposed to the GS108’s built-like-a-tank steel housing. If you’re one of those types that is bothered by lots of plastic, then spend the extra $20 and get the GS108. This housing also has no rubber feet or anything and is a very smooth plastic surface, so if you want it to stay put, you may need to go spend a few cents on some rubber feet. The other noteable difference from the GS108 is the indicator lights on the front with socket numbers. The numbers aren’t repeated on the back of the unit so you’ll need to note that the port corresponds directly front to back to the indicator lights. Overall you can’t go wrong with this switch from Netgear. They’re as solid and faithful in the switch world as a John Deere tractor in a field. $29.99 at the time of this writing is a price that's well worth it to have a "forever" switch.