There isn't much to say about a switch other than "does it perform?". In our case, the answer is yes. We have a number of switches running all over in order to spread internet throughout the building in various and sometimes odd ways as we set up all sorts of situations for the benchmarks that go down within these walls. We test all sorts of products and scenarios, and sometimes you need wired internet in places that weren't originally designed to have it, or we find ourselves tapped out. In these situations, we buy a switch, since they can be moved around and re-purposed later anyway. The Netgear GS208 switch seems to be doing its job just fine.
We have seen some of the comments about dropping packets and other connectivity issues over time forcing you to cycle power. Personally we haven't seen this, although thanks to those comments, it is on our radar in case it does. If we do run into anything like this, we will make sure to update the review with additional information and score adjustment if needed. So far though, it has been running for days without any issues and will be running for weeks non-stop for its current use. We have plenty of time to discover any anomolies.
Like any normal switch, everything is plug and play outside of the power switch on the side having to be turned on (most of your basic switches don't have this). The price is also in the right area, currently around $15.99, which is just right for having 8 ports.
Ryan Sanders - Editor - Poc Network // Tech
I've purchased switches over the years but haven't upgraded as the technology and speeds changed. For the non technical audience, a switch is faster than a hub because of it's design to avoid "collisions" of packets. So, when I upgraded my ISP network speed, I realized my old switches would be a throttle on bandwidth so I purchased this switch. There's really not much to any installation. You take an Ethernet cable from your router and then plug it into this switch. From there, you connect more Ethernet cables to your client devices (PCs, Macs and other Ethernet connected devices including printers.
It sits in the top of my closet next to the router and does switchy things and does them at high speed. There isn't much to say beyond that, other than having a power switch is nice. If it lasts a long time, I will be perfectly happy with it.
My topography breaks the rule of 2 (no more than 2 switches between endpoints), but this switch an its 24 port friend (Netgear Soho) allows me to break that rule: router (with its built-in switch) -> this switch -> 150' cable to garage -> 24 port switch -> hundreds of feet of cable to various devices. In addition to the run to the garage, this switch has 5 or 6 devices plugged directly into it. Everything is able to see everything, whether wired or using the router's Wi-Fi.
So, yeah. It works.
Simply put, I went from ~300 mbps via my AC wifi connection (a/p a few feet away) to 630 mbps after wiring the computer through this switch. No setup. No fuss. Just plugged it in and away I went. Couldn't be happier.
That said, fair warning the switch is VERY light. Light enough that I had to tie up the power cable and ethernet cable that drooped off the edge of the desk, as they were lifting the front of the switch off my desk. This doesn't necessarily speak to the quality (there's no much even to a nice switch), but be aware. The plastic case is very basic, though they did provide a nice, attractive design, and a textured matte plastic casing in two colors.
Does its job, fast, easy, and without pain. Perfect.
Most ethernet switches get the same thing wrong: the power cord input is on the back, and the ethernet ports are on the front (with status lights). At first glance, this seems an intuitive way to do it. But in practice, it means you have to run cables to it from two different directions.
This device has all the ports on the back, with LED indicator lights on the front. This means you can neatly run everything to it from behind, and have the switch sitting on top of a desk or in a cabinet, with the status lights visible in a clean way.
Other than that, the speeds are as advertised (1000 Mbps) and it is truly plug-and-play. Works as you'd expect.
Feature Product
- PLUG-AND-PLAY - Simple set up with no software or configuration needed
- INTERNET SPLITTER - Connectivity to your router or modem for additional wired connections (laptop, gaming console, printer, etc)
- COST EFFECTIVE - Most affordable connectivity to your network
- EASY-MONITORING - Per port LEDs for port activity and speed
- GIGABIT ETHERNET - 8 auto-sensing 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports with up to 16Gb non-blocking switching
- AUTO-MDI/MDIX - Eliminates the need for crossover cables
- 8 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports, up to 10x faster than Fast Ethernet for maximum performance
- Small and silent desktop form factor with fan-less design for quiet operation
- Plug-n-Play connectivity easily installs into any network
- LED to indicate activity on each port and energy-efficient technology for power savings
- Auto-negotiation for automatic connection at the highest common speed between switch and an end device
- Rigorously tested for reliability, built to last
- Non-blocking switching architecture for maximum throughput at wire speed
- Auto-MDI/MDIX eliminates the need for crossover cables
Description
The NETGEAR GS208 8-Port Gigabit Switch is an ideal switch for your home network. It automatically connects to your router or modem using any port. With its stylish case, quiet operation and plug-and-play setup, it is a perfect upgrade to any home network.
Nice, cheap switch that I'm using for two office printers (the full size ones like you see on TV when people make copies of their butts), and it is working great. Replaced an old 100M switch with this 1,000M switch and now speed is 1,000M end to end in the network. Note: The plastic is a bit flimsy so if you are putting this in a place that could get stepped on or damaged get the metal case one that Netgear offers.
Very Nice 5-port unmanaged switch. Only knock, the top is slightly curved, so can't really set
anything on top of it, and have it be stable.
The best thing is, all the connections are around back, including the power cord.
Not sure why a lot of switches have the power on the side. That doesn't work
well for keeping all the wires neat looking in my opinion.
I'm using with a Google WiFi, to expand the Lan outputs from 1 to 4. Works great!
Split off a whole new branch of our home network to cover a whole bunch of game consoles and another PC.
Very affordable and just plug-and-play easy to set up. (Remember this is an unmanaged switch. You still need the router to handle addressing and DHCP.)
The only complain is that it came with a power brick which may be cumbersome for some.
Other than that, it's exactly what we needed to both expand and simplify our home network.
Now there's less of a mess of cables coming out of the router itself with this switch being nice and close to where it's needed.
Had two old 15 year old switches in my network, one wired to my office and the other to the TV and DVD player. I would check my download speeds from Comcast and would always be 90Mbps, should be 150Mbps or better. Then I remembered the two old LinkSys switches, changed them out for the Netgear GS-205 switches and Wow! now have 302/12 Mbps download/upload speed. see screen shot attached. The switch is small and there is no special input port to worry about, best value 2 x 13 bucks I have spent for years.
The first one of these I bought worked for about 5 minutes then died. Amazon sent me a new one and I printed a prepaid return label for the defective one. The replacement has worked flawlessly, and I have since purchased one more. These are very small and seem to do the job well. All ports are auto sensing so no need to worry about crossover cables. I am only subtracting one star due to the first one failing almost immediately and that delayed a project I was working on for two days.
Nice Blog Post thanks for sharing it.
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