TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch, Desktop/Wall-Mount, Steel Case(TL-SG108)

Product Information

This switch supplants our previous choice for best 5-port switch, the QNAP QSW 1105-5T, for a few reasons. First, the TP-Link just has a bigger pipe for data, pushing a consistent 2.34 Gbps where the QNAP, in our testing, only barely got over 2 Gbps in real world use. It also has a slightly more space-friendly form factor. And perhaps most importantly, where the QNAP’s warranty ends at 2 years, the TP-Link TL-SG105-M2 falls in the company’s business class of switches, giving it a generous limited lifetime warranty. Lastly, the TL-SG105-M2 sports QoS - a feature typical of most unmanaged switches that is conspicuously absent on the QSW 1105-5T. You now have the choice to go green when upgrading to a gigabit network! This new generation TL-SG1008D 8-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch features the latest innovative energy-efficient technologies that can greatly expand your network capacity with much less power. It automatically adjusts power consumption according to the link status and cable length to limit the carbon footprint of your network. A 30W PoE power budget supplies up to four PoE devices. 8 10/100Mbps fast ethernet ports produce a 1.6Gbps switching capacity to support edge network installation. With a compact and lightweight housing design, this switch is well-suited for desktop installations. Its fan-less design is perfect for quiet environments that require a silent operation. The second question will be whether or not you want Power over Ethernet (PoE) or not. This depends on what sort of devices you are going to connect and how much PoE budget they will need. You can get switches that have PoE on all ports and others that only have it on a set number of connections. But usually, it’s a straight choice – with or without PoE. You’ll always pay a little more for a switch with PoE. Easily integrate into your existing Ethernet network – no matter if it is running at 10/100Mbps or Gigabit speed

Most switches for business use will have 16, 24, or 48 ports and are designed for deployment within the network fabric. They come with a variety of features and capabilities and these factors will also influence your choice. Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.Buy Switch 8. Zyxel GS1100-10HP 8-Port Unmanaged PoE Switch 8 Port Unmanaged Fast Ethernet PoE Switch On many switches, every port runs at the same speed. But there are a growing number of devices that offer multiple speeds on different ports. If you are only connecting a small set of devices, you will only need one speed – and it’s quite commonplace now to get 1 Gigabit speeds (1000 Mbps) even on small switches. Build and expand your network with Ubiquiti Networks UniFi Switch, part of the UniFi line of products. The fan-less UniFi Switch delivers quiet yet powerful performance. Sharing a total of 150W PoE, eight Gigabit Ethernet ports offer 802.3af/at PoE+ or 24V passive PoE and two SFP ports offer optical connectivity. Managed or Unmanaged: If you just need to get wired internet access to a few devices, then you’ll want an unmanaged network switch, which we recommend for most users. This doesn’t mean the switch has no features -- unmanaged switches can often do plenty of fancy things, from traffic prioritizing QoS to loop detection.

The switch did well in testing, putting up numbers slightly better than the QNAP on its 2.5 Gb ports, while its gigabit ports performed very well. Under heavy traffic, we saw no performance loss, which is to be expected given its total bandwidth of 66 Gbps. The ZyXel was the second-hottest of the switches tested, peaking at 100 degrees Fahrenheit under load - which is definitely going to be warm to the touch, but not concerningly so. Just make sure the box has a bit of ventilation.

8 Port Ethernet Switches videos

Here's the problem; Wi-Fi is still a lot slower than wired internet. And because every new product is "smart," most people own too many wireless devices---their home Wi-Fi network is congested by dozens of competing signals, which makes the Wi-Fi slower and less reliable. Buy Switch 4. Netgear GS308EP-100UKS 8-Port PoE+ Gigabit Ethernet Plus Managed Switch With 8 PoE Ports And for those of you who are not too sure what exactly a switch is, but you’ve been set the mission anyway, be prepared to get enlightened. Buy Switch 3. Zyxel GS1900-8HP 8-Port GbE Smart Managed PoE Switch 8-Port GbE Smart Managed PoE Switch The average internet user relies almost entirely on Wi-Fi. All of their devices, including computers and TVs, access the internet wirelessly. And this arrangement is usually just fine. Wireless connectivity is faster and more reliable than ever before.

Remember that connected devices will consume more power when active than inactive. If all your connected devices are going to be active at the same time you might need the switch to have quite a high PoE budget i.e. up to 30W per port. On some switches, you might have only 15W per port maximum. Also, the way that the power is distributed might be significant. Many switches will have a fixed maximum Wattage per port; on others, the power can be dynamically allocated, so different PoE ports can use more power if it’s needed by the connected device. High-end devices, like the ones described above, support a range of advanced features designed to be controlled by a professional administrator. Some of these popular features are SNMP monitoring, link aggregation and QoS support. But what if you want more than four Ethernet ports? If that's the case, you need to use a network switch---a small box that adds Ethernet ports to your router. It's basically the networking equivalent of a power strip.

8 Port Ethernet Switches Features

Whether we're working from home, shopping online, gaming or watching YouTube, most of us spend much of our time online when we're at home - so a fast and reliable signal is crucial. Eliminate those dead zones and enjoy high-performance Wi-Fi throughout with one of our Wi-Fi boosters. How about BT Wi-Fi extender for whole home Wi-Fi, regardless of which room you're in? When you grow frustrated with Wi-Fi, a wired internet connection is usually your best bet. But you may need more Ethernet ports than your router can offer. That's where a network switch comes in handy. It's an extremely simple and affordable device, and it's one of the best upgrades for a busy home network. A Network Switch Adds Ethernet Ports to Your Router If you want more Ethernet connections than your router can provide, then you need to buy a network switch. There are several reasons why you may want additional Ethernet ports---maybe you own several devices that will benefit from a wired internet connection, or maybe you want to host an old-fashioned LAN party. In any case, an inexpensive network switch will do the job. Of course, you needn’t have a connection that fast to get use out of one of the recent 2.5 GbE network switches. File transfers, home media servers, and high-capacity, high-bandwidth NAS setups can all stand to benefit from a high-bandwidth switch, and as they come out, we’ll try to put our hands to the latest and greatest to let you know how they fare. That brings us, today, to the TP-Link TL-SG105-M2: a super fast unmanaged 5-port, 2.5 GbE switch that, while bigger than your average 5-port gigabit switches, should still fit into just about anyone’s setup - and budget, for that matter. The electrical power is transmitted along with data in one single cable allowing you to expand your network where there are no power lines or outlets, where you wish to fix devices such as APs, IP cameras or IP Phones, etc.

In most homes, there are just two or three devices that can truly benefit from a wired internet connection. You probably want a very good connection for your PC and game console, for example, but lightning-fast internet is rarely necessary on a smart TV. Routers typically have three or four Ethernet ports, so your router can almost certainly accommodate this simple setup.When a computer or network equipment is off, the corresponding port of a traditional switch will continue to consume considerable amounts of power. The TL-SG1008D can automatically detect the link status of each port and reduce the power consumption of ports that are idle, resulting in up to an 80% reduction in power use.