D-Link - Green Ethernet 5-Port 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Switch

For $34.99 this deal can not be beat, since, often time gigabit switches are much more expensive. I bought this switch specifically to build a gigabit backbone to my network. I have a couple of file servers connected to it as well as some workstations. The difference in data transfer rates between this and our previous 100mbps switch is very noticeable. Just make sure that if you buy this switch or any other gigabit switch that you also purchase cat6 cables to go with it, otherwise you will not be able to utilize the full power of gigabit ethernet. The one other thing that is important to note about this switch is that it is 100% auto configuring. This means that when you plug it in it is ready to go. For some this may be a plus. However it also means that this requires an existing network infrastructure, such as a DHCP server and does not allows for any custom configuration. Other than that the switch is great, it has a small footprint and I have had 100% uptime with it.

About two years about I purchased 6 of these units. Over the past year I had two break on me and I had to send them into D-Link for replacements. D-Link's RMA department took a while to ship my replacement and had me pay for shipping to them. Besides the two 'duds" these units work very well; expecialy if running on a gigabit network.

I bought one of these about a year and a half ago and used it to expand my wired connections in my home 'computer room'. With two network printers and 3 computers as well as a connection to my den I needed more ports than my router had available. This solved the problem and gave me the ability to still use it in the future with my planned purchase of a gigabit router. I recently purchased a Squeezebox for my den and regularly needed a wired connection for my laptop when downloading from Rhapsody. So what was I to do? I got another one of these switches and it solved the issue elegantly without any problem. I now have my Squeezebox connected as well as another line and have room for two more lines should I need them.

What can you really say about an ethernet switch when it works?? I do like the traffic indicators across the front. The yellow for 100 and green for gigabit is handy so you know what speed everything is running. The flickering indicator for traffic so you know something is working. My switch is on one leg of the household intranet and facilitates running one cable from the router to the switch and then to the Blu-ray, the TV, and the receiver. I guess if I add a Playstation or Wii then the last port will be used. Movies stream flawlessly from the web and a Mac system. In my case all of the intranet network equipment is D-Link. Never had a hardware failure and very little recycle/reset is ever needed (usually after a power failure/fault).

I bought this so that I could connect my TivoHD, and my SlingBox to my cabled network. As a bonus, I was also able to connect my PS3 with ports to spare. This little guy worked as advertised and was definitely hassle free. Plus, it uses a smaller transformer as opposed to those big bulky ones so it didn't take up more than one outlet on my power strip (that depends on the type of power strip though). I am really happy with this unit and the price was perfect. The green thing, well, who knows but I guess it can't hurt.

On the negative side it says it can handle up to 5 connections, really it is 4, because you have to get the internet into it through one of the ports. And no where in the instructions does it say this, but it is just logical. Get past that part and it works great, no software to install or configure. It has actually sped up my internet connection to my computer. I had it up and running in under 5 minutes from opening the package. What took the longest was getting the plug to the outlet, and figuring out how to run the cables so that they weren't in my way when I use my computer. I would definitely recommend this product.

This switch allowed me to upgrade a portion of my home network to plug-and-play GigE speeds. My PC can now serve up captured video to my PS3 in HD without any playback stutter. I would recommend this switch for anyone who needs the same capabilities.

I picked this switch up about 2 weeks ago when it was on sale on the website for $15. Man what a steal. It also swapped right in with my old 10/100 D-Link switch as they use the same power adapters. Id like to pick up a few more of these guys as I continue to wire my house with CAT6 cabling.