Re: [PLUG] Recommendations for 24-port gigabit switch

[Larry Brigman]

We use the Dell PowerConnect series in our labs at work.  We beat them up
hard and
had a very low failure rate for the three years I have been there.


On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 5:02 PM, John Jason Jordan wrote:

> I have a Netgear GS116 16-port gigabit switch, although I really always
> wanted a 24-port. The Netgear died recently* and I needed a replacement
> toot sweet on a weekend, so I got an 8-port Dynex at Best Buy, just to
> get me running again. However, once every couple of weeks I discover
> that a printer is not connected and I have to go shuffle cables because
> 8 ports is not enough. So now I am shopping for a 24-port gigabit switch
> that will not die a few months after the warranty is up.
>
> *It is up for grabs if someone wants to spend the time to fix it.
>
> So what is a good brand for reliability? Any particular models that
> people like?
>
We use the Dell PowerConnect series in our labs at work.  We beat them up
hard and
had a very low failure rate for the three years I have been there.

Nice thing about these is that the defaults on these work for our
environment without
changes.  We just have to add some ACL's to drop certain types of traffic.
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Re: [PLUG] Recommendations for 24-port gigabit switch

[Rick]

I've had good luck, at work and home with SMC switches (I think they are now
owned by LG-Ericsson)... they are reasonably affordable (for what you get...
but are probably more expensive than D-Link/Linksys/Netgear/etc.), fairly
sturdily built (if you buy the metal-cased ones), and have been reliable for
me (many SMC's come with a lifetime warranty). They might be a little harder
to find (especially locally), but are available online at many places (CDW,
to name just one place - not necessarily the best).

>From the sounds of it, the SMCGS24 is the one you
want:
goo.gl/mf0LA - Item on SMC's website
goo.gl/EVntD - Item for sale at CDW's website ($220)

They, of course, have higher-end models with more features (PoE, VLANs, QoS,
etc.) - but those sound like they'd be overkill for you. I THINK this is one
of the SMC switches that has a lifetime warranty (it does according to CDW's
website).

As a VERY rough indicator (regardless of brand), I usually look for a switch
that has an internal power supply (no wall-wart/external power supply) - it
just uses a standard computer power cable... this TENDS to imply a certain
level of quality (again, YMMV). I would classify these devices as being near
Aaron's "Enterprise" equipment - but maybe a little more accessible that
most 3com/ProCurve type equipment that generally come with a lot more
features (at a much higher cost).

Anyhow... that's my $0.02... YMMV, FWIW, HTH, and all the other usual
acronyms.

-Rick

On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 11:12 AM, Aaron Burt  wrote:

> On Wed, Sep 07, 2011 at 05:02:49PM -0700, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> > I have a Netgear GS116 16-port gigabit switch, although I really always
> > wanted a 24-port. 
> > *It is up for grabs if someone wants to spend the time to fix it.
>
> I'd be happy to.  And then I'd give it back.  I already have an 8-port GB
> switch that I don't really use.
>
> > So what is a good brand for reliability? Any particular models that
> > people like?
>
> Roughly, there's:
> * Enterprise-grade kit (Cisco Catalyst series, HP Procurve series) that
>  gets used for billable services - runs for years at a time.
> * Second tier stuff (Linksys, Netgear, D-Link) that might be rebadged
>  no-name gear - if downtime matters, buy a spare.
> * No-name gear (Dynex, Lucky Double Pigeon Brand) - treat as a fire hazard.
>
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Re: [PLUG] Recommendations for 24-port gigabit switch

[Aaron Burt]

On Wed, Sep 07, 2011 at 05:02:49PM -0700, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> I have a Netgear GS116 16-port gigabit switch, although I really always
> wanted a 24-port.  
> *It is up for grabs if someone wants to spend the time to fix it.

I'd be happy to.  And then I'd give it back.  I already have an 8-port GB
switch that I don't really use.

> So what is a good brand for reliability? Any particular models that
> people like? 

Roughly, there's:
* Enterprise-grade kit (Cisco Catalyst series, HP Procurve series) that
  gets used for billable services - runs for years at a time.
* Second tier stuff (Linksys, Netgear, D-Link) that might be rebadged
  no-name gear - if downtime matters, buy a spare.
* No-name gear (Dynex, Lucky Double Pigeon Brand) - treat as a fire hazard.

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