NETGEAR 48-Port Gigabit Ethernet Smart Switch (GS748T) - Managed, with 2 x 1G SFP and 2 x 1G Combo, Desktop or Rackmount, and Limited Lifetime Protection

Product Information

Support the IPv4 and IPv6 multicast functions Support the IPv4 and IPv6 multicast functions Support the IPv4 and IPv6 multicast functions

When it comes to 8-port network switches for the home or small office network, it’s hard to beat the TP-Link TL-SG108. It’s compact, has a fanless metal enclosure, plus dimmer-and-less-distracting LEDs than some of its competitors (Don’t worry; there are still two per port, each informative based on color and/or blinking pattern). The TL-SG108 also features traffic-prioritizing QoS, full duplex flow control, auto-negotiating ports for choosing transfer speed up to a gigabit, and simple, plug-and-play setup. This best network switch performed at rough parity with other 8-port switches we tested and ran cool. Support IGMP snooping, IGMP, MLD, PIM, MSDP Support IGMP snooping, IGMP, MLD, PIM, MSDP Support IGMP snooping, IGMP, MLD, PIM, MSDP

Documentation

A network switch is a device that enables other devices to communicate, via network cables, and to transfer data between one another. Shop the NETGEAR switches range, which includes Fully Managed, Unmanaged Switches, Plus Switches, Smart Switches, and more.

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. Convenient built-in wire speed 10/25/40/50/100 GbE uplinks, high-density with SFP+ and QSFP, and choice of HPE Smart Rate multi-gig with 90W PoE on every port. Scalable growth made simple Along with its 8-port sibling - the TL-SG108-M2 - the TL-SG105-M2 is low-profile, easy to set up, and features a fanless design and metal enclosure that will keep it as quiet as it is fast. And because it’s a 2.5 GbE switch, you might not need to buy new cabling; as long as you’re already using Cat 5e cabling in your network, you’re good to take advantage of the 802.3bz network protocol, which promises 2.5 GbE or 5 GbE connections over 100 meters of cable. In testing, this bore out, with super fast file transfers that didn’t even blink when we loaded the network down with as much traffic as we could muster. The switch ran a little warm though, topping out at about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. High-performance up to 1760 Gbps switching capacity, up to 1310 Mpps of throughput, and redundant, hot swappable power supplies and fans. Speed and power for users and IoTConversely, a good wired connection can cut out these and other shortcomings of an over-the-air signal, while providing faster speeds and a reliable, stable connection. But with most mainstream routers only offering just four Ethernet ports -- or sometimes fewer -- the best network switches step in to fill the gap, giving you more ports to plug your wired devices into. Not only that, they can also spread out some of the load on your network, freeing your router up to carry out its primary mission of getting internet service to all the wireless devices on your network that need it. 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. 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.

RJ-45 autosensing 10/100/1000 ports (IEEE 802.3 Type 10BASE-T, IEEE 802.3u Type 100BASE-TX, IEEE 802.3ab Type 1000BASE-T); Duplex: 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX: half or full; 1000BASE-T: full only 4 SFP+ 1/10GbE ports; PHY-less Power Needs: Most won't need it, but certain devices can get power over Ethernet if your switch supports it. Support IEEE802.3 standard protocols, enabling good interoperability with other brands of equipment at the forwarding level Support IEEE802.3 standard protocols, enabling good interoperability with other brands of equipment at the forwarding level Support IEEE802.3 standard protocols, enabling good interoperability with other brands of equipment at the forwarding level

Support 802.1p, IP ToS, traffic filtering, SP, WRR Support 802.1p, IP ToS, traffic filtering, SP, WRR Support 802.1p, IP ToS, traffic filtering, SP, WRR The one notable omission from this network switch is loop detection, which prevents your network being slowed to a crawl or disabled entirely by looped network traffic. This can be a very important troubleshooting tool in a complicated network, with visual indicators on a switch that tell you which Ethernet ports to investigate for issues. 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.