Speed up your home network, with this fully
featured switch
Gigabit Ethernet home networks were once
the stuff of legend. Reserved for industry and those who could afford such
things, the gigabit network was as far from the home as any piece of technology
could possibly be.
These days, however, things have changed.
The cost of a home five- or eight-port gigabit switch has dropped dramatically
over the years to the point where for a mere $51, we can now enjoy a theoretical
speed increase of ten times the standard 100Mbps. Be aware though, as not all
switches are created equally.
Zyxel
GS-108b 8-Port Gigabit Switch
This, the Zyxel GS-108B 8-Port Gigabit
Switch stands out from the crowd somewhat. It's an unmanaged switch, with auto
MDI/MDIX on all ports, half and full duplex, Quality of Service priority and a
16Gbps non-blocking switched fabric, but with some top-notch features included.
The first of these features is a Store and
Forward architecture, whereby the switch will temporarily store the data packet
until the entire frame is received into the buffer. The advantage of this is an
improvement of the data integrity across all the ports, with fewer errors and
better connectivity with poor connectivity. However, the disadvantage of this
method in the past was a slight delay in the transmission, but with the
transmission technology we have these days, you wouldn't notice any drop in
data. Video streaming and LAN gaming are two such scenarios that would greatly
benefit from this, and along with the improved QoS the GS-108B offers, there's
an ideal incentive for using this switch between the media PC and the network
attached storage medium.
Another impressive feature included with
this switch is the ability for it to auto-detect the length of cable attached
to any of the ports, and alter the amount of power it uses accordingly.
Basically, the shorter the cable, the less power it requires to make a
connection and transmit data. The switch will sense the length and adjust the
power consumption for that port. That's not all, though. As well as detecting
cable length, the switch will also reduce the power to any port when it detects
the shutdown or inactivity of the device on the other end, so you'll only be
paying for the power used on active connections. Clever that.
There
are two vents either side, which could do with being free, but in our tests the
switch didn't get very hot during its operation.
Green features and transmission
technologies aside, the GS-108B is a small, sturdy, brushed-aluminium-effect,
metal switch that wouldn't look too out of place next to the home broadband
router. The rear ports are easily accessible, and don't have the nasty habit of
snagging the end of the Ethernet cable, or removing valued fingernails on sharp
metal edges when trying to prise them out. There are two vents either side,
which could do with being free, but in our tests the switch didn't get very hot
during its operation. It's still a good idea, though, to provide plenty of access
for fresh air.
In our tests we connected a number of
devices: two PCs, a laptop, a PS3, Xbox 360, router, network printer and NAS
unit. We copied some large files across the PCs totaling around 10GB, updated
the PS3 and Xbox via the internet, and streamed a HD film to the laptop via the
NAS unit. The switch performed admirably, transferring the 10GB at around
65MB/s, with a drop to 58MB/s when the PS3 and Xbox kicked in. The streaming HD
movie played perfectly fine from the NAS unit, without any loss of quality or
stuttering.
In conclusion, an excellent gigabit switch
with some great features that you would normally see on a more expensive model.
A steal for $51. mm David Hayward
“An affordable gigabit switch with expensive
features. An absolute bargain”
Features
·
Easily connect multiple media devices to home
networks at fast gigabit speed simultaneously.
·
Newly designed QoS ports of GS-108S allow smooth
video streaming and online gaming.
·
Stylish modern look and streamlined design.
·
Designed for reliable high-performance media
networks.
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Details
·
Price: $51
·
Manufacturer: Zyxel
·
Required spec: Devices with a 10/100/1000
network port.
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