TP-Link TL-SG108E 8-Port Gigabit Easy Smart Switch

Product Quality:Very goodPerformance:Very goodBest Feature:Compact & fanlessTemporarily installed it and I was able to improve the performance of my security system with the use of the VLAN feature. Other Wifi users are no longer complaining of excessive lags in their games and other applications.Will install it in its proper place later. Am impressed of its performance. Thanks seller and Shopee.

Best Feature:The best feature of the TP-Link TL-SG108E switch is its combination of Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and Easy Smart management features.Product Quality:The TL-SG108E typically comes with a metal casing, which adds to its durability and heat dissipation. The use of metal casing is often preferred over plastic for better longevity.Performance:In terms of performance, the switch provides Gigabit Ethernet speeds, making it suitable for high-bandwidth applications. The switch's performance is often stable under normal operating conditions.

I got the TP-Link 8port Gigabit Easy Smart Managed switch for my home setup and this thing works ...

I got the TP-Link 8port Gigabit Easy Smart Managed switch for my home setup and this thing works very well. Using it in a 802.1q VLAN environment with pfSense firewall and it was easy to configure, even for someone like me with only moderate experience with networking and vlans. The switch is handling gigabit traffic on the LAN just fine, and has no issues working with the pfSense box it is connected to. Device has some interesting features like port based vlans and a cable testing feature. It does not have inter-vlan traffic handling capabilities, but that is fine as this was not advertised as a layer 3 switch. Web interface and optional software management tool work great, but be advised that there is a bit of a different layout to the vlan management pages ... MoreI got the TP-Link 8port Gigabit Easy Smart Managed switch for my home setup and this thing works very well. Using it in a 802.1q VLAN environment with pfSense firewall and it was easy to configure, even for someone like me with only moderate experience with networking and vlans. The switch is handling gigabit traffic on the LAN just fine, and has no issues working with the pfSense box it is connected to. Device has some interesting features like port based vlans and a cable testing feature. It does not have inter-vlan traffic handling capabilities, but that is fine as this was not advertised as a layer 3 switch. Web interface and optional software management tool work great, but be advised that there is a bit of a different layout to the vlan management pages between to the two access options. For the price and for the use-case (home/small office use) this device is fantastic. It is not an enterprise level device, so don't expect that level of security and functionality, but it met my needs perfectly for creating a segmented and secure home network.

Managed switch for price of a dumb switch.

So what can you do with one of these things besides just plugging it in and using it like just another dumb switch? Well, at this price, if you have to replace a dumb switch get one of these smart switches instead. You can: -Use the monitoring functions built into the switch to figure out where and why your network might not be performing well because you can measure which network routes are congested. Will all the new streaming applications and NAS units it can help you decide which part of your network might need gigabit upgrades, whether you need to implement QoS controls, and where an extra LAG - ed line backbone between switches might help (next thing). -Make a higher speed backbone to your network with Link Aggregation Groups (LAG). The concept here is several ... MoreSo what can you do with one of these things besides just plugging it in and using it like just another dumb switch? Well, at this price, if you have to replace a dumb switch get one of these smart switches instead. You can: -Use the monitoring functions built into the switch to figure out where and why your network might not be performing well because you can measure which network routes are congested. Will all the new streaming applications and NAS units it can help you decide which part of your network might need gigabit upgrades, whether you need to implement QoS controls, and where an extra LAG - ed line backbone between switches might help (next thing). -Make a higher speed backbone to your network with Link Aggregation Groups (LAG). The concept here is several wires/ports between LAG enabled switches can be logically connected into one high-throughput pathway. -You can do port-mirroring to snoop on a port’s traffic (with WireShark) to find out network problems and look for things like rouge applications calling home in an unauthorized way. -Network Segmentation. Smart switches let you define VLANs so you can separate your LAN into separate segments with different bandwidth, security, and QoS requirements. -QoS. You can specify different priorities to different types of traffic. For instance VoIP doesn’t use a lot of bandwidth but it requires priority and needs some bandwidth reserved for it. -Protect yourself from having your network go down if someone misconnects something and creates a loopback or broadcast storm situation. All of this makes your network a lot more efficient. Once you get all this stuff down it is time to read about how IGMP Snooping and multicast works - which is supported by this switch and works automatically to reduce network traffic.

Review of TP-LINK TL-SG108E Network Switch - 8 port

A good solid piece of kit that does its job perfectly well. It can either be placed free standing or mounted on a wall of other surface. It's plug and play so no real set up other than plugging the cables in. My only critisism would be the power cable socket would be more convenient if on the same side of the unit as the ethernet cable ports.Was very easy to order online to click and collect.

Solid Performance Marred By Miscues

There are two versions of this switch available. Version 1 and 2. The information and marketing materials on the TP-Link site are for the new version 2 switch. If you quickly look at the model number here on Newegg and then briefly research that model on the TP-Link site and then place an order on Newegg, the item you receive will be not as advertised. The default IP for the switch is 192.168.0.1, which is the default address for many, many routers -- mine included. Simply adding this device as is to your network could/should cause problems. Placing the network ports on one side of the switch and the power input on the other does not make for a "Desktop" switch. A true desktop switch places the network ports and power input on the "back" of the switch, and the ... MoreThere are two versions of this switch available. Version 1 and 2. The information and marketing materials on the TP-Link site are for the new version 2 switch. If you quickly look at the model number here on Newegg and then briefly research that model on the TP-Link site and then place an order on Newegg, the item you receive will be not as advertised. The default IP for the switch is 192.168.0.1, which is the default address for many, many routers -- mine included. Simply adding this device as is to your network could/should cause problems. Placing the network ports on one side of the switch and the power input on the other does not make for a "Desktop" switch. A true desktop switch places the network ports and power input on the "back" of the switch, and the pretty lights on the front. With this switch and others like it, you must choose to either view the plain side with the power cord facing you, or the side with all the network cables and LED lights facing you, and then try and manage all those cords coming out onto your desk. Naturally, there are multiple mounting options for this switch, but then its no longer a desktop switch -- as it is advertised. Others have noted that this version 1 of the switch can only be managed by a Java-based Windows program. Being a Windows user, that did not bother me, but the Java part did. I did not want to have to download and install the terrible Java suite just to administer this. I was pleased to find that the Java-based Windows application is self-contained. So while it is still Java-based and Windows-only, a full-blown Java installation is not required. On a gigabit network, pinging any device on that network should have a round trip time of less that 1ms. (time<1ms) Strangely, pinging this switch results in a consistent ping time of 3ms, which is much slower than it should be. I was a bit worried when I noticed this, as I figured everything on the network would now be running slower than before. However, pinging anything else on the network connected to this switch results in the standard less than 1ms time. So pinging through this switch is unaffected, but pinging the switch itself results in a slow reply. What is the switch doing to slow down that ping?

Speedy Switch with Network Pro's in mind.

I work from home when I am not traveling to customer sites so a robust network is extremely important, especially when I want to separate my business network from my family and guest networks. Switches are extremely important pieces of networking kit and there are many types, the simplest of which is an unmanaged, plug and play switch that is aimed at general use. At the other end of the spectrum are fully managed network switches that can usually be found in data centers, these are secure, highly configurable and very expensive. This switch is a hybrid switch, aimed at small offices where there is a network pro to setup and configure. These hybrid switches have a subset of the features but at a significantly cheaper price. The switch needs to be configured ... MoreI work from home when I am not traveling to customer sites so a robust network is extremely important, especially when I want to separate my business network from my family and guest networks. Switches are extremely important pieces of networking kit and there are many types, the simplest of which is an unmanaged, plug and play switch that is aimed at general use. At the other end of the spectrum are fully managed network switches that can usually be found in data centers, these are secure, highly configurable and very expensive. This switch is a hybrid switch, aimed at small offices where there is a network pro to setup and configure. These hybrid switches have a subset of the features but at a significantly cheaper price. The switch needs to be configured initially and it was disappointing to find that it was not set with DHCP but with a static IP address. This meant that I needed to reconfigure a laptop or desktop with the same subnet address in order to gain access to it, in this case 192.168.0.*, instead of allowing my router to assign it a network address automatically. Once this was done the already installed software allowed me to gain access to the switch and set security, QoS and network address easily. I would have preferred a web based configuration instead of needing to install a software application, but as it works well enough no eggs off. As far as performance was concerned I like to test new network equipment as it is installed and used in my office by connecting two pc’s that have gigabit Intel NIC’s and connecting them to the switch with Cat 5e cables. I use Totusofts Lan Speed software to send packages from one PC to the other and measure the average read and write speeds through the switch. This switch performed well enough with an average write speed of 689.2mbps and an average read time of 742.8mbps. It was a little slower than my current router of choice, the Asus RT-AC66U, but the difference was negligible. This smart switch is currently selling at a silly price, it comes with a 5 year warranty, is built like a tank, a software application that is well featured and simple to configure and is speedy to boot. This type of switch is better suited to a small office environment where there is a network pro to install, configure and look after the switch. Certainly it is not the plug and play switch that most general users will be looking for. Apart from that it is a great switch, I love mine. Much recommended.