Advantages: Excellent quality. loads of features, easy to install Disadvantages: None
Netgear are well known for their networking equipment and it is for this reason I want to tell you about a great piece of kit. The 24portswitch.
24ports of networking capability.... But what does that all mean???
Ok, let me tell you about what a network is.
Even the internet is just one big network. it is simply just a collection of computers that are connected together and can communicate. Simple!
But, how do you connect them together? Its not like they shake hands and have a chat is it?
Well in a way, that is what they are doing but using some extra hardware to do this.
To put a computer on a network, it needs a Network interface card or NIC. This plugs into your computer's motherboard. Its basically similar to installing a graphics card or sound card. You then need to connect the computer via the NIC card to ...
Advantages: Easy to use, easy to install Disadvantages: closeness of the ports.
Netgear are well known for their networking equipment and it is for this reason I want to tell you about a great piece of kit. The 24portswitch.
24ports of networking capability.... But what does that all mean???
Ok, let me tell you about what a network is.
Even the internet is just one big network. it is simply just a collection of computers that are connected together and can communicate. Simple!
But, how do you connect them together? Its not like they shake hands and have a chat is it?
Well in a way, that is what they are doing but using some extra hardware to do this.
To put a computer on a network, it needs a Network interface card or NIC. This plugs into your computer's motherboard. Its basically similar to installing a graphics card or sound card. You then need to connect the computer via the NIC card to ...
Advantages: Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution Disadvantages: No manual overide or audio support
stops autoscanning and lets you use the currently selected PC.
The Belkin claims support for scrolling mice but I did find sometimes one PC would start up without recognising this facility if it wasn't the currently selected one when booting up and in extreme cases, wouldn't recognise the keyboard and mouse at all. Previous KVM's I've used send the PC fake 'There's a keyboard and mouse here' messages when not selected and it seems this unit does not, which is a pity.
Conclusion
The Belkin 2 port KVM is a well built unit that works nicely and provides a great way to save desk space and the cost of a second monitor, keyboard and mouse. The long leads are useful and despite the niggles with scrolling mice and the lack of manual switch. I'd say this unit is worth considering at this price if you can live with those shortcomings ...
Product Information for "Hawking HGMS224 - switch - 24 ports" »
Manufacturer's product description
Hawking Technologies' HGMS224 24-Port 10/100 Layer 2 Managed Switch (Intelligent) + 2-Port Gigabit Module Slot is a high performance, web-managed SNMP (simple network management protocol) Layer 2 switch that provides users with (24) 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports and the option of two additional 1000Mbps gigabit ports. The switch features SNMP management and remote control capabilities such as "Web Cluster". The gigabit module (available in copper media or fiber media) supports the 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX or 1000BASE-T standards, thus allowing you to increase your network response times to gigabit speeds, as well as improve flexibility. All ports are capable of non-blocking and maximum wire speed performance. The HGMS224 supports auto-negotiation and auto-MDIX technology on all 24 switched RJ-45 ports and both gigabit copper ports in both half and full duplex modes. The switch provides a convenient way to control Layer 2 management via a web browser. The user-friendly drop-down menu allows you to easily learn, control and monitor the switch. It supports not only the traditional SNMP function, but also RMON (remote monitoring) 1, 2, 3, 9 groups for advanced network analysis. Web Cluster can also be used to manage the switch easily and efficiently. The HGMS224 supports both port-based and tag-based VLANs. To increase bandwidth, the switch also supports a port-trunking feature that allows the user to form up to seven groups of up to four ports each. In addition, these trunked ports utilize the fail-over function to provide back up if one or more ports malfunction.
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