Advantages: Cheap, reliable, simple to use
Disadvantages: None.

...I liked this switch so much, I bought two of them. Netgear have a reputation for cheap and reliable networking equipment, and this 5 port unmanaged switch is no exception. When I bought my two, they were retailing online for approx £35 each - but these days you should be able to get one for approx £25 (inc VAT.) The switch is more or less the size of my hand (yes, I have big hands). With 5 ports on the back - all are auto-sensing, as is the gigabit standard, so you don't have to worry about crossover cables if you're daisy-chaining switches... The only other port on the back is for power, which is the usual "wall-wart" plug in transformer you get with most home networking equipment. Given the switch is unmanaged, you can just plug desktop computers, laptops, XBOXes, network printers straight into the switch, and not worry... Read review

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Advantages: Easy installation, small, sturdy, quiet, auto uplink
Disadvantages: Runs quite hot

...This is a 10/100/1000Mbps switch with 5 auto-sensing ports Visual Description A compact unit measuring 16cm x 10cm x 3cm (approx) Housed in a very sturdy blue metal casing with venting slots on the side and back Looks very professional 5 Front mounted UTP sockets Rear mounted PSU socket (12 Volt, 1.2 Amp, Centre Positive) and Earth tag LED indicators to display 10Mb, 100Mb, 1000Mb connection, Activity, Full Duplex, Collisions and Power Installation The GS105 switch comes supplied with manuals, 12 Volt (1.2Amp) PSU, ethernet cable, and the unit itself. Installation is very simple and requires no configuration as this is an un-managed switch. Simply connect your existing CAT5 cables from your PC to the switch, it will detect the connection speed and cable type. No need to worry about using cross-over cables or straight through... Read review

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Advantages: Simple, dual speed, small size
Disadvantages: Only 5 ports (?)

...Not much to say about this really. I bought this for a pound (!) on Ebay to connect to my router giving me 4 more ethernet ports to connect stuff to my network. That's all it does, gives you more connection; there's no firewall, DCHP, nothing, but then that's all in my router. Its 5 autosensing ports (Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45)automatically detect the speed of the attached device to maximize network performance - with a data transfer rate of up to 100 Mbps. It really was a "plug-and-play" installation with no configuration needed, it connected straight into my network - I didn't even ned to read the manual ! The auto-sensing feature means that you can plug the "in" cable into any socket - another 3Com switch I have has a specific "in" port. It's nice and small (Weight 0.6 kg, Height 4.2 cm, depth 13.5 cm, Width 22... Read review

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Advantages: So Easy installation, Simple and effective design
Disadvantages: None of which I know

...GENERAL OVERVIEW This 3COM OfficeConnect switch is considered my best. It has simple yet effective design and so easy to use and configure: just plug the cables and it is on. It is very useful for home networks and small business networks, as it can connect up to 5 computers with the 10/100 Mbits per second speed. FEATURES Five autosensing ports automatically detect the speed of the attached device to maximize network performance With plug-and-play installation and no configuration needed, the switch fits easily into your unmanaged network Full-duplex feature supports two-way data transfer, doubling the effective bandwidth of the network Compact, fanless design ensures quiet operation in small office spaces Connectors at rear help reduce cable clutter FCC Class B switch is approved for use in small office and home office... Read review

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Advantages: Performace at an excellent price
Disadvantages: 4 ports may not be enough

...to that one port only. To add to this, Switches can support "Full-Duplex" networking, which means sending and receiving data at the same time, effectively doubling your network speed under the right conditions. >>> So what? So, that's immensely more efficient, and particularly in a high-traffic environment (even online games played no a LAN qualify here) it can have a perceptible positive impact on performance. >>> What's the FS-105 then? This is how you get this wonderful technology into your home! This £69 beauty is half the cost of its competition, will auto-detect 10 and 100Mb/s connections and has 5 ports, one of which can be used as an uplink. Even a good hub will cost £50, and for the larger office, the FS-108 (8 port) version can be bought for only £88 (if you can find one in stock anywhere!)... Read review

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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... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution, audio support
Disadvantages: No manual overide

...It's surprising how many people have more than one PC at home although even more surprising is that many of them each have their own screen, keyboard and mouse. In many cases this makes perfect sense but sometimes, you know you'll only ever use one or the other - perhaps one is your general PC and the other your music workstation. In these situations you can save a lot of space and money by investing in a KVM switch. KVM stands for Keyboard, Video and Mouse and allows you to use one keyboard, mouse and screen shared between two PCs. This particular unit from Belkin is unusual in that it also includes audio support and also comes with all the leads permanently attached instead of being supplied as a separate cabling set. Wiring it Up Installation is simply a matter of taking each of the two main cables and plugging the sets... Read review

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Advantages: small compact size, metallic body, passive cooling=no noise
Disadvantages: gets a bit hot during summer

...Well there isn't much to say about this switch. I've bought 4 of these and they are all working fine. This is basically the big brother of the FS108 switch. The FS108 is 100mb Full duplex switch (full duplex meaning it can send and receive data at the same time), which theoretically gives 200mb throughput (send/receive combined). The GS108 is a 1000mb full duplex switch, which theoretically gives 2000mb throughput (send/receive combined). Under real wolrd conditions, you can copy a 650mb file with a 100mb switch in under 5-6 minutes. With a 1000mb (gig) switch , you should be able to do it in under 2 minutes (hardware permitting). On average, you will more than likely get over double the transfer rate than a 100mb switch, and obviously it's a hell of a lot faster than a 100mb hub. With copying the files am assuming you... Read review

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Advantages: small, metallic, dissipates heat quickly, auto mdi-x
Disadvantages: gets hot during summer

...Well, there isn't much to say about this switch... except that when i bought them, they were well over £200! (about 3 years ago) As for transfer rates, with a 100mb full duplex switch, you should be able to copy a 650mb file in under 5-6 minutes. Full duplex meaning it can send and receive data simultaneously, theoretically boosting the speed to 200mb. Of course this is all theoretical, and samba over ethernet is only 50-60% efficient. If you transfer a file with FTP you should be able to saturate the net connection easily and transfer files even quicker than over samba. Older models have a manual MDI-X (on one port only) thou recent models now have auto MDI-X on all ports, so you can use crossover or straight cables and it won't matter :) The older models ran at a high ampage (not that good) of around 3A, 5v. They now sensibly... Read review

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Advantages: Looks great, performs well, easily installed
Disadvantages: Gigabit networking is unavoidably expensive

...and your OS will use this to configure the IP Addressing, otherwise you may have to set up IP Addressing manually but it's no hard deal. Note however that with the GS605 you won't obtain gigabit speeds on the network unless each machine is equipped with a gigabit Ethernet card and is then plugged into the switch with a Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cable - Cat5 doesn't support gigabit speeds. All of the ports on the GS605 support Auto Uplink so you don't need to worry about what type of Ethernet cable to use, although to conform to standards I used straight-through cabling for all connections to computers. When connected Gigabit devices light up on the switch with a green status indicator and the 100M/10M devices light up with an amber status indicator. The switch operates completely silent and doesn't make that horrid high-pitched whining sound... Read review

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