GS108

The GS108Ev3 is a Gigabit Web Managed Switch capable of connecting up to 8 devices together on your Home/Small Business Network. Upon the unboxing of the switch you are presented with the switch itself, a power adapter, a setup manual and a CD containing:ProSAFE Plus Configuration UtilityGS108Ev3 installation guideCustomer support informationQualityOverall the NETGEAR GS108Ev3 feels solid. I have seen various 8-24 port switches and this is one of the most robust I have seen. Compared to my TP-LINK TL-SG1008D which was bought for around the same price the switch feels to have been built to a higher standard.Although most peoples switches will sit in a cabinet or somewhere deep in there attic this is a nice touch.UsabilityThe NETGEAR GS108Ev3 contains the standard link lights which let you know if there is activity on the network. The best thing with this switch is the fact that it is web managed.What does managed mean?A managed switch allows you to have better control over your network and all the traffic moving through it, E.g If you have a smart TV which is only used for Netflix and other streaming services you can limit this to say 5mbps, this stops limits all bandwidth to this. This would be beneficial if you regularly game and don’t like ping spikes!Quality of Service (QoS)Quality of Service (QoS) allows you to allocate bandwidth to different portsE.g. If you have a smart TV which is only used for Netflix and other streaming services you can limit this to say 4mbps, this limits all bandwidth to 4mbps. This would be beneficial if you regularly games and don’t like ping spikes!By selecting QoS in NETGEARS ProSAFE Config Utility you can select different priorities in which to limit rate though these do not allocate a speed.The best way to allocate which speeds you need is to use the Rate Limit tab on the software under QoS this ensures you can limit each port to your liking.VLANVLANs allows you to split the switch into different LANs, e.g. ports 1-4 could be VLAN 01 and 5-7 could be VLAN 01 with your internet connection provided to all on the switch. PC’s with access to VLAN 01 would not be able to access VLAN 02 and vice versa. This wouldn’t normally be needed in a home network.The software also provides the utility to view data transferred received, perform firmware updates, reboot the device, factory reset and cable fault testing which is very interesting.Ping TimesMoving from my TP-Link 1200 Mbps powerline adapters I have noticed my ping drop from 45-50ms on League of Legends to 32-34ms39-45ms on Battlefield 1 to 25-30msMy connections is 33mb down 6mb up on a fibre to the cabinet line.ConclusionI have had the switch for about 3 months now and it has performed very well,No issues have risen and the switch hasn’t needed to be rebooted once.

This is the second 8 port Netgear Gigabit switch I have installed around my house. I find these to be really reliable, install and forget.Mind you the first one delivered was DOA, but Amazon are excellent and once notified on-line a new one was delivered the next day. Cant fault service like that.Anyway the product - this is a quality home switch, offering low power and solid construction. You can install a utility on your PC and manage these switches at a basic level, such as naming them and setting up VLAN's etc. A quality product for the money. This particular one is installed in my TV cabinet where it acts as a hub for all my various AV products and TV to get Internet service. As i have a 4k UHD TV we stream a lot of Netflix and Amazon prime shows at UHD levels and this requires a good and consistent Internet feed. This switch allows this easily to happen with no lag.The original 8 Port Gigabit switch I have (earlier model) has been working away in my study for the last 3 years without a break and is a example of how reliable these switches are. In my AV cabinet this new switch replaced an older 100Mbps Netgear switch which had been working for even longer and which has now been redeployed elsewhere in the house..

This is a great value product that works out of the box, allowing it to be auto not manual means the connections either the TV or the xbox connected to it, get what they need and the wired connection means less traffic on my router and more stable, fast connection to the 1gb broadband, again not limited by the router. Been fab after a month or so of use. Very happy. Delivered without any issue

There are a few fun and games with this model switch. The first version that Netgear released required a Windows utility to manage it - not very helpful if you don't have the right version of Windows, or want to manage it over a routed network. Unfortunately this older version is on sale in various places as being "Linux compatible" and so on, but not if you want to manage it.A few people have asked if the one on Amazon is V2 or not. V2 has the web management people need. I took a chance and ordered a couple of these (5-port and 8-port), and was annoyed to discover they weren't V2, and the minimal instructions tell you to install the utility, and it "only works with Windows". It came in the old non-web packaging too. Just before sending them back in disgust, I noticed some references to it being V3, and indeed there is a web interface if you can find it! You'll have to tell your DHCP server to give it a known IP address based on its MAC, or hunt around using nmap. It's also on port 80 unencrypted. But its there!So what's it like as a managed switch? Apart from the useless documentation, it's okay. It offers some VLAN options, data flow monitoring and speed configuration/disabling of ports. There's also port mirroring, and surprisingly, cable diagnostics to detect breaks positions in cables. On a cheap switch like this? Wow!Unfortunately it lacks one of the most useful features of a managed switch - MAC control. Not only is the layer 2 routing completely automatic, you can't even SEE the table. One of the really useful features of a managed switch is looking at the port to see the MAC address of whatever's connected (so you can see what the lusers have been doing plugging and unplugging kit). Some ProSAFE switches allow a login on SSH, where more information is available. This doesn't - not even telnet.So, if you need any visibility or control over the MAC addresses, this isn't for you. Otherwise it's very good for the price.

Always good and reliable