As home networks get more complicated (and packed with more wireless devices) wired networking
starts to feel almost dated.
Who needs a wired connection from one of the best network switches when you can get Gigabit
speeds.
So, in today’s video I’ll be reviewing the top 5 Best Network Switches for Business.
I made this list based on my personal opinion and I tried to rank them based on their quality,
durability, customer reviews, and more.
If you want to know about the best pricing and more information, you can check the description
links below.
Number 5 in my list is TP-Link TL-SG116 16 Port Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch.
TP-Link is once again a best network switch choice here because of its affordability.
At $65 it’s not quite as much a deal as the TL-SG108, but finding a lower-cost 16-port
unmanaged switch with the kind of reliability, warranty, and proven performance offered by
TP-Link would be challenging and perhaps involve some good fortune.
With the TL-SG116, you’ll get the same benefits as the 8-port version: IGMP snooping, flow
control, QoS, etc.
It also has the same unobtrusive LEDs, metal housing, and fanless construction and limited
lifetime warranty.
Like its 8-port sibling, however, it lacks loop detection, which may be a bigger issue
when you’re the type of user looking for a 16-port switch.
The TL-SG116 performed as well as can be expected in testing, with a small drag in transfer
speed under load, but otherwise maintaining at least near-gigabit speeds while testing
with iperf and normal file transfers, streaming, and gaming.
Number 4 in my list is Zyxel XGS1010 Multi-Gig 12-Port Switch.
In between 8 and 16 port switches, you have some funky units like this ZyXel XGS1010-12.
It’s billed on the box as a desktop switch with 8 gigabit ports and four bonus ports
in the form of two 2.5 GbE and two 10 GbE SFT+ uplink ports.
The latter fiber Internet customers would recognize as the data port on a fiber ONT
(Optical Network Terminator think of it like a Fiber modem for customers without last mile
copper).
Physically, the XGS1010-12 has a solid metal enclosure, a fanless design, an external power
supply, with all the ports on one edge while the power supply connects in the back.
Each port has two LEDs for power and status, with colors to indicate the speed of connection
being provided.
It boasts QoS, Auto MDI and MDIX in all ports, and flow control.
The switch did well in testing, putting up numbers slightly better than the QNAP on its
2.5 Gb ports, while its gigabit ports performed very well.
Under heavy traffic, we saw no performance loss, which is to be expected given its total
bandwidth of 66 Gbps.
The ZyXel was the second-hottest of the switches tested, peaking at 100 degrees Fahrenheit
under load which is definitely going to be warm to the touch, but not concerningly so.
Just make sure the box has a bit of ventilation.
Though the ZyXel XGS1010-12 will run you $150 when bought at its MSRP, the addition of two
2.5 GbE ports and two 10 GbE SFP+ uplink ports makes this a very good deal relative to similar
switches, which typically go for hundreds of dollars and lack this much versatility.
If you have a high speed NAS (Network Attached Server) or need a superfast connection between
a couple of your computers, this switch lets you do that on the cheap, while still serving
as a great hub for your other devices.
Lastly, it is somewhat unclear what the warranty terms are for this switch (the included documentation
only refers the buyer to the website, where it’s not explicit under which warranty it
falls, Standard or Limited Lifetime).
But we contacted Zyxel and were able to confirm that while XGS1010-12 falls under the 2year
Standard Warranty, this particular switch is among those that have had their term extended
to 5 years.
That still isn’t amazing, but it’s better than what you’ll get from many cheap switches.
Number 3 in my list is Ubiquiti Unifi USW Flex Network Switch.
This is a complicated recommendation.
Recent news concerning a privacy breach at Ubiquiti notwithstanding, we believe the Unifi
USW Flex to be the best network switch for anyone looking to bring PoE to the edge of
their network.
This affordable, 5 port wonder can supply up to 15.4 watts of power to each of its four
output ports.
Note the use of “up to” here once you’ve got all ports occupied, the 46-watt power
budget will prevent 15.4 watts going to all four ports at once.
So if you are using up all of that power at every port, the fourth port gets reduced priority
and lower wattage.
The PoE features also only apply provided the Unifi USW Flex is powered itself by a
proper PoE injector.
If you’re uncertain which injector to buy, Ubiquiti sells a fairly inexpensive one.
Although it’s a managed switch, the Unifi USW Flex lacks certain key features like Spanning
Tree Protocol, which helps prevent switch loops, or the ability to use SSH for extensive
command-line-management although you can SSH in for some basic functionality like firmware
updates, it works well as an edge-of-network device to power things like IP cameras or
sensors that you may want to have minimal wiring going to.
Additionally, the USW Flex is built for outdoor use and comes with multiple mounting options
either magnetic or pole and wall mounts as well as a hood that can be affixed over the
Ethernet ports to help prevent moisture ingress when it rains.
As a quick aside, part of this switch’s outdoor friendly design is its recessed ports,
which can be hard to remove an RJ45 connector from, as there isn’t much room for your
fingers to squeeze the connector’s release clip.
In testing, we found that, when using the Flex without configuration, it worked about
as well as any other in this list.
Transfer speeds were solid, and faster than other gigabit switches tested under load.
It’s worth noting here, however, that the Ubiquiti does get quite hot, sitting easily
over 100 degrees Fahrenheit at idle and getting as warm as 118.7 degrees F with every port
in use and that’s in a cool room, with plenty of air movement.
It’s rated to operate in temperatures up to 149 degrees Fahrenheit (at 25Watt output
to 131 Fahrenheit at 46Watt), but it would still be a good idea to keep it in a shaded
area if using outside, as direct summer sun could shorten its lifespan or impact performance.
The USW Flex comes with other caveats, too.
The switch is managed via a browser based GUI (the same general-purpose interface that
is used for all other UniFi gear, which is nice if you have an all-UniFi network, but
irritating and confusing if you only have this switch.
And though it can function without ever touching its settings, there are some you’ll have
to change to access promised capability.
For instance, the switch does not default to the 802.3bt protocol that provides for
the full 46-watt power budget, so you must change the power source under settings to
PoE Injector.
You’ll want to be certain that the device powering it is outputting with the 802.3bt
protocol, or you will not be able to get all 46 watts.
The final note is applicable to managed switches in general: If setting up and using a virtual
LAN, you would do well to first ensure that your router supports VLANs -- Amazon’s eero,
for instance, currently does not.
In spite of all of this, the convenience of bringing both Gigabit Ethernet and 802.3af
PoE power from four ports to anywhere in or out of your home for a hundred bucks is quite
a weighty item in the “pro” column in our opinion.
Number 2 in my list is TP-Link TL-SG105-M2 5 Port Multi-Gigabit Switch.
After what seems like an eternity, network devices are finally beginning to embrace faster-than-gigabit
connections.
From routers to modems, computers to Network Attached Server, big data pipelines are starting
to enter the mainstream.
And that’s a good thing, particularly as we now use more data than ever before.
It’s even possible to get a 2 Gbps connection now if you live in one of the cities where
Google is now offering the service.
Of course, you needn’t have a connection that fast to get use out of one of the recent
2.5 GbE network switches.
File transfers, home media servers, and high-capacity, high-bandwidth Network Attached Server setups
can all stand to benefit from a high-bandwidth switch, and as they come out, we’ll try
to put our hands to the latest and greatest to let you know how they fare.
That brings us, today, to the TP-Link TL-SG105-M2: a super-fast unmanaged 5-port, 2.5 GbE switch
that, while bigger than your average 5-port gigabit switches, should still fit into just
about anyone’s setup - and budget, for that matter.
Along with its 8-port sibling - the TL-SG108-M2 - the TL-SG105-M2 is low-profile, easy to
set up, and features a fanless design and metal enclosure that will keep it as quiet
as it is fast.
And because it’s a 2.5 GbE switch, you might not need to buy new cabling; as long as you’re
already using Cat 5e cabling in your network, you’re good to take advantage of the 802.3bz
network protocol, which promises 2.5 GbE or 5 GbE connections over 100 meters of cable.
In testing, this bore out, with super-fast file transfers that didn’t even blink when
we loaded the network down with as much traffic as we could muster.
The switch ran a little warm though, topping out at about 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
This switch supplants our previous choice for best 5-port switch, the QNAP QSW 1105-5T,
for a few reasons.
First, the TP-Link just has a bigger pipe for data, pushing a consistent 2.34 Gbps where
the QNAP, in our testing, only barely got over 2 Gbps in real world use.
It also has a slightly more space-friendly form factor.
And perhaps most importantly, where the QNAP’s warranty ends at 2 years, the TP-Link TL-SG105-M2
falls in the company’s business class of switches, giving it a generous limited lifetime
warranty.
Lastly, the TL-SG105-M2 sports QoS - a feature typical of most unmanaged switches that is
conspicuously absent on the QSW 1105-5T.
If we had to pick a couple things that aren’t ideal about this neat little switch, it would
have to be the lack of loop detection, and the fact that the power supply plugs into
the side opposite the ports -- of course the latter is entirely personal preference, but
it can also complicate installation in some setups.
The TP-Link’s list price is $130 - although as of the time of this writing, you can actually
get it for $109 at Amazon which is the same price as the QNAP.
The TP-Link is the choice either way, but with the current price, it’s a no-brainer.
Number 1 in my list is TP-Link TL-SG108 8 Port Gigabit Network Switch.
When it comes to 8 port network switches for the home or small office network, it’s hard
to beat the TP Link TL SG108.
It’s compact, has a fanless metal enclosure, plus dimmer and less distracting LEDs than
some of its competitors (Don’t worry; there are still two per port, each informative based
on color and/or blinking pattern).
The TL-SG108 also features traffic-prioritizing QoS, full duplex flow control, auto negotiating
ports for choosing transfer speed up to a gigabit, and simple, plug and play setup.
This best network switch performed at rough parity with other 8 port switches we tested
and ran cool.
The one notable omission from this network switch is loop detection, which prevents your
network being slowed to a crawl or disabled entirely by looped network traffic.
This can be a very important troubleshooting tool in a complicated network, with visual
indicators on a switch that tell you which Ethernet ports to investigate for issues.
Lastly, the TP Link features a nice limited lifetime warranty, providing a nice peace
of mind.
On the whole, even if you only need 5 extra ports, we recommend this switch for its price,
feature set, and build quality to expand the wired capability of your network now and in
the future.
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