Why this switch is so expensive? and buy router or switch?

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manosspan

manosspan

Honorable
Apr 2, 2013
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10,630
Hello everyone.

A friend of mine gave a Cisco SRW208G 8-port 10/100 Ethernet Switch - WebView/Expn Slots brand new because his company was closing. When I checked it's price online at amazon I was amazed! 200$ for a new and 80-100$ for a used. Why it is so expensive? Is it just an 10/100 8 port switch or it is something else? I thought I could sell it online and get an 8port gigabit to expand my home network.

My network map is like that
Dsl modem router(office room) connected with a Dlink Gigabit switch and 5 devices into the office room.
Then 30 meter cable from the Dlink goes to the living room , where I have 6 devices that I want to connect to the internet.

At the living room I would like to have also wireless signal so I thing I need a router there right?
All devices must communicate each other.
Must be Gigabit forn lan and wireless N


So 2 questions
Why this Cisco is so expensive?
And do I need a (router) or a switch and an Access point in the living room?
 
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bill001g

Titan
Aug 9, 2012
28,318
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You can use a AP or router running as a AP to get the wireless in the second room. You should only have a single router in your house but you can connect as many switches to as you want. A AP can be thought of as a wireless switch.

The cisco box is expensive because it is a managed switch that has much more capability that the stupid unmanaged ones. If you needed to have multiple vlans in your house or needed hook up fiber optic cables or need to force login authentication of devices when they are plugged into the switch then you need a switch like this. Of course it can do all the same things a cheap unmanaged on can but you pay for the feature even if you don't use them
 
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sg4rb0

Honorable
Dec 4, 2012
214
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10,760
Cisco design their ASICs (computer chips that decide how data is passed between one switchport and the next) themselves. Other companys will just buy a pre-made ASIC and use it in their motherboards. Because it's extremely expensive to design and make your own personalised ASIC, Cisco end up charging more for their products.

The other point is that Cisco products have a HUGE reputation for being extremely reliable. They have not gained that reputation from luck. Their products are extremely well documented, and Cisco TAC are available for product support. The TAC engineers are extremely experienced, and surrounded in an office of CCIE's.

If it was me, I would always choose Cisco every single time. I'd rather buy a second hand Cisco 3560, or 2960, than use some 8 port crap from another company. I've got so much more control of what the device will do when I have an managed switch, and can use the command line to control it.

For the average user though, I would let them waste their money on other products as they will never use the vast amount of features provided by Cisco managed devices.

For the other question, you can use an access point. You only need a router if you want to connect it to the internet (i.e. use another DSL line).
 
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