Help me choose a Network Switch!

[JayRich]

Hello Everyone,

I need a network switch because my Actiontec router's 4 ports is no longer enough for me.

I have an 80Mb down and 30Mb up Bell Aliant Fibre Op connection.

Pretty new to all this stuff so not sure what I should get. I don't want to get a piece of junk but do not want to overpay either. What would be a good option for me?

Anything hear on Amazon look sufficient?
http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=sr_st?keywords=Network+Switch&qid=1376432623&rh=n%3A667823011%2Ck%3ANetwork+Switch&sort=relevancerank

How about FutureShop:
http://www.futureshop.ca/Search/SearchResults.aspx?path=ca77b9b4beca91fe414314b86bb581f8en20&q=switch&sp=FS_en-CA_Site-WideSP&Facet=cFSMCCPCatalogenCADepartments%2523%2523-1%2523%2523-1%257e%257eq737769746368%257e%257encFSMCCPCatalogenCAcomputerssoftware%2523%25235%2523%25236o&viewall=true

 

[JayRich]

Edited first post so please disregard this one. Mods feel free to delete. Thanks.

 

[JayRich]

Bump. Please help! If someone could find me a good one on Amazon, that would be awesome! There is a few there that look good for only $30-$40 but that seems so cheap. Very unfamiliar with the hardware.

 

[bill001g]

Pretty much buy the cheapest unit you can find that has the number of ports you need and the speed you need. I would tend to go with gig ports just because there is not a lot if difference in price.

The reason for some switches to cost a lot is they have feature you may not need. Such as power for VoIP or support for things like vlans.

Performance wise all cheap switches are the same they all use the same general asic chips. I suspect the only difference would be how long the power supply might last and price does not seem to be representative of the quality of the components so I don't know how you find quality other than buying high end commercial stuff.

 

[JayRich]

http://www.amazon.ca/D-Link-5-Port-Gigabit-Desktop-DGS-1005G/dp/B003X7TRWE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1376765440&sr=8-4&keywords=network+switch
http://www.amazon.ca/TRENDnet-TEG-S80G-Unmanaged-GREENnet-Standard/dp/B001QUA6RA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1376765494&sr=8-3&keywords=network+switch
http://www.amazon.ca/Tp-Link-TL-SG1008D-Unmanaged-Gigabit-Desktop/dp/B001EVGIYG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376765494&sr=8-2&keywords=network+switch

How do those look?

The biggest concern is that I have decent internet speed at 80Mbps down and 30Mbps up fibre. I just don't want to lose a large amount of my speed. Price isn't overly an issue, just don't want to spend a few hundred dollars on a unnecessary piece of equipment.

My current router has 4 slots and I really only need 3 slots for PCs, maybe 4. So with this, I could plug 3 PCs into the router, then the switch into the fourth slot. The switch would then hold 2-3 TVs, maybe a gaming console and then an extra tv.

I do some work with remote desktop too. This shouldn't affect people connecting to me remotely right?

 

[bill001g]

All the switches can run at full rated speed. So for example on the 8 port ones each port can do 1g up and 1g down so the total switch can do 16g. This is MANY MANY times the capacity of your internet. Your router will die well before you ever even come close to 10% of the switch capacity.

The problem that people are now seeing that get fast internet that there are now bottlenecks in the ISP and things that you cannot fix purely do to distance.

So pick the one you think has the prettiest box. There is not much difference other than that.