Posted same router from different seller at similar price-point around a year ago - many places selling at around the £200 mark which is bonkers.
Camelcamelcamel showing this seller has the lowest price through Amazon marketplace
"value" network switch - connect one end to your router, everything else to this, creates an entirely "flat" LAN, everything able to talk to everything else, and yet allows you to maximise traffic between devices. Ideal for homes, or small businesses.
Even if you have nowhere near 48 devices, it automatically isolates traffic between devices not trying to communicate with each other, effectively giving you more bandwidth than if you had fixed them to a 100Mb hub, and reduces processing overhead on your router.
Before you comment; yes, only has two gigabit ports (everything else is 100MBs) , no it isn't a very new design, no it isn't Power over Ethernet, yes it will mount in a 19" rack, stand on a table, or in my case, you can strap it under a shelf (supply your own straps!)
Have used in my home for over 12 months, perfectly adequate for browsing file/print serving and even iplayer, hasn't given me a spot of bother, just plug in connections switch it on and let it take care of everything!
For those who might complain that a 2 week "swap out" guarantee isn't appropriate for "mission critical" applications, you can get lifetime "insurance" for £30 by purchasing a second "hot standby" unit.
Official blurb
Overview
Robust Design
ZyXEL's ES-1552 ExtraSmart Switch comes with 52 Fast Ethernet copper ports plus four Gigabit uplinks (two 1000Base-T ports and two SFP slots) that power the non-blocking connection power to SMB/SB networks, and the multi-function design fits into copper or fiber networks easily.
By utilising 4G uplinks and port aggregation, bandwidth on critical paths can be expanded flexibly by merging multiple traffic pipelines into one to dramatically improve network stability.
ExtraSmart™ Evolution
While many legacy web smart switches improve manageability they can often be complex to use. For most small businesses, inadequate IT expertise and complicated configurations are the major pains to overcome. Powered by a new hardware platform with smart ACL technology; "Auto DoS Attack Prevention" and "Auto VoIP" features provides hassle-free operation.
In addition, ZyXEL ES-1552 comes with a streamlined intuitive Web-GUI for features such as 802.1Q VLAN, 802.1p traffic priority and static port aggregation.
Extra Secure - Auto DoS Attack Prevention
Security is a top priority for SMB/SB networks. Equipped with Auto DoS Attack Prevention, the ES-1552 ExtraSmart Switch is capable of fighting against ubiquitous DoS attacks.
A few mouse clicks is all it takes to initiate the protection and complete the once-complicated ACL setting, reducing the time required with switch setup and management.
ES-1552 supports 802.1Q VLAN for traffic isolation, as well as static MAC forwarding and dynamic ARP to establish a robust protected network.
Auto VoIP Telephony without the Configuration headaches
VoIP is becoming more popular within businesses, but it usually requires IT expertise to optimise a network for VoIP applications. The "Auto VoIP" feature of the ES-1552 ExtraSmart Switch can identify VoIP packet patterns and approve the highest priority to VoIP-friendly communications.
Auto VoIP offers IP telephony without the configuration headaches. Features like four priority queues and a WFQ scheduling algorithm allows users to optimise network bandwidth usage and quality of services.
In terms of bandwidth management, users can choose from several options and pick the most appropriate.
Key Features
Auto DoS attack prevention
Auto VoIP
Flexible 4 GbE uplink interfaces
IEEE 802.3ad static port aggregation
Streamlined web based management interface
IEEE 802.1Q VLAN
Port security
IEEE 802.1p with 4 priority queues
WRR and SPQ queuing algorithms
Limited Lifetime Warranty
On defined ZyXEL Business products ZyXEL offer an extension to the Standard Warranty defined in these terms as Limited lifetime Warranty. Limited Lifetime warranty is defined as the Lifetime of the product from when the product is launched and first supplied to customers in the EU Region until the product End of Life (EOL) announcement is made upon the local ZyXEL Website. The Business products will then be supported for a further 5 years after the EOL announcement is made by the EU ZyXEL Service Centre.
In the event of an issue with a ZyXEL Business product – the customer must contact the appropriate ZyXEL service Centre for assistance. In the event that the product needs to be replaced and is approved under the warranty terms, ZyXEL will raise an RMA number. The ZyXEL Service Centre will then dispatch the hardware to the reseller/customer in advance. The aim is to advance replace the faulty unit with a suitable replacement of the same type or similar features within 10 working days. ZyXEL do not guarantee that the replacement unit is a new product. The reseller customer is then responsible for the return of the faulty item to the ZyXEL Service Centre
Top comments
topss
25 Mar 1613#16
Have to agree that a 10/100 switch is pretty useless in a home environment. If you're the type of user who is using it for 'browsing file/print serving and even iplayer' then you most likely don't need 48 ports anyway. Just get a 8 port gigabit switch. Or even 2 of them for around this price - will give you some redundancy incase one fails.
And yes, someone may say they need 48 ports, but if you do, surely you have invested thousands into existing equipment, why not another £150-£200 to let it all work as it should.
Or maybe it's just to make it look like you have a big network :laughing:
fishmaster
25 Mar 168#15
This might be cheap and it's cheap for a reason, it's almost useless, anyone wanting 48 ports surely would want the majority of them if not all to be Gigabit, this is old tech sold off cheap for a reason, it's redundant.
The only positive thing you can say about this deal is that it costs more 2nd hand on eBay >
Sorry but this is a cold deal, if something is useless and this largely is then it's not worth having, so it's cold. There are no rules for voting on this site, for me this is a cold deal. Thanks OP but no thanks.
the__cat
25 Mar 164#20
10/100 useless in a home environment? Why?
If you have gigabit devices such as a NAS it may be better to connect those to gigabit ports so there's no bottleneck with multiple devices connecting to it at the same time, but devices such as STBs, TVs, Blu-Ray players, printers, etc (pretty-much everything you want a home network for at the moment) don't really require gigabit capability and most don't even have gigabit LAN ports anyway.
Saying that though, unless you have a specific need and know what you're doing with VLANs, IGMP, QoS, etc, smart and managed switches should be ignored. You'll get everything you need out of a simple unmanaged gigabit switch costing you £15.
From personal experience (I used to install Zyxel networking equipment nearly every day for a Zyxel partner) I wouldn't touch a Zyxel switch even if I got it for free. Their DSL modems though, back in the day, were excellent.
SteveCoops
25 Mar 164#1
Thirty quid for a manageable switch?! Bargain!
Latest comments (78)
adv
9 Apr 16#78
Not perfect for a small home environment (still great and will handle any fileserver/streaming fine) as a smaller gbit switch will do. But for a small office, or if you dont need more than 100mbit, this is a fantastic price for a very soild peice of kit
Makkand
29 Mar 16#77
That's considerably cheaper thank you. Had vandalism to my car so probably good to have for evidence should the opportunity arrive.
the__cat
29 Mar 16#76
If you're going to buy a Cisco switch from Ebay and cost is a factor, I'd look at the 3750G rather than the 2960S. It's arguably a far superior switch and it'll cost you less.
I wouldn't recommend learning on a live switch though if it's got cameras attached to it, unless they're not actually recording any important images :smiley:
Makkand
27 Mar 16#75
Thanks for the info and taking the time out to reply Stim! Appreciated!
Stim
27 Mar 16#74
Yeah unfortunately the gig + PoE combo tends to boost the price a little.
Yes absolutely - plenty of labs out there - VIRL, GNS3 to name a couple of the more legit ones. There are others and it doesn't take too much trawling of the Internet to find them :smiley:
Makkand
27 Mar 16#73
Oooph, bit more pricey than I thought. I know I'm going to contradict my requirement here but is it true that you can learn from virtual switches?
Stim
27 Mar 16#72
If you're learning for work, your best bet is to get a Cisco switch as they're the most commonly used. Unfortunately also one of the most expensive.
WS-C2960X-24PS-L - ~£1k on Ebay. This is the current model.
WS-C2960S-24PS-L- There's a few of these on Ebay currently for a little cheaper (~£600) These are an earlier model, but for learning you will likely get just as much benefit going for this as the one above.
Both of the above should be able to comfortably power your cameras.
Failing that take a look at this list for other vendors on Ebuyer:
Most are models not likely to be used in a commercial environment, but the functionality and (at least open standard) tech is there.
Makkand
27 Mar 16#71
24 ports +
Manage part is for learning (for work).
I want to connect poe cameras as well as computers :smiley:
Thanks for replying!
Makkand
26 Mar 16#69
Appears to be a few experts here,, can anyone recommend a POE 1GB Managed switch? I could Google it, but it wouldn't recommend an ebay purchase :disappointed:
Stim to Makkand
26 Mar 16#70
How many ports?
Why do you need to manage it?
What are you using PoE for?
the__cat
26 Mar 16#68
I don't ever remember arguing over certs, but yes, let's not :laughing:
Retify
25 Mar 161#67
It is excellent for LAN gaming. We have a 48 port 10/100 switch that we take to LAN with us where we have had 30+ people on at once. Games use relatively little bandwidth so it works perfectly, means that everyone is on ~1 ping since we are all hard wired to the server, and the fastest internet connection we have had at a venue has been about 100Mb, so it is not bottlenecking the internet either.
We paid ~£100 for it, so 30 quid for one is awesome! I do agree that the uses are fairly limited, but the point is there definitely are uses!!
Stim
25 Mar 16#66
Yes, let's not :smiley:
muzzzzzzzzzy
25 Mar 16#65
HUKD was the last place I'd expect people to argue over cisco kit... lets not get started on who has more certifications etc ;-)
Damanc
25 Mar 161#64
Great thread! :smile:
To summarise - its like buying a cheap 65" LED TV that is "HD ready/720p"
It might be exactly what you need however its more likely its no good for your own application. It is however a decent price for a new 48 port 10/100 switch.
As its been mentioned, ZyXel kit now a days is pretty poor. In fact, its always been poor aside from some old school routers.
rohitmkiller
25 Mar 16#62
What would I use this for? Please don't hate on me for aksing.
ukhotdeals1 to rohitmkiller
25 Mar 16#63
setting up a computer network :innocent:
The real argument is - if you want one, do you buy something like this which is fairly modestly specified, and a bit old fashioned, but has masses of ports, or go for something a bit more modern, expensive and/or may have fewer network ports.
Personally, it does exactly the job I need it to, so I think it's good value for money - other people have different needs, so may have a different opinion.
We can both be right, it doesn't matter - I have a Dacia car, which a lot of people might think is a bit crap, but I really don't need a Rolls Royce, or even a BMW - you might as well argue that you should never buy a car with any less than a two litre engine - I manage fine on 900ccs!
Stim
25 Mar 16#61
Yes, as the best possible reference to reinforce what I'm saying. Where else is better to back up your argument about Cisco kit? :smiley:
This is correct - my original point regarding link aggregation, in particular LACP, was that if you're firing off a file transfer then you're not going to consume the entire bandwidth of the bundle, only the capacity of a single link - thus limiting the impact on other users. Less concern for what link speed the clients are running at in comparison with your core/backbone.
Correct, but at the end of the day here the thread is about a 10/100 switch which you're not going to see anywhere near a data centre, where you are most likely running 10/40/100.
It's marketed as an aggregation switch. I can't say more than that. Sure if you want to spend the bucks then invest in 3850s for access - but there are far more cost efficient models which will do the same if not a very similar job.
Which is typically why you see these being used as access switches. A 3650/3850 access/core is not uncommon. It's the method in which you use these switches that determine their role. Not everyone is going to run a local WLC on site. If you're using 3850 as an access switch then chances are you're sensible enough to have something centralised :smiley:
Ruling out a 3850 as aggregation is just short sighted. Not all companies have budgets allowing for 4500, 6500 etc.
I'll take your crystal ball on that one, but with the functionality of desktop phones nowadays, including VC, it's evident that 100Mb isn't going to be around for a great deal longer. Let's wait and see.
k...!
For the sake of not prolonging this debate I shall not challenge your superior knowledge.
Oh please. Your previous posts are laced with condescension and assumption that others know "nothing" about enterprise networks. :smiley:
I need one, but that's just me :smiley:
There's next-to-little market in the home for a 48 port 10/100 switch.
One thing we can agree on is your last statement.
Makkand
25 Mar 16#60
You guys have got your wires crossed! Switch the argument, some comments are patchy.
And another thing...programmers do not throw away any pizza!
...that's it in I'm all out...all this pizza talk has made me hungry...does that make me a programmer?
baoth
25 Mar 16#59
As a Wintel nerd myself, the comms talk on this thread has made me chuckle a few times :laughing:
More on topic though, this may be good for some in a home lab as it supports VLAN configs to name one aspect, unless you can get something used for cheaper.
eggmanpete
25 Mar 161#58
100mbit really isn't that bad. You can stream high bit rate 1080p from a NAS or file server to 48 raspberry pi xbmc systems (raspberry pi is only 100mbit LAN anyway) without trouble.
Yes moving large files will take longer but patience is a virtue.
the__cat
25 Mar 16#57
Really, you're quoting the CVDs? I use the best practises contained within them every day; I can probably recite them word for word. Hmmm let me see... I'm sure I referred to one only a couple of days ago regarding link selection preferences in MEC deployments. Anyhow...
I never ever said you can't achieve resiliency and redundancy without link aggregation. What I said is that we don't particularly use link aggregation to provide extra bandwidth. That was in response to your original comment. Please understand the difference.
Link aggregation is commonplace, agreed, but it is used for resiliency purposes far more than it is used for gaining extra bandwidth. In fact, link aggregation just lets more people use the speed of the link rather than adding more speed to it. Even though you can (and should) bundle links in a VSL you don't get 20G speed, for example; you just get more capacity between the chassis'.
I'm glad you said that not all deployments warrant 10/40/100G these days. The same can be said for 1G deployments :smiley:
Hmmm, the 3850 is an access switch, however you look at it. As I said, it can be used as a distribution (AKA aggregation) switch where a dedicated distribution layer is not required, but it is not specifically a distribution switch.
The 3650 is not the 3850 equivalent of an access switch. It is the 3850's baby brother. It has less resource than the 3850 and doesn't support all of the hard/soft features that the 3850 does. For example, the 3650 has a slower backplane, has fixed uplinks and doesn't support as many APs per stack. The 3850 is positioned as a Converged Access Wireless LAN Controller, so APs have to connect directly to the switch at the ACCESS layer. You knew this though, right? :wink:
100Mbps ports on phones are on the way out - you're right. They're still VERY current though as they don't require masses of bandwidth. Phones without switchports still use 100Mbps ports and they will for a long time to come.
Please don't start on PoE. That's one subject I do excel in! :sunglasses:
I'm not here to make assumptions either. I just feel compelled to say something when people say things which are not correct. Part of my job is to give advice that makes the customer's investment worthwhile and up to the job. What I don't do though is advise people to buy stuff if it's costing them money and it's not really going to provide much, if any, benefit. I mean, who here actually NEEDS a gigabit network at home? That was what I was really getting at. Topss said that pulling streams is only half the story and that people also WANT to put files on their NAS quicker, but that's WANT, not NEED. There is a difference and I was merely mentioning that 10/100 is still suitable. I actually said in my original post though that most people should just buy a cheap gigabit unmanaged switch and be done with it.
fishmaster
25 Mar 16#56
So you need 48 ports for a home LAN? That's ridiculous, you can get an 8 port Gigabit switch for cheaper than this and just use that. This switch is nothing to do with WAN, it's about LAN. local area network. You router provides a WAN/LAN interface this switch facilitates WAN and LAN to multiple devices via the router. You don't need 48 ports at home and anyone wanting a 48 port in a business won't want only 2 ports that are 1000Mb, they'd want all of them to be Gigabit, it's a redundant product with little practical use and it costs £29 because of this, because no one has a realistic use for it.
This product is useless for home and useless for business and is redundant and that's why it's £29 because no one wants it as it has no purpose.
dmm1000
25 Mar 16#55
Relax Fisherman.
People with slow internet won't be able to stream HD Movies so sitting behind this Lil old switch for their SD movie streams will work just fine - BUT there are 2 Gig ports - enough for the average user - and the kids can use the 10/100 ports
xenny
25 Mar 161#54
It's great for where you need a lot of cheap, not insanely fast ports.
For a cyber cafe or typical small office, where you're dealing with 5-10MB (so 1 second to copy across 100mbit ethernet) size office documents, and hang a file server off the gig port, this is delightfully cheap.
dannymccann
25 Mar 16#53
Literally have no idea what anyone is talking about in here, but people suggesting this thing for a home network, surely 48 ports is serious overkill. I get that wireless speeds and reliability are poor compared to wired but you would have to remodel your house to hide all the connections on this thing :confused:
mikerr
25 Mar 162#52
Nothing like a networking or hard drive deal to bring out the "experts" :smiley:
Stim
25 Mar 16#51
Hello there,
You can achieve resiliency and redundancy without using link aggregation, those are added benefits.
Link aggregation is common place and in fact recommended within enterprise networks, particularly with VSS and VPC, please see the relevant Cisco validated designs - one such being here for a campus network:
100Mb ports on phones are being devolved and phones such as the 7945G come with gigabit as standard. Of course there are still deployments out there and I'm sure the non-PoE model in this deal would suit you just fine...:stuck_out_tongue:
I'm not here to make assumptions about what people do and don't know, but of course you've made your position clear. Hate to have to link to the documentation of a totally unreputable network equipment manufacturer. What do they know after all, right?
the__cat
25 Mar 16#50
Actually, I know why it doesn't surprise you. It's because you sound like you know your onions, but you actually don't, so anyone who does can't understand you.
There. I'm glad we cleared that up. Give that man a biscuit. :smile:
fishmaster
25 Mar 16#49
Wtf? You clearly don't understand the product so don't comment! 10/100 is the internal LAN speed, go look up what LAN means!
topss
25 Mar 16#48
That's exactly what I did :confused:
Now why doesn't that surprise me.
the__cat
25 Mar 16#47
I agree somewhat, but then why post an image of a random switch that doesn't show what it actually is? I'm baffled :wink:
the__cat
25 Mar 16#46
I'll just leave this here in case anyone else didn't bother to read what I said in my first comment...
Notice the last sentence in particular :smiley:
Stim
25 Mar 161#45
I'm fairly sure he just grabbed the image to explain his point and that him possessing the switch was something you assumed :smiley:
the__cat
25 Mar 16#44
Awesome... you don't know what you're waffling about either. :smiley:
Link aggregation? In an enterprise network? To provide extra bandwidth? Wow! These days we use 10/40/100G links to provide bandwidth; link aggregation is used to provide resiliency and redundancy.
And calling a 3850 an aggregation switch? No, it's actually a campus LAN access-layer switch. It can be used as a distribution switch but there are better-positioned devices for that unless you only need one or two switches in a branch, maybe.
1G to the desktop is standard, so of course it 'still' comes in a 1G model. What a funny thing to say. If you don't see anyone rolling out 100Mbps NICs you've obviously never deployed thin clients or IP phones with pass-through switchports. Don't worry, you've still got time :laughing:
Good effort though!
the__cat
25 Mar 16#43
Not sure?? It's on your desk. Look in the top-right corner it'll tell you.
Oh, that's right... It's not actually there in front of you is it?! You just trawled google images for something that looked good. :wink:
the__cat
25 Mar 16#42
You raise a valid point, but I asked why 10/100 is useless. It most certainly isn't.
Take this list of items from my house as an example...
6 month old Sony Bravia 4K TV
Smart meter gateway for electricity and gas meters.
Multi-function printer
UPS
YouView STB
All of those devices are 10/100 only. They don't have a gigabit ethernet port.
I think that concludes the discussion.
topss
25 Mar 16#41
Not sure, but I'm sure visitors will think I'm some multi-billion (or was it million) £s network installer when they see this connected to my Smart TV.
nomnomnomnom
25 Mar 16#40
Besides the other points already mentioned, some ISPs are offering about 100meg now, so this would actually bottleneck some people's internet connections.
Urbangent
25 Mar 16#39
Best option is to buy a switch from eBay. Companies are always selling off older switches as they upgrade. I bought a 48 port gigabit Cisco switch (around 4 years old) for around £40. It still has tons of life, is fully plug and play (but can be managed also) and is full gigabit.
johnro
25 Mar 16#38
any chance for a a PoE one for the same money?
b_nar
25 Mar 16#37
Zyxel..... just....NO.
muzzzzzzzzzy
25 Mar 161#36
Is that a 3750G?
Awaken
25 Mar 16#35
What on earth is the point? You can get 100mbit switches with as many bells and whistles and ports as you want for £20 on ebay all day looooong.
A lot of people in low speed internet areas would be happy with even 10/100 so it's not useless AND voting hot or cold is and should be largely based on price - this site is called hot uk DEALS after all
Stim
25 Mar 16#33
Ok so this is gold, you're comparing enterprise networks to a SOHO environment?
Let's get real here. The original question stands, why on earth would you purchase a NAS with a gig interface and have everything else running 100Mb?
Are clients going to be screaming at you when you smash the NAS doing a huge file transfer?
No.
So let's break away from the willy-sizing and just accept that 10/100 is old hat. You wouldn't sacrifice the extra transfer speed at home for your bizarre approach to limiting client speeds. If you're designing enterprise networks then you're fully aware of the concepts of link aggregation and QoS in today's deployments. Plenty of aggregation switches, including the new 3850s still come with a 1Gb model and yet I don't see anyone still rolling out 100Mb NICs.
topss
25 Mar 161#32
I think you may be conflating a home network with the work you did for GCHQ.
Boxrick
25 Mar 16#31
Honestly not sure how much use a 100mbit switch is.... even if it is managed and offers layer 2 functionality.
I have been using gigabit at home for around 10 years now and that is useful for copying files around, streaming from my storage box etc. Even my wifi network has no troubles pulling at around 500mbit.
Add to this many peoples external connections are faster than this now so they are simply bottlenecking themselves with a slow switch.
Cold since I am not honestly not sure the use case.
dar72
25 Mar 161#30
This isn't very good, it's ZyXel and it's only 10/100. I do consultancy on networks and sell networking kit to businesses, I've replaced rubbish like ZyXel for people quite a few times, wouldn't recommend it.
If you want this type of switch, get a Cisco Catalyst 2950 or similar used from ebay. Although used, any of these will be more reliable and perform better than this ZyXel switch.
You can get a cat2950 for around £20 or less, cat2960 for around £30 sometimes. There's a lot of professional quality switches on ebay which are much better than this that aren't from budget brands. Anything from Cisco or HP will be better than this, I prefer HP when selling to businesses but there tends to be more Cisco stuff available on ebay for lower prices than HP equivalents.
If everything you do is on the Internet then 10/100 should be fine for you, your Internet connection is likely to be slower than the switch ports. If you transfer or stream files around your network or do local multiplayer gaming, you might want to look at gigabit. If you want gigabit, again, buy used Cisco stuff from ebay.
Better than 802.11g and some 802.11n single radio. 802.11n dual radio and 802.11ac is faster...well, it should be, a lot of the home wifi kit won't perform anywhere near what the spec is on paper.
the__cat
25 Mar 162#29
Obtuse? Hmm, OK!
Dude you really are clueless. I'm still laughing at you posting a picture of a 3750 like you know what you're doing.
Rule number one: Never attach clients at the same speed as your backbone. In a shared environment you could saturate your link to the NAS, for example. Of course, a network designer knows this. Amateurs don't - they just see black and white. You're obviously guilty of this, Topss, as you seem to think everything needs a gigabit connection.
Come back when you've designed enterprise-class networks (and I do mean multi-million pound networks, not small-to-medium businesses), and maybe I'll take your points seriously. Until then, stick to your amateur kit :wink:
Pyongyang
25 Mar 16#28
Spot on.
simonbrowne
25 Mar 16#27
like i say I had one of these and everything worked ok. printers, streaming hd movies etc
The main drawback was I only used about 10 ports so a big box not being used by about a fifth.
Running a business where I had a lot of backups to do on various computer it took its time transfering it around the network. This is either a problem or not it just depend if you dont mind the wait.
The other thing is with that many outlets all items have to go to the unit so even though we had a few locations far away (but near to each other) each one needed a cable all the way back
I now have a couple 1000 hubs (which come of my 4port virgin router) and a wifi hub all at different and useful place for easy connections. Less cables and faster speed and theres still room to expand.
I think some people think bigger is better but most people would be better off with something smaller ie 16 or 24 port but faster. This has 2 bad points... its too large (who's actually using 48 ports or even 24) and slow when everything is now hd (and will be 4k) ,multi streaming to multiple rooms,faster downloads, ipads
DeejayAJ
25 Mar 16#26
Great deal!
coalfield
25 Mar 16#25
Hot because this is crazy good value, but agreed would not look at a 10/100mbps for a home network not least from a future proofing perspective! I can't believe there are home users needing 48-ports that would not benefit from gigabit!
metalheadkicks
25 Mar 161#24
Brilliant deal. People dont understand its applications will vote cold. Ignore them.
mikerr
25 Mar 161#23
While I broadly agree - any wired, even 10/100 is better than wifi ...
Stim
25 Mar 161#22
Love these devices. A deal gets posted and all of a sudden, everyone becomes a network guru :smiley:
topss
25 Mar 162#21
Don't be so obtuse.
May be? Are you serious. You just purchased a gigabit NAS and want to transfer files to even one other connected item at a slower speed instead? Why? A NAS isn't just to pull information off it, you do need to get the information on to it as well. Why would you want to do that almost 10 times slower? Bad advice.
Actually, you then went on to answering your own question:
So, yeah pretty useless.
the__cat
25 Mar 164#20
10/100 useless in a home environment? Why?
If you have gigabit devices such as a NAS it may be better to connect those to gigabit ports so there's no bottleneck with multiple devices connecting to it at the same time, but devices such as STBs, TVs, Blu-Ray players, printers, etc (pretty-much everything you want a home network for at the moment) don't really require gigabit capability and most don't even have gigabit LAN ports anyway.
Saying that though, unless you have a specific need and know what you're doing with VLANs, IGMP, QoS, etc, smart and managed switches should be ignored. You'll get everything you need out of a simple unmanaged gigabit switch costing you £15.
From personal experience (I used to install Zyxel networking equipment nearly every day for a Zyxel partner) I wouldn't touch a Zyxel switch even if I got it for free. Their DSL modems though, back in the day, were excellent.
ukle
25 Mar 161#19
Seriously nobody should be buying 100mbit kit these days.
We throw out all our old 100mbit kit in our house 3 years ago, and given the main switch in a house is the backbone to your network you really need to get a good one. Get a good HP (cheap in the UK) or Cisco switch and it will be reliable and able to handle what ever you through at it, then use smaller 5/8 port gigabit switches at your distribution points (e.g. TV / AV center, workstations, etc) that Amazon keeps running offers on.
Its silly not to get good network gear considering how much the equipment that relies on it costs.
hotsa
25 Mar 16#18
Great find and nice saving OP.
However, there are better products out there, albeit 2nd hand, for a similar price. I recently purchased two unused Netgear GS724T (full gigabit, managed) switches off eBay for £25. If you care enough to have a managed switch, you'll want full gigabit anyway. For a little more you can have POE too!
simonbrowne
25 Mar 16#17
Bought the same item from ebuyer about a year ago and posted it here.
It was not managed which is what i thought i had bought and it's now been replaced by a 1000 network components but at 3 times the cost. Was only using about 10 ports so overkill and i do some transfers around the network which took ages on the 100.
Can't vote it hot or cold as for some people this may be ok. I also think it is not managed as i never got into any web interface no matter how hard i tried.
topss
25 Mar 1613#16
Have to agree that a 10/100 switch is pretty useless in a home environment. If you're the type of user who is using it for 'browsing file/print serving and even iplayer' then you most likely don't need 48 ports anyway. Just get a 8 port gigabit switch. Or even 2 of them for around this price - will give you some redundancy incase one fails.
And yes, someone may say they need 48 ports, but if you do, surely you have invested thousands into existing equipment, why not another £150-£200 to let it all work as it should.
Or maybe it's just to make it look like you have a big network :laughing:
fishmaster
25 Mar 168#15
This might be cheap and it's cheap for a reason, it's almost useless, anyone wanting 48 ports surely would want the majority of them if not all to be Gigabit, this is old tech sold off cheap for a reason, it's redundant.
The only positive thing you can say about this deal is that it costs more 2nd hand on eBay >
Sorry but this is a cold deal, if something is useless and this largely is then it's not worth having, so it's cold. There are no rules for voting on this site, for me this is a cold deal. Thanks OP but no thanks.
vmistery
25 Mar 161#13
It's a switch not a router 2 different things!
thecresta to vmistery
25 Mar 16#14
Yes, we know...
norbie
25 Mar 16#12
100Mb/s is kinda useless unless the application is something like VoIP where data transfer doesn't matter. In all other uses, spend twice your money and you'll get 10x the performance!
tek-monkey
25 Mar 16#11
Would have been on this like a tramp on chips if it was gigabit, but it's still a damn good price!
rht
25 Mar 161#8
Here is the listing on Amazon. It has only one reviewer saying it may not be Managed
It's not a managed switch, it has a web interface for some settings. These are generally called 'smart' switches.
If you're happy with limiting the whole 'network' to fast ethernet speeds, then it's obviously a good price, but this will be the bottleneck in your network.
chris8888
25 Mar 16#9
is it new? or 2nd hand ?
Cackles
25 Mar 161#7
Almost bought it, but I will stick with 3 routers attached to my VMedia modem.
If it was a full gigabit network, I would be blown away.
ukhotdeals1
25 Mar 161#6
A Gnats "bawhair" short of 44mm so 1U
- comes with right angled brackets so can be attached to a standard 19" rack, and stick-on feet for table-top use
- built in power supply and works off a (supplied) standard IEC power cable, so no external "brick" or "wall wart"
(proper "grown up" kit then!)
pimpMe
25 Mar 16#3
This should be scorching!
ukhotdeals1 to pimpMe
25 Mar 16#5
hopefully will be :-)
Roger_Irrelevant
25 Mar 16#4
Switch pr0n. :man: Amazing specs for the price. :smiley:
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
Camelcamelcamel showing this seller has the lowest price through Amazon marketplace
"value" network switch - connect one end to your router, everything else to this, creates an entirely "flat" LAN, everything able to talk to everything else, and yet allows you to maximise traffic between devices. Ideal for homes, or small businesses.
Even if you have nowhere near 48 devices, it automatically isolates traffic between devices not trying to communicate with each other, effectively giving you more bandwidth than if you had fixed them to a 100Mb hub, and reduces processing overhead on your router.
Before you comment; yes, only has two gigabit ports (everything else is 100MBs) , no it isn't a very new design, no it isn't Power over Ethernet, yes it will mount in a 19" rack, stand on a table, or in my case, you can strap it under a shelf (supply your own straps!)
Have used in my home for over 12 months, perfectly adequate for browsing file/print serving and even iplayer, hasn't given me a spot of bother, just plug in connections switch it on and let it take care of everything!
For those who might complain that a 2 week "swap out" guarantee isn't appropriate for "mission critical" applications, you can get lifetime "insurance" for £30 by purchasing a second "hot standby" unit.
Official blurb
Overview
Robust Design
ZyXEL's ES-1552 ExtraSmart Switch comes with 52 Fast Ethernet copper ports plus four Gigabit uplinks (two 1000Base-T ports and two SFP slots) that power the non-blocking connection power to SMB/SB networks, and the multi-function design fits into copper or fiber networks easily.
By utilising 4G uplinks and port aggregation, bandwidth on critical paths can be expanded flexibly by merging multiple traffic pipelines into one to dramatically improve network stability.
ExtraSmart™ Evolution
While many legacy web smart switches improve manageability they can often be complex to use. For most small businesses, inadequate IT expertise and complicated configurations are the major pains to overcome. Powered by a new hardware platform with smart ACL technology; "Auto DoS Attack Prevention" and "Auto VoIP" features provides hassle-free operation.
In addition, ZyXEL ES-1552 comes with a streamlined intuitive Web-GUI for features such as 802.1Q VLAN, 802.1p traffic priority and static port aggregation.
Extra Secure - Auto DoS Attack Prevention
Security is a top priority for SMB/SB networks. Equipped with Auto DoS Attack Prevention, the ES-1552 ExtraSmart Switch is capable of fighting against ubiquitous DoS attacks.
A few mouse clicks is all it takes to initiate the protection and complete the once-complicated ACL setting, reducing the time required with switch setup and management.
ES-1552 supports 802.1Q VLAN for traffic isolation, as well as static MAC forwarding and dynamic ARP to establish a robust protected network.
Auto VoIP Telephony without the Configuration headaches
VoIP is becoming more popular within businesses, but it usually requires IT expertise to optimise a network for VoIP applications. The "Auto VoIP" feature of the ES-1552 ExtraSmart Switch can identify VoIP packet patterns and approve the highest priority to VoIP-friendly communications.
Auto VoIP offers IP telephony without the configuration headaches. Features like four priority queues and a WFQ scheduling algorithm allows users to optimise network bandwidth usage and quality of services.
In terms of bandwidth management, users can choose from several options and pick the most appropriate.
Key Features
Auto DoS attack prevention
Auto VoIP
Flexible 4 GbE uplink interfaces
IEEE 802.3ad static port aggregation
Streamlined web based management interface
IEEE 802.1Q VLAN
Port security
IEEE 802.1p with 4 priority queues
WRR and SPQ queuing algorithms
Limited Lifetime Warranty
On defined ZyXEL Business products ZyXEL offer an extension to the Standard Warranty defined in these terms as Limited lifetime Warranty. Limited Lifetime warranty is defined as the Lifetime of the product from when the product is launched and first supplied to customers in the EU Region until the product End of Life (EOL) announcement is made upon the local ZyXEL Website. The Business products will then be supported for a further 5 years after the EOL announcement is made by the EU ZyXEL Service Centre.
In the event of an issue with a ZyXEL Business product – the customer must contact the appropriate ZyXEL service Centre for assistance. In the event that the product needs to be replaced and is approved under the warranty terms, ZyXEL will raise an RMA number. The ZyXEL Service Centre will then dispatch the hardware to the reseller/customer in advance. The aim is to advance replace the faulty unit with a suitable replacement of the same type or similar features within 10 working days. ZyXEL do not guarantee that the replacement unit is a new product. The reseller customer is then responsible for the return of the faulty item to the ZyXEL Service Centre
Top comments
And yes, someone may say they need 48 ports, but if you do, surely you have invested thousands into existing equipment, why not another £150-£200 to let it all work as it should.
Or maybe it's just to make it look like you have a big network :laughing:
The only positive thing you can say about this deal is that it costs more 2nd hand on eBay >
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZyXEL-ES-1552-48-10-100-Port-Switch-/131738663272?hash=item1eac3c7968:g:~ScAAOSwzgRW0uGt
Sorry but this is a cold deal, if something is useless and this largely is then it's not worth having, so it's cold. There are no rules for voting on this site, for me this is a cold deal. Thanks OP but no thanks.
If you have gigabit devices such as a NAS it may be better to connect those to gigabit ports so there's no bottleneck with multiple devices connecting to it at the same time, but devices such as STBs, TVs, Blu-Ray players, printers, etc (pretty-much everything you want a home network for at the moment) don't really require gigabit capability and most don't even have gigabit LAN ports anyway.
Saying that though, unless you have a specific need and know what you're doing with VLANs, IGMP, QoS, etc, smart and managed switches should be ignored. You'll get everything you need out of a simple unmanaged gigabit switch costing you £15.
From personal experience (I used to install Zyxel networking equipment nearly every day for a Zyxel partner) I wouldn't touch a Zyxel switch even if I got it for free. Their DSL modems though, back in the day, were excellent.
Latest comments (78)
I wouldn't recommend learning on a live switch though if it's got cameras attached to it, unless they're not actually recording any important images :smiley:
Yes absolutely - plenty of labs out there - VIRL, GNS3 to name a couple of the more legit ones. There are others and it doesn't take too much trawling of the Internet to find them :smiley:
WS-C2960X-24PS-L - ~£1k on Ebay. This is the current model.
WS-C2960S-24PS-L- There's a few of these on Ebay currently for a little cheaper (~£600) These are an earlier model, but for learning you will likely get just as much benefit going for this as the one above.
Both of the above should be able to comfortably power your cameras.
Failing that take a look at this list for other vendors on Ebuyer:
http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Networking/cat/Switches/subcat/Switches---PoE?a00521=24&sort=price+ascending
The majority are £200+
Most are models not likely to be used in a commercial environment, but the functionality and (at least open standard) tech is there.
Manage part is for learning (for work).
I want to connect poe cameras as well as computers :smiley:
Thanks for replying!
Why do you need to manage it?
What are you using PoE for?
We paid ~£100 for it, so 30 quid for one is awesome! I do agree that the uses are fairly limited, but the point is there definitely are uses!!
To summarise - its like buying a cheap 65" LED TV that is "HD ready/720p"
It might be exactly what you need however its more likely its no good for your own application. It is however a decent price for a new 48 port 10/100 switch.
As its been mentioned, ZyXel kit now a days is pretty poor. In fact, its always been poor aside from some old school routers.
The real argument is - if you want one, do you buy something like this which is fairly modestly specified, and a bit old fashioned, but has masses of ports, or go for something a bit more modern, expensive and/or may have fewer network ports.
Personally, it does exactly the job I need it to, so I think it's good value for money - other people have different needs, so may have a different opinion.
We can both be right, it doesn't matter - I have a Dacia car, which a lot of people might think is a bit crap, but I really don't need a Rolls Royce, or even a BMW - you might as well argue that you should never buy a car with any less than a two litre engine - I manage fine on 900ccs!
This is correct - my original point regarding link aggregation, in particular LACP, was that if you're firing off a file transfer then you're not going to consume the entire bandwidth of the bundle, only the capacity of a single link - thus limiting the impact on other users. Less concern for what link speed the clients are running at in comparison with your core/backbone.
Correct, but at the end of the day here the thread is about a 10/100 switch which you're not going to see anywhere near a data centre, where you are most likely running 10/40/100.
It's marketed as an aggregation switch. I can't say more than that. Sure if you want to spend the bucks then invest in 3850s for access - but there are far more cost efficient models which will do the same if not a very similar job.
Which is typically why you see these being used as access switches. A 3650/3850 access/core is not uncommon. It's the method in which you use these switches that determine their role. Not everyone is going to run a local WLC on site. If you're using 3850 as an access switch then chances are you're sensible enough to have something centralised :smiley:
Ruling out a 3850 as aggregation is just short sighted. Not all companies have budgets allowing for 4500, 6500 etc.
I'll take your crystal ball on that one, but with the functionality of desktop phones nowadays, including VC, it's evident that 100Mb isn't going to be around for a great deal longer. Let's wait and see.
k...!
For the sake of not prolonging this debate I shall not challenge your superior knowledge.
Oh please. Your previous posts are laced with condescension and assumption that others know "nothing" about enterprise networks. :smiley:
I need one, but that's just me :smiley:
There's next-to-little market in the home for a 48 port 10/100 switch.
One thing we can agree on is your last statement.
And another thing...programmers do not throw away any pizza!
...that's it in I'm all out...all this pizza talk has made me hungry...does that make me a programmer?
More on topic though, this may be good for some in a home lab as it supports VLAN configs to name one aspect, unless you can get something used for cheaper.
Yes moving large files will take longer but patience is a virtue.
I never ever said you can't achieve resiliency and redundancy without link aggregation. What I said is that we don't particularly use link aggregation to provide extra bandwidth. That was in response to your original comment. Please understand the difference.
Link aggregation is commonplace, agreed, but it is used for resiliency purposes far more than it is used for gaining extra bandwidth. In fact, link aggregation just lets more people use the speed of the link rather than adding more speed to it. Even though you can (and should) bundle links in a VSL you don't get 20G speed, for example; you just get more capacity between the chassis'.
I'm glad you said that not all deployments warrant 10/40/100G these days. The same can be said for 1G deployments :smiley:
Hmmm, the 3850 is an access switch, however you look at it. As I said, it can be used as a distribution (AKA aggregation) switch where a dedicated distribution layer is not required, but it is not specifically a distribution switch.
The 3650 is not the 3850 equivalent of an access switch. It is the 3850's baby brother. It has less resource than the 3850 and doesn't support all of the hard/soft features that the 3850 does. For example, the 3650 has a slower backplane, has fixed uplinks and doesn't support as many APs per stack. The 3850 is positioned as a Converged Access Wireless LAN Controller, so APs have to connect directly to the switch at the ACCESS layer. You knew this though, right? :wink:
100Mbps ports on phones are on the way out - you're right. They're still VERY current though as they don't require masses of bandwidth. Phones without switchports still use 100Mbps ports and they will for a long time to come.
Please don't start on PoE. That's one subject I do excel in! :sunglasses:
I'm not here to make assumptions either. I just feel compelled to say something when people say things which are not correct. Part of my job is to give advice that makes the customer's investment worthwhile and up to the job. What I don't do though is advise people to buy stuff if it's costing them money and it's not really going to provide much, if any, benefit. I mean, who here actually NEEDS a gigabit network at home? That was what I was really getting at. Topss said that pulling streams is only half the story and that people also WANT to put files on their NAS quicker, but that's WANT, not NEED. There is a difference and I was merely mentioning that 10/100 is still suitable. I actually said in my original post though that most people should just buy a cheap gigabit unmanaged switch and be done with it.
This product is useless for home and useless for business and is redundant and that's why it's £29 because no one wants it as it has no purpose.
People with slow internet won't be able to stream HD Movies so sitting behind this Lil old switch for their SD movie streams will work just fine - BUT there are 2 Gig ports - enough for the average user - and the kids can use the 10/100 ports
For a cyber cafe or typical small office, where you're dealing with 5-10MB (so 1 second to copy across 100mbit ethernet) size office documents, and hang a file server off the gig port, this is delightfully cheap.
You can achieve resiliency and redundancy without using link aggregation, those are added benefits.
Link aggregation is common place and in fact recommended within enterprise networks, particularly with VSS and VPC, please see the relevant Cisco validated designs - one such being here for a campus network:
http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/solutions/CVD/Oct2015/CVD-Campus_LAN_L2_Access_Simplified_Dist_Deployment-Oct2015.pdf
Not all deployments warrant 10/40/100Gb "these days."
The 3850 series is described also as an aggregation switch on Cisco's website and in many deployments is suitable for such an application.
http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-3850-series-switches/at-a-glance-c45-734461.pdf
The 3650 is your equivalent access switch.
100Mb ports on phones are being devolved and phones such as the 7945G come with gigabit as standard. Of course there are still deployments out there and I'm sure the non-PoE model in this deal would suit you just fine...:stuck_out_tongue:
I'm not here to make assumptions about what people do and don't know, but of course you've made your position clear. Hate to have to link to the documentation of a totally unreputable network equipment manufacturer. What do they know after all, right?
There. I'm glad we cleared that up. Give that man a biscuit. :smile:
Now why doesn't that surprise me.
Notice the last sentence in particular :smiley:
Link aggregation? In an enterprise network? To provide extra bandwidth? Wow! These days we use 10/40/100G links to provide bandwidth; link aggregation is used to provide resiliency and redundancy.
And calling a 3850 an aggregation switch? No, it's actually a campus LAN access-layer switch. It can be used as a distribution switch but there are better-positioned devices for that unless you only need one or two switches in a branch, maybe.
1G to the desktop is standard, so of course it 'still' comes in a 1G model. What a funny thing to say. If you don't see anyone rolling out 100Mbps NICs you've obviously never deployed thin clients or IP phones with pass-through switchports. Don't worry, you've still got time :laughing:
Good effort though!
Oh, that's right... It's not actually there in front of you is it?! You just trawled google images for something that looked good. :wink:
Take this list of items from my house as an example...
6 month old Sony Bravia 4K TV
Smart meter gateway for electricity and gas meters.
Multi-function printer
UPS
YouView STB
All of those devices are 10/100 only. They don't have a gigabit ethernet port.
I think that concludes the discussion.
Zyxel..... just....NO.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Allied-Telesyn-AT-8550GB-50-48-Port-10-100-Managed-Switch-Rackmount-/381573065327?hash=item58d786ea6f:g:J9wAAOSwd4tTvp-J
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cisco-3548-XL-48-PORT-10-100-SWITCH-/141933674618?hash=item210be8007a:g:RUUAAOSwJkJWhaKj
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cisco-Catalyst-WS-C3548-XL-EN-48-Port-10-100-Switch-/371583532941?hash=item56841abf8d:g:1FcAAOSwqYBWoTpU
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cisco-Catalyst-WS-C3548-XL-EN-48-Port-10-100-Switch-/152003900500?hash=item2364237454:g:6rEAAOSwnLdWsiHc
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Netgear-Prosafe-48-Port-10-100-Smart-Switch-w-2-gigabit-ports-FS750T2-/252307814914?hash=item3abeb7ba02:g:yL8AAOSwwpdW2G03
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEVELONE-48-PORT-10-100-NETWORK-SWITCH-2x-GIGABIT-PORTS-GSW-5150-/121921911558?hash=item1c631cbb06:g:13wAAOSw--1WtUu1
Cold!
Let's get real here. The original question stands, why on earth would you purchase a NAS with a gig interface and have everything else running 100Mb?
Are clients going to be screaming at you when you smash the NAS doing a huge file transfer?
No.
So let's break away from the willy-sizing and just accept that 10/100 is old hat. You wouldn't sacrifice the extra transfer speed at home for your bizarre approach to limiting client speeds. If you're designing enterprise networks then you're fully aware of the concepts of link aggregation and QoS in today's deployments. Plenty of aggregation switches, including the new 3850s still come with a 1Gb model and yet I don't see anyone still rolling out 100Mb NICs.
I have been using gigabit at home for around 10 years now and that is useful for copying files around, streaming from my storage box etc. Even my wifi network has no troubles pulling at around 500mbit.
Add to this many peoples external connections are faster than this now so they are simply bottlenecking themselves with a slow switch.
Cold since I am not honestly not sure the use case.
If you want this type of switch, get a Cisco Catalyst 2950 or similar used from ebay. Although used, any of these will be more reliable and perform better than this ZyXel switch.
You can get a cat2950 for around £20 or less, cat2960 for around £30 sometimes. There's a lot of professional quality switches on ebay which are much better than this that aren't from budget brands. Anything from Cisco or HP will be better than this, I prefer HP when selling to businesses but there tends to be more Cisco stuff available on ebay for lower prices than HP equivalents.
If everything you do is on the Internet then 10/100 should be fine for you, your Internet connection is likely to be slower than the switch ports. If you transfer or stream files around your network or do local multiplayer gaming, you might want to look at gigabit. If you want gigabit, again, buy used Cisco stuff from ebay.
Better than 802.11g and some 802.11n single radio. 802.11n dual radio and 802.11ac is faster...well, it should be, a lot of the home wifi kit won't perform anywhere near what the spec is on paper.
Dude you really are clueless. I'm still laughing at you posting a picture of a 3750 like you know what you're doing.
Rule number one: Never attach clients at the same speed as your backbone. In a shared environment you could saturate your link to the NAS, for example. Of course, a network designer knows this. Amateurs don't - they just see black and white. You're obviously guilty of this, Topss, as you seem to think everything needs a gigabit connection.
Come back when you've designed enterprise-class networks (and I do mean multi-million pound networks, not small-to-medium businesses), and maybe I'll take your points seriously. Until then, stick to your amateur kit :wink:
The main drawback was I only used about 10 ports so a big box not being used by about a fifth.
Running a business where I had a lot of backups to do on various computer it took its time transfering it around the network. This is either a problem or not it just depend if you dont mind the wait.
The other thing is with that many outlets all items have to go to the unit so even though we had a few locations far away (but near to each other) each one needed a cable all the way back
I now have a couple 1000 hubs (which come of my 4port virgin router) and a wifi hub all at different and useful place for easy connections. Less cables and faster speed and theres still room to expand.
I think some people think bigger is better but most people would be better off with something smaller ie 16 or 24 port but faster. This has 2 bad points... its too large (who's actually using 48 ports or even 24) and slow when everything is now hd (and will be 4k) ,multi streaming to multiple rooms,faster downloads, ipads
May be? Are you serious. You just purchased a gigabit NAS and want to transfer files to even one other connected item at a slower speed instead? Why? A NAS isn't just to pull information off it, you do need to get the information on to it as well. Why would you want to do that almost 10 times slower? Bad advice.
Actually, you then went on to answering your own question:
So, yeah pretty useless.
If you have gigabit devices such as a NAS it may be better to connect those to gigabit ports so there's no bottleneck with multiple devices connecting to it at the same time, but devices such as STBs, TVs, Blu-Ray players, printers, etc (pretty-much everything you want a home network for at the moment) don't really require gigabit capability and most don't even have gigabit LAN ports anyway.
Saying that though, unless you have a specific need and know what you're doing with VLANs, IGMP, QoS, etc, smart and managed switches should be ignored. You'll get everything you need out of a simple unmanaged gigabit switch costing you £15.
From personal experience (I used to install Zyxel networking equipment nearly every day for a Zyxel partner) I wouldn't touch a Zyxel switch even if I got it for free. Their DSL modems though, back in the day, were excellent.
We throw out all our old 100mbit kit in our house 3 years ago, and given the main switch in a house is the backbone to your network you really need to get a good one. Get a good HP (cheap in the UK) or Cisco switch and it will be reliable and able to handle what ever you through at it, then use smaller 5/8 port gigabit switches at your distribution points (e.g. TV / AV center, workstations, etc) that Amazon keeps running offers on.
Its silly not to get good network gear considering how much the equipment that relies on it costs.
However, there are better products out there, albeit 2nd hand, for a similar price. I recently purchased two unused Netgear GS724T (full gigabit, managed) switches off eBay for £25. If you care enough to have a managed switch, you'll want full gigabit anyway. For a little more you can have POE too!
It was not managed which is what i thought i had bought and it's now been replaced by a 1000 network components but at 3 times the cost. Was only using about 10 ports so overkill and i do some transfers around the network which took ages on the 100.
Can't vote it hot or cold as for some people this may be ok. I also think it is not managed as i never got into any web interface no matter how hard i tried.
And yes, someone may say they need 48 ports, but if you do, surely you have invested thousands into existing equipment, why not another £150-£200 to let it all work as it should.
Or maybe it's just to make it look like you have a big network :laughing:
The only positive thing you can say about this deal is that it costs more 2nd hand on eBay >
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZyXEL-ES-1552-48-10-100-Port-Switch-/131738663272?hash=item1eac3c7968:g:~ScAAOSwzgRW0uGt
Sorry but this is a cold deal, if something is useless and this largely is then it's not worth having, so it's cold. There are no rules for voting on this site, for me this is a cold deal. Thanks OP but no thanks.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZyXEL-ES-1552-Managed-Ethernet-Switch/dp/B000VFHUL6
If you're happy with limiting the whole 'network' to fast ethernet speeds, then it's obviously a good price, but this will be the bottleneck in your network.
If it was a full gigabit network, I would be blown away.
- comes with right angled brackets so can be attached to a standard 19" rack, and stick-on feet for table-top use
- built in power supply and works off a (supplied) standard IEC power cable, so no external "brick" or "wall wart"
(proper "grown up" kit then!)
Is it 2U or 1?