NETGEAR GS208 8 Port Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch, Hub, Internet splitter, Desktop, Plug and Play, White

NOTE: This is a review of the GS 208 with white plastic housing, Ethernet ports at the BACK, LEDs at the FRONT. The GS 3XX series are also on this page and have grey metal housings, Ethernet ports at the FRONT along with the LEDs. A very easy, great value gigabit upgrade for a home network, or to connect AV boxes etc. No configuration, no `correct' broadband port, no setup. I just plugged my networked devices into any of the 8 ports and they communicated instantly. That includes desktops, laptop, a hardware firewall and a broadband modem beyond it. Each PC immediately `found' each other AND the broadband through the firewall with no IP address changes required. Obviously the switch is much faster than any broadband, so the network speed really shows for streaming and file transfers within your own network. Across a 30m long Cat 5e cable I got 350-400 Mbps and that was with an old PC at one end. With a new hard drive installed speeds rose to ~ 500Mbps. The switch is very compact and neat, all the Ethernet sockets and power socket at the rear with green power and connection LEDs along the front. The LEDs flicker to show data transfer but they DON'T indicate the speed of each connection (100/1000 Mbps) by a colour change, so you may need to check your other hardware and cables to make sure you're getting gigabit speed where you should. I found a network surge protector that was dropping a connection to 100 Mbps level, but I had to look at the PC to find this. And check you don't still have any old Cat 5 (pre - 5e) cables in your network or you won't get high speeds. The unit only gets slightly warm when busy, it says 3.64W is the maximum power and it meets the IEEE standard for energy efficiency. This cool running means there's no need for vent slots which is good if you want to put it in the sort of dusty places routers and switches often end up in - but it's small and neat enough to stay out on the desk or among your AV boxes. UPDATE: Jan 2016: Almost two years later, still working perfectly.

Easy to set up and ideal for my intended use, I have been using a Belkin version for several years but it had been playing up for a few weeks dropping connections and getting very hot so I decided it was time to change it. I didn’t need anything too big or with masses of ports as it is just used as an extension to my smart TV, Android box, Satellite TV box and a hardwire link for plugging in my wife’s laptop when she needs a windows update or something transferring off my main desktop PC and this looked ideal. Setup is simple and just a case of plugging everything in and it’s done depending on your setup, for me it was just a case of switching out the old and in with the new. The box is nice and compact and everything is well finished, the light indicators work as they should showing activity on each port when in use, the box has no internal fan but even after being on all day it is just warm so no issues with that, the speed seems good, solid and consistent through all ports when I gave them all a file transfer test. I have added a short video and will also add some pictures just showing the unboxing and then plugging in all the network cables, overall I am very pleased with this purchase it is ideal for replacing my old one at a reasonable price and I would certainly recommend it.

If you've run out of ports on your router (of course you have we all do) this is what you need, top brand, nice and compact, no loss of speed and no setup other than plugging in the cables, what more could you ask for, mine runs cool 24/7 without issue, it does what you need it to and can probably handle more! Please take a second to hit the helpful button it makes taking the time to write the review worthwhile x.

The product works well and has a fairly simple design. Setup couldn't have been simpler, and I've been so pleased with it that I ended up purchasing 3 of them! The power adapter that comes with them is nice and compact, which can sometimes be an issue with devices of this nature. My only gripe, which is quite a prevalent issue given our current fascination with climate change, is with the amount of packing this little thing has. You could easily fit 7 or 8 of them in the box it comes in, and for a device as simple as it, it comes with too much paperwork in my opinion. Also of note, both the switch and the paperwork were plastic-wrapped, which again, is unnecessary. I've deducted a star because of this. Overall, a great product at a great price. There's no need to spend more.

was a good buy, fantastic quality ,easy to install and use

I wanted a router to use to upgrade the Virgin Super Hub 3 that came with my Virgin deal as it was limited to say the least. I did a bit of research and went for this model as it offered most of what I wanted. As well as good wireless functionality I wanted a VPN Server and a decent DHCP Server. So far it has been relatively east to setup, although the VPN servers have caused me some issues, probably due to my lack of experience setting up VPNs. DHCP is good, although one minor weakness is the inability to set device names except by using IP Reservations. The aerials are also prone to being a bit slack, but once positioned they seem fine so far. The icing on the cake for me is that the router can use 2 broadband inputs which is just what I wanted. Although I still have some tweaking to get the many varied settings just as I want them I am extremely pleased with this router. I also get a much better speed when connected to the Wi-Fi than I did with the Virgin router, so performance is very good. The web based portal is very good, and the app is fine, but other than installing it for a "play" when the router first arrived I don't think I will use it much. So far, definitely 5 stars from me.

First off, this is an awesome product, totally plug and play with absolutely no configuration required whatsoever. Simply plug in your cables and off you go - it automatically detects whichever port has the connection from the router and the which one is connected to your computer or other devices, you don't have to do anything. I use mine to connect an AV receiver, Smart TV, Sky HD box and HTPC to my home network. I simply plug in the various devices to this switch and then run cable between it and my main router. Everything connected and configured automatically as soon as it was plugged in. For a stress test I streamed HD content to the Sky box over the internet, over the Smart TV and over the HTPC. I also sent two Blu-Ray rips from my NAS to the HTPC, each one averaging roughly 25 mbps. All the streams worked perfectly and the switch only got very slightly warm to the touch. A final good point - the power cable and the ethernet ports are on the SAME side of the device. Many switches have these on opposite sides with is a pain for cable management. One ANNOYING point - The older version of this switch would adjust the colour of the LED lights on the front to indicate the speed of the connection over that port. That is, if you had a 100mbps device it would turn orange whilst a 1000mbps device would turn the indicator green. This is quite handy for quickly checking the network is operating as fast as it should. This particular switch seems to simply stay green, despite the speed of the connection. I've tested it with several confirmed 100mbps devices and a green light is all you get.

Why did I not network my house sooner? I was so frustrated with wifi keep dropping out all over the house, and my ISP was no use at all saying that the router was receiving the signal but unstable wifi wasn't their problem. This is perfect and sits behind my TV. I have run cat 6 cables from router to back of TV, feeding smart TV, Sky box, DVD player and PS4. I also have one in the loft feeding TVs and Ps4s upstairs. No more internet drop out and the speed is phenomenal, even with all devices streaming at the same time. So easy to set up: just plug and play! Apart from mobile phones, wifi is useless and unreliable this day and age due to the large amount of interference from modern day objects. Also, routers struggle to push through solid walls leaving dead zones all over the house. Serious, bite the bullet and with a few hours of hard work and hiding cables you will reap the benefits for life.

Bought this by accident not realizing it would be useless to me. No free return so it’d have cost too much to do anything else but throw it away.

Forse il prodotto è eccellente (non ho avuto modo di provarlo) ma ti arriva con spina americana e quindi inutilizzabile in Italia. Va ricomprato l'alimentatore e quindi alla fine costa un sacco. Il fornitore cmq era disponibile a riprenderlo indietro...ma con i costi della spedizione che equivalgono (o quasi) quelli del nuovo alimentatore