Best Networking Hardware Vendors?

[TheGangstarTY]

Hi all,

I'm looking into buying some more network related hardware. I'm new when it comes to network hardware vendors.

First off, who in your opinion is the best vendor? Why?

Secondly, is Netgear a good company for providing networking hardware. Are all of their products good? Are certain products good, and others bad which they provide?

I hope you guys can help me out here!

Thanks,
- TheGangstarTY

[Led]

It depends on how much money you want to spend. 

Business often use Cisco or other business class hardware.

Netgear has a consumer and "pro-sumer" line. 

Consumer netgear products have worked well for me over the years.  I suggest you look at Amazon reviews for guidance.   

[TheGangstarTY]

It depends on how much money you want to spend. 

Business often use Cisco or other business class hardware.

Netgear has a consumer and "pro-sumer" line. 

Consumer netgear products have worked well for me over the years.  I suggest you look at Amazon reviews for guidance.   

Ok cool, I'll probably go for Netgear in that case

I'm currently going for a small switch and I'm looking at the NETGEAR GS105 ProSafe 5-port Ethernet Switch.

[Led]

That should work fine.  If you by from amazon, track the prices and wait for a deal.  It's been as low as $15 and is running about $35 now.

[TheGangstarTY]

That should work fine.  If you by from amazon, track the prices and wait for a deal.  It's been as low as $15 and is running about $35 now.

I'll be sure to look at Amazon, thanks for your help!

[Drunken_Master]

Netgear has had some good and so-so products, best to check the reviews on Amazon or newegg.  I tend to buy things like that from Amazon, Newegg, or Tigerdirect but you might find a better place over there.  I have mostly Linksys and Cisco here, I have had some good TP link stuff, really just depends on the particular model so check the reviews.   

My home network is rather complicated so I am using mostly managed switches but if you are staying small, something like that should be fine.  If you happen to want to get into doing some fancy things with your network, I am really impressed with the Cisco SG300 line of managed switches which will cost about 5 times as much but incredible functionality.  I am also a huge fan of Ubiquiti Networks, mostly rock solid products with lots of features but gonna be more money than the Netgear stuff.

[TheGangstarTY]

Netgear has had some good and so-so products, best to check the reviews on Amazon or newegg.  I tend to buy things like that from Amazon, Newegg, or Tigerdirect but you might find a better place over there.  I have mostly Linksys and Cisco here, I have had some good TP link stuff, really just depends on the particular model so check the reviews.   

My home network is rather complicated so I am using mostly managed switches but if you are staying small, something like that should be fine.  If you happen to want to get into doing some fancy things with your network, I am really impressed with the Cisco SG300 line of managed switches which will cost about 5 times as much but incredible functionality.  I am also a huge fan of Ubiquiti Networks, mostly rock solid products with lots of features but gonna be more money than the Netgear stuff.

I have checked Amazon like you and Led said and the reviews were a go ahead for me. I have ordered an 8 Port Managed switch.

You mentioned that you're using mostly managed switches, would those be worth it if it costs less than unmanaged switches? I heard that they have all the features unmanaged switches have but more. Since it also said that it is configurable, I'm guessing that requires a little extra time setting up. I'm okay with that though, I'm fast at learning this kind of stuff.

One last question. I noticed there were different styles for managed switches. There's "Unmanaged" which I pretty much understand is a plug and play sort of style but then for the managed switches it has "Web Managed (Plus)" and "Web Managed (Click)" which had me confused. I went ahead and chose Web Managed (Plus) as I would have thought that is controlled on a GUI on the PC, or on a local web page (forgotten what it's called) like BT Home Hub's panel. However (Click) had a different design to it as seen as seen in the attached screenshots. I was wondering, what do these each do exactly, what is the difference?

The screenshots are attached. First one is an unmanaged switch, second image is a Web Managed (Plus) and third image is Web Managed (Click).

EDIT: I forgot to mention, this is the NETGEAR GS105 ProSafe 5-port Ethernet Switch I was talking about, except I decided to have 8 ports instead. As it was cheaper when it came to avoiding delivery charges.

[Led]

I just use an unmanaged switch.  I don't know what the other options involve 

[TheGangstarTY]

I just use an unmanaged switch.  I don't know what the other options involve 

Ah ok. I thought it would be better to have the extra, especially since it knocked the price down by £2. A strange thing I noticed is the smaller switches (5-16 ports) cost less when "Managed" but the larger switches built for server racks cost more when "Managed". Doesn't bother me as long as it's not a worthless decision.

As for the whole "Plus" and "Click", the only different is click has the same features as Plus except it can be wall mounted too. At least that's what it says on their website.

[Drunken_Master]

The plus and click are not any industry standard terms, which I guess you may know now.

The advantages of the managed switch increase with the complexity of your network.  The lower end managed switches may let you verify speed and duplex settings; prevent accidental loops, and let you see how much traffic and errors you have on the ports.  This is very helpful if you have a problem; for instance, if one machine's speed test is slow, on an unmanaged switch you don't know if it is the switch port.  It could be the PC, the cable, the switch, or something else.  On a managed switch you have much better chance of getting it figured out.  They can include many other features such as separating vlans (for instance if you have a DMZ or a guest network) or combining ports together for more speed.  The more advanced you go, the more geek creds too.

If all you need is low bandwidth, maybe a few devices, generally an un-managed switch is usually adequate. 

[TheGangstarTY]

The plus and click are not any industry standard terms, which I guess you may know now.

The advantages of the managed switch increase with the complexity of your network.  The lower end managed switches may let you verify speed and duplex settings; prevent accidental loops, and let you see how much traffic and errors you have on the ports.  This is very helpful if you have a problem; for instance, if one machine's speed test is slow, on an unmanaged switch you don't know if it is the switch port.  It could be the PC, the cable, the switch, or something else.  On a managed switch you have much better chance of getting it figured out.  They can include many other features such as separating vlans (for instance if you have a DMZ or a guest network) or combining ports together for more speed.  The more advanced you go, the more geek creds too.

If all you need is low bandwidth, maybe a few devices, generally an un-managed switch is usually adequate.

Awesome, thanks for this information! I have a feeling that when it's set up I'll have one Computer getting more bandwidth than the other and I'm hoping to somewhat adjust it so the server gets a little more than my PC. I'm going with the assumption that printers should only need around 100-500 KB/s if that considering the only files that'll be transferred through the network to the printer is documents, text files, spreadsheets, images and other small items.
Glad I chose managed now! I'm still a bit lost as to why it costs less but from what you're saying it sounds like a win-win to me

Thank you for all your help Drunken and Led!