According to Bill Reid:
Brock Wolfe wrote:
I need to do some network upgrading and started looking at 16 port ethernet switches for a small business network. The D-link, LinkSys, 3COM, Netgear, SMC, Ovislink, brands seem to be mostly available for this market niche. Any recommends on make/models or features to use or avoid. Thanks in advance for the advice.
Brock
The last couple of switches I bought were Netgear's FS605. Good price and they have both been working without problem for a few months. A great feature which is becoming more common is the ability to sense which pair is receive/transmit so you do not need to worry about rollover cables, etc. In other words any port can be the uplink port. SMC also has this feature.
As a side note: I would like to see equipment which requires a power adaptor to use the kind that only use one space on the power bar. I have seen one on a Netgear router last year and thought what a great idea.
We're using OvisLink SW-800 mini 8-port 10/100 switches on a couple spots on our net here in Physiology, and they've been trouble-free so far (about 2 months). They too have the automatic crossover on all ports, which is a nice feature. Based on my experience, I'd expect that their 16-port product would be a safe bet too, though I wouldn't have too many concerns about any of the brands you mention above. The power adapter is a bit on the large size for the 8-port model (heavier than the switch itself) so you'd want to put it at the end of a power bar.