8 port network switch for home office- low power consumption
Discussion
Folks - looking for an 8 port network switch for my home office.
Currently using an old Asus N66U router as a 4 port switch - but need more ports :-)
Key requirements for me:
- small form factor
- low power requirement (which I think means using "smart" switches which power down ports when not in use/reduce power to the minimum required)
- reliability
- some degree of firmware support/updates/patches from the manufacture in response to vulnerabilities etc
Nice to have:
- ability get MI/networks stats etc (the N66U is good for this - albeit flashed with AsusWRT)
Power over Ethernet is not a requirement - realistically its connecting together multiple laptops, NAS, printer, etc.
Before anyone suggests using wifi- I did use Wifi, but I'd rather keep traffic to and from the NAS over cable where possible, and reduced the load on the wifi APs (which are Unifi APs).
Currently looking at the following:
- Netgear GS108 Prosafe
- Netgear GS308
- TPLink SG108E
- Draytek G1080
Price is a factor - but not that much. Power consumption is a greater factor and need to minimise (not for energy cost purposes, but to minimise load on wall sockets which are already driving multiple monitors, laptops, KVM Hubs etc, along with form factor (needs to fit in the space on my N66U)
Appreciate thoughts, or anything I've missed,
Thank you
Currently using an old Asus N66U router as a 4 port switch - but need more ports :-)
Key requirements for me:
- small form factor
- low power requirement (which I think means using "smart" switches which power down ports when not in use/reduce power to the minimum required)
- reliability
- some degree of firmware support/updates/patches from the manufacture in response to vulnerabilities etc
Nice to have:
- ability get MI/networks stats etc (the N66U is good for this - albeit flashed with AsusWRT)
Power over Ethernet is not a requirement - realistically its connecting together multiple laptops, NAS, printer, etc.
Before anyone suggests using wifi- I did use Wifi, but I'd rather keep traffic to and from the NAS over cable where possible, and reduced the load on the wifi APs (which are Unifi APs).
Currently looking at the following:
- Netgear GS108 Prosafe
- Netgear GS308
- TPLink SG108E
- Draytek G1080
Price is a factor - but not that much. Power consumption is a greater factor and need to minimise (not for energy cost purposes, but to minimise load on wall sockets which are already driving multiple monitors, laptops, KVM Hubs etc, along with form factor (needs to fit in the space on my N66U)
Appreciate thoughts, or anything I've missed,
Thank you
- edited for typo.. power over ethernet.. not power of
Edited by HiAsAKite on Wednesday 15th November 08:06
colin79666 said:
Are the APs run by a controller? If yes get a Unifi switch and you can control it all in the console.
Fair point.Not really. (are they run by a controller)
Clearly I do have Unfi controller installed on one of my machines to set-up the APs, but they are pretty much now left to their own devices, and the machine in question with the controller almost "retired".
I had intended to shift it to run either on the Pi4 running Pi-hole, or into a container on the NAS - but not got round to that yet. Don't recall when I last actually turned the controller "on" (Which shows how reliable the APs have been).
The Ubiquiti switches (looking here: https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/store/poe-switches/... all seem significantly more expensive than the above- and include PoE which i don't need (the APs are all elsewhere in the house). So seem overkill.
outnumbered said:
Just get whatever unmanaged 8 port Tp-link, Dlink, Netgear etc is cheapest... None of them use more than a few watts.
This is what I'm trying to work out the difference in between. Given similar power (4-5W) and size/form factor - hence question on suppot/patching/security and reliability..HiAsAKite said:
Price is a factor - but not that much. Power consumption is a greater factor and need to minimise (not for energy cost purposes, but to minimise load on wall sockets which are already driving multiple monitors, laptops, KVM Hubs etc, along with form factor (needs to fit in the space on my N66U)
This seems odd logic.A wall socket is good for 13 amps, so at 240 volts that is >3000 Watts. An LCD monitor is say 100W. A laptop flat out is maybe 70 Watts (averaging between ultrabooks and gaming machines). Unless you've got more than 15 laptop/screen combos and like sitting next to a beefy fan heater then a single wall socket should be fine for any reasonable load as described.
Netgear switches are cheap (tp-link/mercusys are sometimes cheaper and offer you choice about power connections on front vs back) and draw about 5W with all ports in use (https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/datasheet/en/GS105v3-GS108v3.pdf). They all support powering down unused ports.
The unmanaged ones don't have an IP address, and in > 20 years in the business I've not seen a report of a vulnerability or patch.
Buy whatever is on offer. Recycle it as a consumable if you have an issue.
HiAsAKite said:
This is what I'm trying to work out the difference in between. Given similar power (4-5W) and size/form factor - hence question on suppot/patching/security and reliability..
If they're unmanaged there's no patching or security to worry about. You can get these things for £15. I've never had one fail, but if it only lasts 3 years, it won't break the bank to replace..964Cup said:
I have a TP-link TL-SG108S on my desk in front of me that has done sterling work until recently (now replaced with a Zyxel managed item with 10GbE). Fanless & 0.6A at 9v, so 5.4W. Only 160mm x 25mm x 100mm. 11.9Mpps forwarding, full jumbo frame support. And less than £30 on Amazon.
I have similar. I expect many people (like me) have a spare one lying around anyway. Every small office will have some in a box somewhere.A good unmanaged 1Gbps 8-port switch is under £20, and is pretty bombproof. TP-Link is my preference, but YMMV. If you want/need a managed switch then it gets more interesting, but unmanaged switches are commodity items these days. They sip only a few watts.
Griffith4ever said:
They are a few watts. Netgear unmanaged. Cheap, reliable, low power.
IF they switched ports off you might save a few milliwatts!
PoE switches aside, I can't imagine how a 4/5-port SoHo switch could save any power by "powering off" ports at all - the ports aren't powered as such unless something is connected to them and equally if there's nothing connected then the actual switching hardware in the device won't be using power switching data to/from that port. Even if there was, as you say it can't be using much power at all, when you look at the sort of AC adapters they come with.IF they switched ports off you might save a few milliwatts!
8bit said:
PoE switches aside, I can't imagine how a 4/5-port SoHo switch could save any power by "powering off" ports at all - the ports aren't powered as such unless something is connected to them and equally if there's nothing connected then the actual switching hardware in the device won't be using power switching data to/from that port. Even if there was, as you say it can't be using much power at all, when you look at the sort of AC adapters they come with.
You can save a minute amount per port, but it adds up on larger switches. I have some 48 port switches supporting the port power down functionality described https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-Efficient_Eth... . Enabling it on a roughly half occupied switch saves roughly 12 W according to the switches SNMP reporting, which works out at ~.5W for each unconnected port.Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff