NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Plus Switch (GS308E) - Desktop or Wall Mount, Home Network Hub, Office Ethernet Splitter, Silent Operation, Black

Used this to replace a 5 port cheaper switch that ran out of ports , it works well and is sturdy

Got the 8-port Netgear switch for $18.99. Great value for a trusted brand and it works great. What else can you say?

Awesome product. It allowed the two ethernet ports on my Synology NAS to be connected. Now copying large video files takes seconds!

I have always had two networks in my house, one directly on the ISP router LAN, one off an inner router than treats the outer as a WAN. The ISP controls the firmware in the outer router and I dont trust them. But a situation arose where I needed both networks in other rooms, and I had only one network cable fished through to those rooms. So, I went to smart switches and VLANs. I bought three of these, one 8 port and two 5 port. The setup process was not smooth. I was trying to use the static IP setup method. With the first 5 port switch, it worked as advertised. With the second 5 port switch the IP address of the switch kept coming up 0.0.0.0, even after a reset and a power cycle. The 8 port switch did the same. Then I figured I guess I should let those last two obtain an IP from my inner network router and configure them that way. That worked, except on the 8 port I had to initially use the web interface because the program interface is turned off by default! The program and the web interface both are not the most user-friendly systems I have used. They are very similar in design. There is a fairly strict order in which you have to do things or it yells at you. Once initially configured, I had issues because I had assigned a static IP that was on VLAN 2 as opposed to VLAN 1. I couldnt see the management interfaces switches other than the one to which my laptop was connected even though I was on the same VLAN. Reading up on a NETGEAR forum, it turns out an undocumented feature of the switch, at least per a conversation on a forum I found, is that it expects the management interface to be on VLAN 1. But, I managed to get it all up and running, and it works well once configured. As other reviewers have stated, these switches are fine as long as you are on something like a home network where you are hiding behind a NAT router and a firewall. Thats because the static IP of the management interface is presented on every VLAN. For example VLAN 1 in my case is 192.168.a.x and VLAN 2 is 192.168.b.x. The a network is the inner, and the b is the outer, meaning a LAN can connect to the b LAN that is the WAN to a, but not vice versa. Even so, using a management IP of 192.168.a.X when on the b VLAN, I have proven that I can access that interface by using a fictitious b address on the outer a network. The switches, being fanless, get a little warm but certainly not hot to any level of concern about longevity. I gave them three stars because of the setup issues, the undocumented feature, and the security issues. But, they still do what I need them to do. If you want ease of setup or better security, I advise looking elsewhere.

This switch works well to wire my Google Mesh Wifi routers to avoid broadcast storms.

I raised the internet speed in my house up to 500 MBS, but all the wired items show no speed increase. Then I figured out that my ethernet switch managed up to 100 MBS only. I change my switch to the NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet and WUALAA, now Im happy.

Does what I need it to and good price

NETGEAR 8-Port Unmanaged Switch - GS308 is a great little switch if you just need to split one Ethernet line into 7 or less more lines (one port is for the incoming line to be split). But thats it, just that simple, plug in one Ethernet line from your source (home cable modem in my case) into additional lines to feed additional routers and that is about it. Simple, quick, and easy to install, just plug and play, lol. Mine runs 24/7/365 and NEVER gets warm much less hot, never stops working, lights keep blinking to let you know its still working, well the power light stays on steady, but the data lines blink with a wink to let me know I can depend on them, no worries. However, NO software which is actually a good thing if you just want a simple splitter with zero ability to manage or control what gets fed to what, when, how, etc. At first that was all I needed, now I need more and find myself upgrading again. I started with a 5-port switch that had 1 input port with 4 output ports, and no management software. I expanded and needed more so I bought an 8-port which added 3 more ports, nothing more, nothing less. Now I need to be able to manage some of my ports so I will be getting another NETGEAR 8-Port Switch with options for management from my desktop, laptop, smartphone, etc. and a little security built-in among other things which I find more necessary every day. I will be sticking with NETGEAR for the solid construction and long life reliability of their products. I will leave a review for whichever model ends up running with my system so I can speak to their software and management solutions. This is only for my home networking solution and served me well, so no need to change brands, just a little more money for more features that the next models up the NETGEAR line have to offer. It will be either the GS308T (simple managed switch version) or maybe for a few dollars more (what a great name for a movie) do a little future proofing with a GS308P or GS108PE-300NAS if I dont breakdown and spend even more for extra security, but then it gets more complicated with the software and I like keeping things as simple as possible while serving my actual needs. NETGEAR has never let me down and you definitely get what you pay for over TP-Link (NEVER AGAIN) for example. Stick with what works, brands you know and know they stand behind their products. You cannot go wrong with NETGEAR unless you get a model without enough ports or without port management if you need it, otherwise this model will serve you well. NETGEAR switches with their metal cases are far superior to the ones with the cheap plastic cases which can and do break as well as overheat in my personal experience.

I was using a different port before this and I always had issues getting the internet speed I paid for on my devices connected to it. With this one from Netgear, I am finally getting consistent internet speeds and I couldn’t be happier with it.

Plugged it in. It just works. It is not the cheapest, but the switch seems well made. My only complaint is the description on Amazon which describes it as a Switch / Hub / Splitter. It is a Switch. Period. The other two terms are incorrect, thank goodness. Hubs have not been made since the Gigabit standard was adopted. Hubs blindly rebroadcast packets across all other ports, and are horrible for your network. The only reason they were ever made is that switches used to be prohibitively expensive. Splitters are a very different device used to send two separate Ethernet signals (at max 100 Mbps) across a single Ethernet cable. There are very, very few instances in which this is still necessary. Unfortunately, some consumers search for those terms, which causes sellers to include them in the titles and descriptions, which results in further consumer confusion.