Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys EG005W Gigabit 5-Port Workgroup Switch

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Amazon is NOT shipping the pictured item - they are shipping the EG005W-V3, which is not only a totally different form factor - it has fewer features (led indicates connection only).

On the plus side, This one has no fan so is totally quiet - on the minus side, the V3 version is cheaper and that lower price is NOT reflected here!!

I specifically ordered the product because the form factor met my requirements. It is NOT acceptable to substitute a different product without notifying the buyer first.

I was shocked. I have rooms full of electronic equipment. This is louder than all of it combined. The loudest piece of electronic equipment I have ever heard. I can hear it in a closed closed from every room in my house.

I purchased the EG005W six months ago. Since I installed, it has been working 24/7 flawlessly, hooked to three PCs with gigabit ethernet (two systems with Intel's PRO 1000/MT PCI cards and one with a Realtek 8139 PCI card).

I obtain gigabit links to all three systems using regular Cat "5e" cables (believe me, if you don't need super long cables, cat5e is just good enough, no need for the more expensive cat6), and the speed is only limited to about 400mbps by the 33Mhz PCI BUS, not by the switch (to obtain the full bandwidth, you need a system with Gigabit built on the system board which bypasses the PCI bus bandwidth limitation). Still, 4x faster than 100mbit fast ethernet is a huge improvement.

VNC sessions from one system to the other over gigabit feels almost like a local session.

Very stable unit, can be stacked on top of other likewise Linksys units (mine sits on top of a BEFSR41 ethernet firewall/router). Cons? It's got an internal fan. So if you have a bunch of Linksys devices, you need to place the EG005W on top, to allow proper air flow.

The fan is not _very_ noisy, just noticeable. Like a notebook's fan during normal operation.

Since the beginning of wifi, i have been purchasing linksys products. Now with Cisco's involvement (high end routers, switches, gateways etc), things can only get better.

Out of the box... no adjustments needed.
just the way i like it.

the only minus is the fan incorporated in the chassis is a little loud. as loud as my hp laserjet 5000 when it's cranking.

Linksys/Cisco is lying to consumers by providing three different products with totally different features and warranty periods, yet describing the products the same model number.

Please permit me to present my credentials: I am a computer systems professional of 15 years and former loyal Linksys customer. I can't use Linksys at work, but at home network/lab uses about a dozen of their products. My setup includes BEFCMU10, BEFW1154, WRT54GS, EZX516W, AS2TNC, BEFSX41, EG1032, WPC54GS, some in duplicate, and a few others not in regular use. Before today I would confidently recommend Linksys products to the numerous relatives, friends, and neighbors who seek my advice. Now that Linksys has engaged in deceptive practices I can no longer recommend their products to anyone.

The problem is that Linksys apparently now uses "version" numbers to designate completely different products. The result is that what you buy might not be what you heard about! Complaints and confusion here on Amazon are caused by these differences. Both the model numbers and the UPC numbers are the same. The products, however, are as different as if from different vendors.

The original (EG005W ver. 1) had a possibly noisy cooling fan, from what I have read, but it has the same form factor of the earlier stackable Linksys series and no other major complaints apart from fan noise.

The EG005W ver. 2 does not have a fan, yet has the same form factor as the earlier stackables. It has 16 LEDs showing power, link/activity, speed, and duplex. The power supply is 12v/2A. It has a TWO year warranty.

The EG005w ver. 3 is a totally different smaller form factor and totally different specifications. In fact, everything is smaller: It has only 6 LEDs, a 12v/.5A power supply, but worst of all, only ONE year warranty.

According to the packaging of both, ver.2 and ver.3 are otherwise technically/specifications identical, but this is insufficient to distinguish versions (or brands for that matter).

In all fairness, I know from my numerous Linksys purchases that they, like other vendors, make incremental improvements to products that merit different version numbers, but not for different model numbers. A great example is the WRT54GS; later versions are pretty impressive yet incremental improvements.

The problem here is that this the three versions are TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Ver3 is hardly more similar to Ver2 than the HP J9077A#ABA, the NETGEAR GS108, or the D-link DGS-2208, notwithstanding number of ports.

So Buyer beware!

I am a little disappointed that the item viewed on this site is NOT the item you recieve. I purchased this item because I like the design, and also the name. I have a linksys cable modem, and a linksys wireless access point of the same design. I purchused this item so that all three devices would be stackable. Well, the item recieved today is the "new" design which does me no good. I am sure the device works fine, but I really needed the old design.

I have a WRT54G and I wanted the EG005W that is pictured so I can stack it. I should have read the reviews first, I am not going to return it, I need to use it now. REally disappointed with Amazon.

This unit was recommended to me by my favorite MAC guru and works perfectly. Looks good. It's plug and play. 0 hassle. I would buy it again. Be aware that it runs very warm to the touch. That's normal from what I hear and read.

I've seen several reviews about the old linksys product, about it was very noisy, but the switch that I received was excelent, because it's smaller than the one in the picture and because the functionality of the gigabit transfer is just perfect.

I'd ask to amazon and the seller to update the product description in the webpage.