Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys EZXS55W EtherFast 10/100 5-Port Workgroup Switch

5 star:		(129)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

This switch does exactly what it's designed for, sharing an Ethernet connnection. Don't expect to be able to configure VLANs, multilayer switching, VLAN trunks, load balancing, etc. This does not have any routing, NAT, or firewall capabilities. You would use this switch when you already have a router between your internal network and the Internet, and you need additional Ethernet ports. This gives you a full duplex Ethernet connection at wired speed, and it delivers! Perfect for the home office/LAN or for technicians needing extra Etherenet ports for their workbench, as this is what I use mine for. Thanks for reading! Hope this helps!

Thinking of setting up a network? Wish yours would run faster? If so, this is the product for you. Installation is simple. If you can plug a network card into your pci slot you can have your network up and running in minutes. (If you dont know how to plug in a network card, it will take about 5 extra minutes) Anyway, Don't buy a hub. A switch is full duplex meaning it can send and recieve data at the same time. Also with a hub, all ports share the bandwith. ie a 5 port 100m hub w/ all five ports being used = 20m per port. while a switch runs 100m per port, reguardless of how many ports are being used.. And in full duplex mode 200m per port. Also if your looking for computer y on a hub, it must check each port until computer y is found. This switch will know that computer y is on port 4, so you will go right to it, and save time. all n all a great product, as are all linksys products...

First off, in case anyone out there doesn't know, there are a few advantages to purchasing a switch rather than a hub. The main advantage, for most users anyway, is that a switch provides optimal bandwidth to all ports, whereas a hub splits available bandwidth between all active users. This means that if you are sharing a cable modem for example with others in a house/office building, connection speed will not be reduced when multiple users connected to the switch are online.

Now, as for this little baby, as soon as I saw the price I grabbed it instantly. The Linksys name had been mentioned to me favorably before, and the going price was within a few dollars of most 5-port hubs. I have been using it for 5 months now to share the cable modem in my apartment, and I can honestly say I have never had a single difficulty. Setup was quick and easy, I was online in less than 5 minutes. The whole device is smaller than most alarm clocks, so storage is hardly an issue. Overall, this is a best buy hands down, anyone out there who needs inexpensive networking equipment, this is the way to go.

I purchased my second Linksys EZXS55W recently to expand my home network. My first EZXS55W has been up and running for almost three years now, without a single hitch. However, due to the evolution of my home network, additional ports became necessary to accomodate all of the attached devices.

To discover the ability of this switch to deal with a complex network configuration, read on...

My network consists of: One HP desktop computer, which connects via a Linksys PCI ethernet adapter card; one Sony VAIO laptop computer, which connects via a Xircom PCMCIA wired ethernet card adapter; another Sony VAIO laptop, which connects via a Linksys 802.11b PCMCIA wireless ethernet adapter card; a Linksys wireless access point; an HP EX-Plus3 print server, connecting an HP laser printer; and, an additional ethernet port that I have wired for guests to use when they come to the house.

All of the above are wired to a Netgear router that resides off-site.

The network is configured as follows: Router > EZXS55W #1 > EZXS55W #2. The desktop and laptop are conncected to the first EZXS55W, as are the router and access point. The second EZXS55W is uplinked from the first, and the print server and additional wired port are connected to it. This leaves three additional ports on the second unit for future use.

The ease of setup and terrific performance of the EZXS55W cannot be overstated. In a network like mine, many people would go with a far more expensive managed switch; but, as can be seen above, this is not necessary. A novice who simply wants to connect all of the devices in his or her home and provide Internet and/or file and printer access to each of them can do so very easily with this switch.

The only issues one must consider before purchasing this switch:

1) This switch, unlike many others these days, uses an uplink port. This requires that the proper type of cable be used in the appropriate port. No big deal, but if you're not sure, you should consult the installation guide (or ask a more knowledgable friend) before attempting to install the switch.

2) Use of the uplink port disables the port beside it. Therefore, an uplinked switch has only four ports available to connect devices. If you need more ports, or think you might in the near future, consider buying the Linksys 8-port switch.

3) The switch is AC-powered. Be sure that there is an electrical outlet near the place where you want to install the switch.

These very minor concerns aside, the Linksys EZXS55W is a terrific ethernet switch at an absolutely unbeatable price. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to expand their home network quickly and easily.

Linksys tech support assured me that their were no limitations to this gizmos ability to route ethernet signals. Sure enough, I plugged it in and it's functioning exactly as I hoped. Our internet comes from a cable modem. From that I ran the cat-5 ethernet cable to the Airport Extreem which acts as a wireless router and it also has 1 out port for ethernet, which I connected the EZXS55W switch to. Off the switch I am running a printer (Laserwriter Pro 630) and a desk top G-4. I also have 3 wireless computers on the network and all are running OS-X. All can access the internet, I can print from any computer and fileshare between the whole lot. I couldn't ask for more!

I have had an aging 10mbps linksys hub as the core of my small home network for several years. Even though I was happy with it, I bought one of these, primarily because it was cheap and thought having a 'spare' couldn't hurt.

I had no idea how much that aging piece of equipment was slowing down my network! Almost everything I have now is 10/100, so dropping in this switch made my whole network a heck of a lot faster. Furthermore, as a switch (as opposed to a hub), it is much more efficient with the use of the network - traffic isn't broadcast everywhere, only to the nodes that need it.

I am VERY happy with this purchase. Cheap, fast, and drop-in simple installation to my existing network. I decided to purchase another as a 'spare' and donate my older hub to history.

Purchased this product lookig for a switch that allowed me to connect multiple systems to my home network. And it does that function exceptionally well. I had multiple printers & PC's to connect, and this switch handled multiple connection speeds flawlessly. Stylish and extremely small, it fits on my desktop without taking up very much space (approx 4.5" wide x 3.5 inches deep). All cables and connectors are on the back. The front panel led's for each port display link/act, Duplex, and connect speed.
The only thing that needs improvement on this switch is the "user guide" included with the product. There are 6 ports on this switch.. ports 1-5 and an 'uplink' port. But use of the uplink port disbles the use of port 5, leaving 4 ports for your peripheral devices. This is a bit confusing, as the device is advertised as a 5 port workgroup switch. A quick trip to [...] downloading the 'quick-start guide' (which was not included with the product) did a much better job of explaining the use of the uplink and 5th ethernet port. Overall, buy this product if you need a small switch for additional devices. Can't be beat for the price, in my opinion.

It's hard to get excited about an Ethernet switch because, I suspect, they're all pretty much the same. But every Linksys product I've ever bought has been excellent. Easy to use, quick to install, good quality and a great value. This unit is no different.

So let me explain my relatively low rating. First, the picture on this page is not the unit which comes in the box. I also have a Linksys broadband router and I was hoping that this switch would stack nicely on top of or below it. The pictured switch looks like it would do this with no problem but the actual product won't -- it's significantly smaller. Linksys claims that this is an improved "Palm-sized" form factor. While it looks cute, the size is NOT as convenient as you might think. When you have cables connected to the unit, they tend to pull it off of its footing because it's so light. So now I have to find a paperweight to keep the switch flat on the table. This is certainly not a fatal shortcoming, but you would think that Linksys would have experienced this in product testing and given the problem some thought.

Since this is probably the cheapest Ethernet switch you'll find without the hassle of a mail-in rebate, I still recommend it.

I have two of these devices at my apartment, and they both work great. Plug it in, turn it on, walk away. No more, no less, it "just works".

However, both of my switches seem to get mixed up from time-to-time, and will cause the network to act in bizarre ways (ie: it will seem to forget which MAC addresses are on which ports, causing selective network blackouts for specific machines). If you have one of these devices and your network appears to have stopped working for some reason, POWER CYCLE THE SWITCH FIRST. (this means turn it off, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on)

My switches are on constantly, and they exhibit glitches after about 6-8 weeks of being constantly "ON". A quick power cycle sets them straight.

If this is unacceptable for your setup, then buy a different (more expensive) switch. For me, this is not a problem. Otherwise, just be aware of it.

It is also possible that linksys has fixed this problem in the newer switches. I wouldn't know. Mine are both "Model 2.0".

YMMV

I connected this switch to my current LinkSys Etherfast Cable Router and expanded my network to 8 100mb connections. Total setup time was 5 minutes. Performance and ease of use is awesome. With the current rebates you cannot beat this!