Customer Reviews

Cisco SD2005 5-port 10/100/1000 Gigabit Switch

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Real quickly, I'm a network administrator for one of the largest websites in the US, so I'm not clueless when it comes to these devices. Like all the positive reviewers here, I was very happy with this unit when I first bought it. Worked like a charm, fast, cheap - what more could I ask for? Well how about a unit that didn't go belly up due to Linksys cutting corners on parts?

Apparently some versions of the SD2008 and SD2005 had fans, but they have been cut out. Now these little buggers overheat, and when they do, it can cause capacitors to go bad which basically kill it's ability to operate in gigabit mode. In fact, several of my computers (and I've tried all sorts of NICs/computer combos) just repeatedly drop connection in a neverending loop. Nice work Linksys.

I've read on forums that many others have the exact same problem - usually takes months for it to show up. One guy actually tore his apart, and saw the blistered/bulging components that had overheated and replaced them (hope you're handy w/a soldering iron.)

 

I work in systems/network support. Our department has bought 6 of these switches over the past year (not all in one purchase, but 1 at a time as needed). 3 out of the 6 have now failed as others have mentioned in their reviews. The switches worked great for the first few months, but suddenly failed. Post-failure, they provide a 'gigabit' link, but throughput is < 100 Kbps. If I could give this switch zero stars, I would. Don't waste your money on this switch.

You'll get the switch, you'll love it and write a great review. Then in a few weeks or months it will start going flakey. Eventually it will die completely. You'll hate it. Do us all a favor and wait a few months before you a write a breathless review about how great this is, and you'll save a lot of people trouble. Cisco should be sued over the uniformly poor quality of these switches.

Here's a hint: if a company like Cisco won't put their name front and center on a product, it's probably because they're cutting corners. LinkSys is the brand Cisco uses when they want to sell crap but don't want to tarnish their own image. Real IT people know the LinkSys is Cisco's code for "we really phoned in this one."

I have two SD2005 V1.2 5 port gigabit switches and one SD2008. One of the SD2005 V1.2 switches went bad, and I can easily verify by replacing it with the other used in another room.

The unit cannot connect at Gigabit speeds and only negotiates to 10 and 100 megabit, also has lots of packet loss.

I called for an RMA and was told that the product was outside of telephone support warranty period, but was entitled to replacement- however; in order to get a replacement, the $74 fee for troubleshooting over the phone was necessary! They will not allow you to open an RMA without troubleshooting over the telephone!

Being a Network and Systems admin this is insulting-- then the price of $74 when I can just go out and buy a brand new unit for around $50?! Linksys has lost a customer forever- and I hope that those of you reading this review investigate this for yourselves and DO NOT purchase items from a company like this. Deplorable, disgusting and absolutely shady behavior... I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau immediately.

This worked for a short period of time, after which network speeds were awful. For no obvious reason -- as others have reported -- it will only work at 10mbits now. Even with a 3 foot cat6 cable. Replacing this with other gigabit switches (and no other changes) results in instant gigabit speeds.

It took a while to diagnose the network issues I was seeing where the SD2005 was involved. Reading these reviews, or having connection speed LEDs like my other switches, would have saved a lot of time and frustration. Now I know why Linksys doesn't want you to be able to see the connection speeds!

Here's the deal. Look carefully at the picture on the Amazon product page. It's the new Version 3 COMPLETELY REDESIGNED - in the plastic case. I have two of these now that Cisco sent me as warranty replacements for the hopelessly horrible metal-case versions of this product. THESE HAVE NONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF THE PREVIOUS MODEL. They run very cool without the ridiculous fan. They support jumbo packets. They (so far 7000+ operating hours) are working just fine. Despite the perplexing decision on Cisco's part to use the same model number, Amazon should have created an entirely new product page that doesn't include the (correct) negative reviews from the previous ill-conceived incarnation of this thing.

As such, I can now recommend these.

An FYI for owners of the problematic versions: They have a "limited lifetime warranty". While you can mod them yourself and get them working by substituting a polymer cap for the aluminum electrolytic one that keeps blowing up, there's no reason to do that. You can get an RMA from Cisco (lotsa luck with the phone call, but be persistent, you'll get through to the right place eventually) and they will send you a brand new replacement of this new plastic-cased version. Problem solved. We hope.

Previous (one-star) review of the metal-case version:
Two of these things, just over a year old, have both failed the same way: packet loss, inability to sync at 1Gbit, just like the other reviewers have warned. There's no reason to waste your time and money on this garbage when there are so many alternatives that won't cause you so much grief. Too bad, too. They're nicely made with sturdy metal housings that *look* like they should last forever. Unfortunately Cisco/Linksys seems to think that "forever" is measured in months.

 

I have 2 of these dead on my desk right now. We installed dozens of linksys unmanaged switches and are seeing almost 100% failure within 1 year.

Spend the extra money for something that has a better warranty like the HP Procurve series.

z

I bought two of these for my home. After about one year of use both of them started failing. They would no longer auto-negotiate with some network cards and wouldn't connect at all at Gigabit speeds. Apparently this is fairly common for these.

I RMA'd both of them and am still waiting for replacements.

As others have said, it worked fine for about a year. Now, it randomly disconnects and seems to run at 10baseT speeds. (I've tried replacing all of the Ethernet cables, so they are not the problem.) This is unacceptable. I can't remember having a newly purchased electronic device fail so quickly.

I own a pair of these, both version 2.

Product works as advertised - performs within specifications. The 5 port unit has no fan and is thus silent in the true sense of the word.

I only gave 4 stars because the unit does not support jumbo frames.

Also, Linksys has free online chat based tech support if you need it.