Customer Reviews

NETGEAR GS105 ProSafe 5-Port Gigabit Ethernet Desktop Switch - 10/100/1000 Mbps

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

If you're looking for an affordable gigabit switch that doesn't suffer from strange auto-negotiation (speed/duplex) problems, this switch is for you.

This product is easily superior to the Netgear GS605, which may appear identical in functionality, but in actuality is not. The GS605 behaves very badly when it comes to speed and duplex auto-negotiation, resulting in incorrect speed being negotiated with Marvell, some nVidia, and some Broadcom PHYs. The GS105 does not suffer from these problems, proving the hardware in the GS105 differs from that of the GS605.

The GS105 also has an incredibly small AC adapter; it's no where near "brick" size. However, on a power strip that has AC outlets next to one another (horizontal, not vertical), this product will probably block the AC outlet next to the one you install it in. This won't happen with vertically-oriented power strips. Just a FYI...

The reason I ranked this product 4/5 stars is because of temperature -- the GS105 runs incredibly warm (borderline hot) for such a small device. Other users have reported the same issue. It's a minor drawback, but is worth noting for others who may wonder the same question.

If the temperature is a big concern, consider purchasing a Hawking Technologies HGS5T, which is identical in functionality to this product, runs much cooler, but has a larger footprint, and a "brick" AC adapter.

I think this was the smallest gig switch I could find, so I bought it. I've owned several other Netgear switches and have really liked them. This one is no different - works as advertised straight out of the box, although a bit warm as many have mentioned (a Netgear feature). All ports are on one side, and I like the fact that it has mounting holes and hardware that permit you to hang it out of sight so all that cable mess can stay off the top of the desk. Mounted with the ports facing down, all cables come up into the box neatly so I didn't experience any cabling issues as some have mentioned. Two thumbs up!

I had a 5-port HUB (using 3 of them) across the room from my main system. When transferring files I got a steady stream of collisions. Really slowed down the transfer due to all the retransmissions.

The SWITCH was truly Plug & Play. Plugged everything in and it worked. It did all the address look-up and handshaking without human involvement. File transfers now run at full speed with no collisions.

Highly recommended.

I purchased this item because I set up a Windows 2003 file server in my home to store files from my various computers. I still use wireless for laptop, but no longer for desktop. Speeds file transfer speeds increased greatly from 100M to GB speed. Well worth the price. Unit has good build quality and is made of metal, not plastic. Unit has been working since I purchased it with no problems (switches are so much more robust than the routers they have to deal with). File transfer to W2k3 box is about 40MB/sec. (1GHz P3 server)

I like Netgear's Professional line.

These switches are great when they work, but after a period of 2-3 years two of the three I've owned started having serious problems. Six months ago I noticed that while using my Xbox360 as a Media Extender - something I do all the time - I started getting a lot of "Network Congestion" messages and horribly choppy video while watching some TV shows I had previously recorded. This had never happened before, and I was pretty perplexed because I hadn't changed anything. I tried a number of different things from both ends (you name it, I tried it), but nothing helped with the issue. I eventually decided to eliminate the GS105 (initially just plugging the Ethernet cable right into the Xbox360 and then later using an old Linksys Gigabit switch I had) and everything has worked perfectly since. Unfortuntely, the issue returned a couple weeks ago, but I knew traffic going to the Xbox was going through another GS105 I had on my home network, so I replaced that switch with another one - I had to run out to the store this time - and I'm now back in business again. It's a shame about this switch, because they are quiet, sturdy, and inexpensive, but I won't be buying another one.

Bought it primarily to connect 2 PCs and NAS, but also connecting Internet Router and Xbox 360.

Profs:
* Small
* Cool (temperature)
* Metal case (asking why this is prof? Because not smelly plastic like most others!!! And of course metal provides extra shielding)
* Excellent quality
* Perfectly works on 1 Gigabit speed
* Package also contains 4 rubber legs and screws for on wall mounting (if needed)
* Green. Up to 60% power saving (as declared on the box). Of course haven't checked by myself! :-)

Cons:
None so far

For years and years Netgear has been producing a line of metal enclosed unmanaged (read no need to mess around with configuration) network switches. This line of metal enclosed Netgear switches have a proven track record -- I've used a dozen of them over the years without encountering any problems.

This 5-port Gigabit Ethernet Switch continues this flawless track record. I picked up two of these 5-port switches to ensure that my newly wired-for-Gigabit house maintains Gigabit speed on my internal wired network, only dropping to 100Mb/s Ethernet when network traffic crosses onto my router and then upstream to my DSL modem and beyond.

The Switch is small and light enough to be stashed out of the way attached to the side of a desk with the included mounting screws. The switch has two keyholes cut in the base of the unit. If you carefully position the two included screws in a vertical or horizontal surface (to mount on the underside of a table) then the switch will slide onto the screws to securely hang the switch.

I needed to connect a couple of PCs in my home office into one wall outlet, this sure did the trick. Simple, easy to connect, just power it up, connect the cables and you are off and running. It works so well I'm buying another one for connecting my media systems together (Blu-Ray player, Plasma TV and Gaming console). Very small footprint, no noticeable heat generated, dark enough color to blend into the background. Highly recommend it...

I spent many years volunteering for a community radio station and, as a result, dealt with large audio files quite a bit. In 2006, when I finally upgraded my computers to motherboards with gigabit PHYs, I wanted to upgrade from my trusty Linksys 10/100 hub ASAP to speed-up transfers. After a fair amount of research, I chose the GS105 based on Netgear's reputation, many positive reviews, the purported ruggedness of the ProSafe series and price (interestingly, this unit is only five dollars cheaper now than when I bought it).

I was impressed with the unit from the get-go. It was small, well designed and constructed with excellent fit-and-finish and a heft (for it's size) that reinforced the sense of quality. It's feature list was impressive and probably would have been considered near business-class at the time. Set-up was about as easy as it can be--plug it in and you're up-and-running.

It's been connected to a variety of devices over the years (SMC and Netgear routers, Realtek, Marvell, Intel, Nvidia adapters--probably others) and it's had no compatibility issues whatsoever. Speed has always been outstanding, though I only really notice with large transfers. The unit does run warm, but not hot. I believe this is because 1) it's small size gives less area to spread the heat out and, more importantly, 2) the metal housing dissipates heat more efficiently than a plastic housing, which is actually a good thing. After running 27/7 for years, it has proven 100% reliable.

I can't speak to the problems others have had with the GS105, a lot can change in 3 years, especially with technology. All I can say is my experience has been nothing but positive. It's a great little switch with a nice set of features. Highly recommended.

Our company is growing by leaps and bounds to the point that we have several offices that are being shared. When the offices were built there was only a single data port going to each, so rather than hire someone to come in and pull new wire to each of the offices, I instead used these to share the office single dataport.

They work great, and I have had no problems.