Netgear GS724T ProSafe 24-Port Gigabit Smart Switch

by Netgear

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 12.5 x 4.2 inches ; 7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001W2XJI
• Item model number: GS724TNA
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 13, 2004

Product Description

PROSAFE 24PT GIGABITWCH SMART SWCH +2 SFP SLOTS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Notworking Architect (PI), December 11, 2007

By 

Rahoul Puri "Notworking Architect (PI)" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Netgear GS724T ProSafe 24-Port Gigabit Smart Switch (Personal Computers)

My NFS write performance from my iMac to Linux Server was horrible, and after trying a whole bunch of optimizations. I decided to see if network errors were the culprit. Quickly got two Netgear GS724T Smart 1Gb Network switches from a friend to check if "The Network" was the issue due to dropped packets.

Got the boxes opened, plugged all the cables in, and powered up the units. First thing I noticed was the fans. The fans came on immediately, and are not thermally controlled. The noise level seems to be okay, but could be an issue in a quiet room. Maybe the next revision will have thermally controlled fans. The airflow for the fans are the side panels, would have liked it to be front to back.

Moving forward, fired up Firefox to configure the switches. Problems, I could not find the switches on the network. Spent the next twenty minutes checking the DHCP server (NetScreen 5xt router) for assigned IP address. I had to reboot the switches, and start over many times. No luck, no IP address assigned to the switches.

At this point, my daughter walks saying, "What are you doing, Daddy?" I reply, "I am configuring a switch". There went the next half an hour trying to explain to my 8-year-old daughter what a smart network switch is. By this time my daughter is thoroughly convinced that I am clueless about what I am doing, and know absolutely nothing about switches. She starts rummaging around the Netgear shipping box, and pulls out the small booklet. "What is this? She asks. "That is the manual for the switch" I replied. "Have you read it?" she asks. At this point 'Real men don't eat Quiche, and Real men don't read manuals' flashed through my head, and I slowly replied ".... Nnooo". She quickly replies, "May be you should" before running out of the room.

Okay time for the manual. The manual is fairly straightforward, skimpy at places. Wickedly I thought 'Maybe I should get my daughter to write the manual. I am sure she would start by 'First....... No.. No waait, First.... you.... open.... the.... ".

Stop it; Stop it, back to work.

I quickly opened the manual to DHCP and setup page. The manual states " switch should be in DHCP client mode". No way Jose! and gave up, did not want to argue with the switch. I changed my iMac to the switches subnet (listed on the manual). Voila, switches visible. Now we are cooking with gas.

The web configuration is a breeze, and quite straight forward. I set up static IPs on both switches and changed password etc. For the network functionality I enabled two trunked ports at 1Gb between two switches, disabled VLANs, didn't need them for my application, and enabled auto negotiation on the other ports.

The switches worked like a charm. Started the NFS tests, and logged onto the switches to see packet statistics. No Problems here, no packet drops at all. However NFS is still slow. Maybe I will review that ##$%$$#@# Linux server next.

I have been using the switches for a few months now, no problems so far. All in all this is a solid product, with excellent performance at a great price. I would highly recommend this switch. My pros, cons and wish list are as follows;

Overall rating: 4.5/5 (dinged 0.5 for the DHCP fiasco and Cons)
Tech Level: High (my daughter would disagree)

Pros:

Great Price.
Full non-blocking wire-speed connectivity. Web interface for programming
Packet statistics are a great help in debugging network issues.
VLANs, Trunking/bonding features.
Jumbo frame support

Cons:

No PoE, not a big deal IMHO
LED lights are not on the jacks; you have to look to side to check link status.
Fan noise
Side airflow
Documentation should be consistent with switch behavior

Wish list:

Thermally controlled fans
mDNSResponder for configuring multiple switches.
Front to back airflow

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Okay for LIGHT loads, but the price is really too good to be true., March 19, 2009

By 

Christopher Strong (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Netgear GS724T ProSafe 24-Port Gigabit Smart Switch (Personal Computers)

Works fine under light load, but starts dropping packets like crazy under even medium loads. Goes into an odd state where a whole lot of data seems to disappear mysteriously, even when the network is mainly idle.

Rebooting the affected servers or changing their ports does not help.

Resetting or power-cycling the switch DOES help, and it cures the problem until it gets overloaded again, then it comes back in time. Tried swapping this for another switch of the same model/revision, same problem. Tried using a switch from another manufacturer, and problem did not occur. We've seen it many times and it is 100% an issue with the switch.

There are apparently two radically different hardware revisions for this switch, both are apparently being manufactured at the same time. This is the older version. I don't know if the newer version has the same problem, but netgear makes it clear on their website that there is no way from looking at the box to see which revision is inside, there is no way to trade in an "old" style for a "new" style, and there is no way to request the purchase of a "new" style only.

I suspect they know they have a problem.

We have the 48-port version of this switch that has the "newer" hardware and we don't see the problem there.

Note that although some of their products work, Netgear's technical support is beyond terrible. I've found it easier to return their gear or throw it away when it develops a problem, don't even bother calling.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent SMB Switch with Enterprise functionality, September 24, 2007

By 

Nomticus "Andrew R." (Virginia Beach, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Netgear GS724T ProSafe 24-Port Gigabit Smart Switch (Personal Computers)

Who could ask for anything more? If you are looking for a bare-bones L2 switch with advanced L2 functionality, but without the high-price and need for advanced training then this is the switch you need to get. We like Netgear products a lot and have watched them progress as a company. They got this switch right. WebUI is easy to navigate and program, Help system is content-rich, and performance is well-balanced with the price. Most users won't need all the funtionality, but if are one of the few who are small but need BIG services, this switch hits the sweet spot.