Customer Reviews

TRENDnet 5-Port Unmanaged Gigabit GREENnet Switch (5 x 10/100/1000Mbps Auto-Negotiation, Auto-MDIX Gigabit Ethernet Ports) TEG-S50g (Black Metal)

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I'm in shock with how flawlessly and easily this device works.

I already have a mildly complicated network set up, with cable internet going to a wireless 802.11n-only router which also has four ports connecting to rooms throughout the house; another router is dedicated to broadcasting in 802.11b/g and offering AirTunes functionality (it receives music broadcast over the network). I purchased this device to allow two computers in one room to connect to the network & Internet via ethernet.

Little did I realize how simple it would be.

All I had to do was connect (any!) port on this TrendNet switch to the wall Ethernet connector and (any!) other ports on the device to the two computers in the room. Both computers immediately joined the network and had Internet connectivity. As expected, the device indicated the two local computers had gigabit connectivity, but only 100MBps connectivity to the main router (the in-wall wiring is not Gigabit-capable).

Besides its zero-config juju, I also really like the little rubber feet on the device; its solid-feeling metal build; its very informative LEDs; and its blazing speed.

I bought two of these TRENDnet switches (a 5 port and an 8 port) when I upgraded our home network from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps speed. I'm very happy with their performance and stability. I haven't had to think of them once since connecting them to the network. Both switches are connected to a D-Link DIR-655 Router: one with 100 feet of CAT-6 cable and the other with 25 feet.

This switch isn't very large - about the size of a paperback book. I've uploaded a picture to the product page to give you an idea of its relative size. The measurement from our Kill A Watt meter agrees with what others have already noted; this switch uses very little power. The lights on the front are helpful: green indicates a 1 Gbps connection while amber means a 100 Mbps connection.

To get a measure of speed through the switch I copied a 26 GB file between two computers connected to the same switch using drag and drop in Windows Explorer. Average speed for the transfer was 102 MB/sec. That was before enabling jumbo frames on the source and target computers.

This router supports jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes. In real world performance I achieved best performance with the computers configured for 4k frames. Between two Windows 7 64-bit computers I averaged 114 MB/sec tranferring the 26 GB file. Between a Windows 7 computer and a Windows Home Server (version 1) I averaged 109 MB/sec.

To enable jumbo frame support in Windows, right-click on Computer and select Manage. Click on Device Manager, open Network Adapters, right-click on your adapter and select Properties. Under the Advanced tab select Jumbo Frame and choose an appropriate value. Note this only applies to wired adapters; wireless connections don't support jumbo frames.

I've got absolutely no complaints about this switch. It's a great value and perfect for our home network.

This router solved a digital interference problem that occurred when I plugged network AV devices into the network port of my uVerse set-top box.

I had been using a powerline network adapter to connect internet to my network enabled DVD player, TV and home theater PC (HTPC). For video, powerline networking is a slow connection, even though this powerline adapter was advertised as good for video. However, I frequently saw that my streaming Netflix was dropping back to a low bandwidth connection because the powerline network adapter couldn't provide the bandwidth required to stream HD from Netflix.

Recently I subscribed to AT&T uVerse, and I discovered that the uVerse set-top box had a network output port. So I plugged the HTPC into that, did some DSL speed tests and discovered that the uVerse network connection was a lot faster than the powerline adapter. Apparently the uVerse box gets it's internet connection via the video coax cable.

So I ordered the TrendNet router just to split the internet signal from the uVerse box to all three audio/video devices. A gigabit switch is overkill for that purpose, but the price was right, and it's nice to have technical headroom as well as some future-proofing.

While waiting for the router to arrive, I left my HTPC connected directly to the network port on the uVerse box. Soon I was disappointed to find that as long as the computer was connected to that uVerse port, I would often get digital interference (giant pixelation) on the TV shows I was watching or recording in the uVerse set top box. "Uh-oh," I thought, "This probably means the TrendNet router is going to create the same kind of digital interference. The uVerse documentation doesn't mention using the network port as a local internet connection, so maybe it's not really meant to be used that way." I ended up disconnecting all devices from the uVerse network port, because every device did cause interference in the uVerse signal. (It's possible there was something defective in the uVerse box, of course. I didn't pursue that with AT&T, probably should have.)

Well, I received the TrendNet router. I wasn't going to return it because I knew I could use it elsewhere in the house. However, I decided on a whim to try it as a router on the back of that uVerse box. It worked! I was able to hook up all three devices to the network with the TrendNet as the "buffer" router between the uVerse box and the AV devices. I've never seen the digital interference again, and my streaming Netflix movies always connect at the highest HD bandwidth.

So, I don't know what magic is inside this TrendNet router that solves the digital interference problem, but I'm happy that it did. I've been using it for 2 months now with no problem.

Installation required no drivers - I just plugged in everything and it worked perfectly. The sturdy metal enclosure is good because the router tends to get shoved into the back of the cabinet and gets things piled on top of it, so it is handling a lot of physical abuse.

This is an ideal 5-Port Gigabit switch--I bought it for use in a small office environment to network a printer and several computers. It worked like a charm and was extremely easy to set up--basically you just plug in everything you want networked and you're done. Note this is NOT a router and will not allow you to access the internet by itself. It simply connects other networked devices and allows them to share data. The construction quality is high, with a solid metal case design that rivals much more expensive professional switches from the likes of Netgear. For the cost, this is a very good option for a small network. It would also be great for LAN parties.

Nice Gigabit switch for the costs.

Bought the 5-Port GB switches to complete my home network conversion from a 10/100 LAN. These 2 TrendNet switches serve as wired access points for a 4-device and 2-device setup downstream of a 16 port master switch. They work without issues and have not shown evidence of "lockup" experienced with other older switch types.

There is not very much to say about an unmanaged Ethernet switch. They work or don't.
This product works very well, it is made of a very sturdy construction (I bought the metal body version) and it works as advertised with devices at 1Gbps and 100Mbps (I haven't tried yet with a 10Mbps).
It auto-senses the speed and the type of cable you are using. The power brick provided with it sets perpendicular to the connector allowing you to plug other things beside it. It can be set on top of a desk or hung on a cabinet/wall with the holes underneath (no screws provided, but you can find a couple to use for this very easily).
This 5-port product uses the same footprint as the 8-port version. You can hope for a smaller device sometimes (like the Netgear GS105) if your space is tight (like inside a cabinet), but if this is not an issue for you, this is a good product.
Plug it and enjoy it!

Well, it is a switch so you just connect the ethernet cables and the power cable and that is it. I used it to allow more wired connections to my remote access point (set up in a Client/Bridge mode). I connected items such as the access point, xbox360 and my directv receiver to it. No problems.

This is an excellent product. Like all TRENDnet products I have owned, it was simple to install. It required no configuration.

It has very bright LED's.

This unit was bought to replace a failing 10/100 similar switch which was Microsoft branded. All these have broken over time and this was the hold-out.

The Trendnet 5-port GB switch is smaller and well designed for desktop use. the connectors are well made and positive. The power adapter is made to "play nice" on the power strips we use (only occupy one connection - no overlap). The LED's are clear and visible but not so bright to be annoying to a person if it does end up on a actual desktop.

In operation it's been flawless so far. This is consistent with other trendnet switch products we've used.

Not much to say. Does what it's supposed to with nothing to do but hook up cables and it works. Couldn't ask for anything easier.