Customer Reviews

TRENDnet 8-Port Unmanaged Gigabit GREENnet Standard Switch (8 x 10/100/1000Mbps)

5 star:		(132)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Recently we have installed network storage devices, and started to run backups and multi-media services on our home LAN (local area network). As a result the load on our network increased substantially. We decided to upgrade from fast ethernet to gigabit. Due to the arrangement of devices, we have several 8 port switches connected to a larger 24 bit switch which I guess is the backbone of our LAN.

When shopping for gigabit switches, the Trendnet 8 port gigabit greennet switch came up as not only a low cost, but also a low power switch. We purchased several and have been using them for almost half a year.

These switches are silent (there is no fan), and very low power (on my Killowatt meter they always show 0 watts), and very fast. They have limited support for jumbo packets (I forget the exact number, but its around a jumbo packet size of 7-9K).

This is a good solution as a low power, silent, gigabit switch that runs cool and is low cost. The switch is unmanaged, but does have status indicator lights. You will see if you are getting fast ethernet or gigabit speeds on each port. We have had no trouble with these switches.

This switch is solid. In 3 months, I've had no problems with this Trendnet switch.

Compare to my netgear crashes, gets into reboot loops, etc even after power brick and switch replacement.

The Trendnet switch runs cooler than the netgear counterpart.

The Trendnet, like the NetGear, has a metal case for better EMI control. The netgear case is just slightly thicker, which should provide better in-case ventilation.

The Trendnet switch has ports/power on the back, and activity/connection LEDs on the front. Because of this, it makes for a much more tidy desk, and easier to see link lights.

We'll see how this is doing when it's a year, or 18 months old, but so far, it's power-on durability exceeds the competition.

NOTE: This is an unmanaged switch. 10/100/1000 line speed, auto-crossover. There is no monitoring port, no web management, no SNMP, no IP sharing, and no routing.

This is a low cost, and well designed device. I highly recommend it.

This switch is well built with a metal case, performs well, and is economical. I did lots of benchmarks and found that I got maximum speeds while doing multiple concurrent large inter-computer file transfers. I repeated some of the tests while bypassing the switch to see if there was a change in speed and there was none, so this switch kept up with whatever I could throw at it. If you want more speed, chances are you will gain more with better cables/plugs/jacks/etc. rather than looking for a faster switch.

I also used a Kill-A-Watt meter to see how much energy this uses. The amount was so low that it took days to get meaningful readings, and this will cost pennies a year and electricity is not cheap where I live. Also, the switch is economically priced. This switch caused my network diagnostic to misreport cable quality as poor, but although some utilities might give you false readings, your connection will not suffer.

I read elsewhere that this switch is not compatible with WOL (wake on LAN/magic packet) and the person who posted that got the information from Trendnet support. It turns out that this works PERFECTLY with WOL as long as your computer's port is set to auto negotiation. In other words, if there's any limitation, it's with the quality of tech support, not with this switch.

The only minor negatives are that the printing next to the LEDs is not on both sides, so it will appear upside-down if this is wall mounted, making it awkward to keep track of port numbers. Also, the slots for wall mounting could have been bigger to accommodate larger screws. The documentation is minimal, but this is pretty much plug and play.

UPDATE Jan 2011. I have read comments from customers who have had problems using multiple switches of this model on the same network. I have three of them. One is connected with approximately 25 meters of Cat-5e cable to another on a different floor in my home. The cable run is UTP, about half vertical, and half horizontal though an attic with no shielding (except distance) from other cables such as power cables. A third switch is connected with approximately 8 inches of the same type cable, allowing me to have more ports in that location. Benchmarks of file transfers will not give a true picture, since the weakest link (hard drive speed, overhead from data encapsulation, switches, network cards, wall jacks, drivers, cable, etc.) will be the limiting factor. All other parts of the chain will perform at least as well as the benchmark suggests.

I tried copying about 450 GB of relatively large and barely compressible data coming from images of blu-ray and DVD sources. Transferring through all three switches, full length of the cable, etc. gave me transfer speeds of about 96MB/sec. Presumably, the hard disk arrays are the limiting factors in my system, but the switches clearly had no trouble with those sustained speeds. I used Windows 7 drag and drop over a network, which is not among the most efficient methods. A series of smaller files such as JPEGs gave me "speeds" closer to 15MB/sec, which really means that the speed over the wire was probably about the same, but a large amount of the data was overhead encapsulation.

Although it's likely that the switch was not the limiting factor, it's clear that users who are getting poorer performance have other factors that limit performance, making it impossible to say that the switches are the cause of their performance issues. A direct run of cable from one of the computers to the other, bypassing all three switches, would show if there were any increase in performance, thus showing if the switches themselves (or something related to plugs, cables, or jacks) caused the problems. But the speeds I got from several such tests were consistent, and higher than what I would have expected given that I used Windows drag and drop over a network.

I have been using the TRENDnet Gigabit Switch for nearly two months. I have not experienced a single major problem. (I did have what may have been driver issues. Upgrading to the most recent drivers seemed to clear up any problems, however that may be coincidental.)

While the switch is noticeably faster then the US Robotics unit it replaces, it is not as fast as I expected. I suspect the machines on the network are the constraints. PC to PC communications fly. Communication with the NAS is only slightly better than with the USR switch.

The switch itself is well built: metal case, not plastic. The unit is noticeably cooler than either the USR it replaces or the old LinkSys switch I had. I have an eight port switch which is clearly designed to allow stacking as heat vents are on the side (that also helps keep dust, etc. out of the switch).

It lacks any "sex appeal" in terms of design. It is a solid box that does the job. IMHO, for the few extra dollars, I would again buy this unit over the cheaper, more well known names such as LinkSys, USR, Netgear, etc.

The TRENDnet TEG-S80g 8 port switch is a very simple way to expand the number of ports on your local network. I am using it to add extra ports to the Verizon, 4 port, FiOS router provided by Verizon with their FiOS installation. It is dirt simple, no set-up required. Just connect the switch to the router using an eathernet cable plugged into any port on the router and any port on the switch and you can then use the rest of the ports on the switch to connect other net components to the network. Works great! If you need even more ports, just cascade switches together. To take advantage of the switch's full Gigabit speed, use cat5e or cat6 cabling.

I am surprised this switch isn't more popular and widespread. 8 ports, gigabyte speed, small size, sturdy metal construction yet light, plenty of indicator lights, green power management and fabulous low price. While not needed, take 5 seconds to read the instructions so you understand the indicator lights.

Do I like it? I now own three.

The switch is in a very sturdy metal box. Very low power consumption and does the job it's intended for. Very good value for the money.

Please note the pictures from Amazon for this product are for the S80DG with built in power supply. This product is the S80G with external power supply.

I purchased this gigabit switch so that I could create a small home network with my PC and my PS3 (along with any future devices I might want). I use my PS3 to stream HD movies from my PC with PS3 media server. Before, I streamed the movies wirelessly and had constant problems with the movies stuttering. Whenever the bitrate exceeded 10-15 mbps, the movie paused and became unwatchable. I'd have to pause the movie for a second, then hit replay until the movie went to a lower bitrate, and it was highly annoying. Not only did I stream movies wirelessly, but I connected wirelessly to the internet with my PC as well. I've had problems with my wireless connection ever since I moved in, and I always assumed it was my provider's fault. I was lucky to average 10 mbps download, even though I pay for 15 mbps. I was on the verge of contacting my provider the service was so bad. So I started reading around online, and decided that a wired connection might solve both my problems, and that the gigabit switch was the way to go.

I installed the switch last night. I ran 75 ft of CAT 6 cable from my PC to my PS3, tacking it along the baseboard and door frames with insulated staples to make it look pretty. I also updated all my ethernet cords to new CAT 6 cables. I plugged everything into the switch, and plugged my cable modem into the WAN port on my router. My PC instantly connected at 1 gigabit /sec. The quality difference in my internet connection IS STUNNING! I'm almost in disbelief! I went from around 10-11 mbps (on a very good day) with wireless to averaging 25 mbps with my wired conection! I also noticed lower ping times than average. The boost is simply incredible. That alone was worth the price of the switch.

My next test involved streaming HD movies on my PS3. The difference, once again, is OUT OF THIS WORLD! All my stuttering issues are completely gone. I had some movies which were not even watchable due to the high bitrate, but now they stream without a hitch (last night, some movies were hitting 25 mbps bitrate and were streaming with no problems whatsoever). Not only that, but now I can stream all my HD movies while continuing to download files on my PC at full speed (over 1.5 MB/sec, whilst streaming movies at 25 mbps on my PS3). I know that a local connection through the switch makes it so that my PS3 streams movies without using the internet, but this is a HUGE bonus in my eyes.

The switch itself is very sleek and attractive. It is lightweight but feels durable. I've had it on for around 16 hours now and it is not even warm. At this price, this switch is a steal. I'd recommend the 8-port over the 5-port for everyone, just in case you want to hook up more stuff to your network some day. The switch came with a small instructions booklet, but I didn't use it. No software or any other devices are included: it is solely the switch with the power supply and the small booklet. The device is truly plug-n-play, however, so you don't need any instructions. Just make sure your NIC is gigabit as well. I would recommend switching the default connection speed to 1000 mbps full duplex for all possible devices manually, instead of auto-negotiate (just to be sure you reach gigabit speeds).

In sum, for my needs of a small home network, this switch is perfect. My internet connection is blazing fast now due to ditching my WiFi, and I can stream HD movies without any stuttering. The switch exceeded all my expectations. Highly recommended!!

And, of course, thanks to Amazon for being so spectacular. I ordered this with 1-day shipping for 3.99 (under Prime shipping rules) and they one-nighted it from Arizona to Ohio to be delivered on a Saturday by FedEx! You rock Amazon!

I was a little skeptical getting this item because I'd always thought of TrendNet being the most bottom-shelf networking hardware. But my home office Netgear was having issues, and I needed something cheap in a hurry. I've used it for about a month now and not a single issue, as it should be. I'm very happy with its function and its design. The Netgears have ports on the front, which create a wiring nightmare on an office desk. My throughput on my network is just as good as it was with my previous Netgear, but now I have more ports and it's hardly any warmer than room temp which has to equate to real power savings for something that's on 24/7. Also you can't argue with the price tag. Overall, it was perfect for my needs. I didn't need any fancy features, just speed and reliability.

This switch may be the easiest piece of networking gear I've ever dealt with. Stick on the little rubber feet, plug in the wall wart, plug in the ethernet cables, and it just works. Too bad all electronic gear isn't this simple.