Netgear FS608 8-Port Fast Ethernet Unmanaged Switch 10/100 Mbps
£19.85
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Excellent Product - Instant set-up - I purchased this hub 3 years ago and its been running ever since. Instant set-up - just plug into your router/PC s/Mac s/Airport base stations and it works straight out the box. Perfect for splitting one ethernet port connected to your router to connect to many devices.
Does what it should do. - Buy it, unpack it, connect it, forget about it.That s how any purchase of such a network switch should run, and I m glad to report that it was indeed the case with the Netgear FS608. Plug it into your router, and connect a further 7 computers to it, and they can all access the network/internet at the same time (effectively!).The unit is styled to match Netgear s domestic range of routers etc (DG834 and the like), and comes with a pair of plastic feet, offering the option of mounting it vertically (though it looks to me as though the unit would just be pulled over by the weight of cables if it was mounted so, so I m not quite sure what Netgear had in mind).Activity on the eight ports is indicated by eight number-shaped LEDs alongside a power LED. Power is provided by the usual wall-wart supply (and an extraordinarily large one at that!).The switch was no problem to install - it just worked (about all that can be asked really!). It is happily talking to both PCs and Macs on my small network.I only gave it four stars, because it s hard to get excited about such things as network switches!
Set-up in 10 min?? - I wasn t sure about buying this. It looked bland & cheap but we really needed an 8 port switch so I bit the bullet & ordered it thinking I could hide it.It arrived 1 day after dispatch (earlier than estimated) so a good result there. I took it out of the box and, to my surprise, it was a nice shade of White. So I took it over to where our old hub is, unplugged the network cables & plugged them into the ports of the new hub and plugged in the router and print server. Then connected it to the mains where all the lights lit up Too easy, I thought). I tested all of our pc s and everything worked fine. No setup or anything. Done in the same time it takes to read this. Brill! Simple!The case is quite sturdy and the style looks very sleek and stylish. The main thing for me is that the port numbers on the front panel are large enough to see at a distance. When lit, the numbers are a nice shade of green. It seems to be well worth the money and I recommend its ease of setup.The box says 10 to 15 mins setup but that must include drinking a cup of tea!
Good hub - no need to worry about upload port. - The great thing about this hub is that it automatically configures the upload port so all you need to do is plug in the ethernet cables to any port without worrying about leaving one port free.Also it is a lot cheaper than more fancy looking hubs.
Does what it says - It s hard to review a hub... It either does what it s meant to or it doesn t. I m pleased to say that I ve had my Netgear 8 port hub running for a month now and it does exactly what it says on the box. Packets fly through the hub from one machine on my network to another.The housing itself is pleasant enough (silvery plastic) and it has a bunch of green LEDs to denote active connections. Otherwise it is a pretty non-descript affair. My only gripe would be that (in common with many devices) it has a chunk DC adaptor to go with it. Lot s of mobile phones have slim adaptors and it s high time the trend caught on with others including hubs.