24 Port Gigabit Switch

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  elusive on 11/06/2015 - 23:55

  +1

  There's a ZyXEL one for $89 at MSY: http://www.msy.com.au/viconline/gigabit/15430-zyxel-zgs1100-… - it also has two SFP ports if you ever want to add fibre…

  And, yea, you can link up the switches like that but keep in mind that it'll be a bottleneck between the two.

• 

  airzone on 11/06/2015 - 23:59

  +1

  "Im wondering can I connect smaller 6 port switch into the 24 port switch in the living room to give me multiple ethernet outputs in the shed? (I don't want to run 6 wires to the shed, just one)."

  Yes you can. Bear in mind that all devices will need to share that gigabit link, and cat 5e/6 can only be run 100m lengths. Past that, you'll need a different solution (such as wifi bridge or fibre).

• 

  Ramrunner on 13/06/2015 - 08:57

  Comments are all good above, but would add that if you're going to wire CAT6, ALWAYS PULL 2 WIRES.

  Why?

  The price difference between 1 and 2 is negligible.

  You're doing it anyway, and it's a pain doing it later, it really is almost the same effort pulling 1 or two.

  It will allow you to keep one for higher bandwidth requirements, and use the other off the small "slave" switch for the other devices.

  It gives you a backup if the rats chew through one.

  OR in the future if you get semi-smart switches (which do not cost all that much more in the Netgear range for example - not sure about other brands), you can actually LINK AGGREGATE, which means using 2 ports on the switches and linking them together for a 2Gbps link to the shed instead of 1Gbps.

  Always think of the future, unlike Mr Malcolm Turnbull. lol

  Mate with Ultra HD TV around the corner (over the internet), and maybe just maybe fibre links ever coming to our homes, at least running two wires gives you the wiggle room to actually utilize that later yeah?

• 

  [Deactivated] on 13/06/2015 - 10:43

  Cheers for the advice so far, I'll ask the electrician about double wiring. Is ZyXel a known brand? Wouldn't i be better off sticking with one of the big brands? Has anyone used one of these? Seems tailored for home use with the ports at the back
  http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=1315181…

  • 

    elusive on 14/06/2015 - 01:53

    ZyXEL seems reasonably big, but is more often rebranded. Also seen in enterprise equipment, but apparently that's a different division from their SOHO stuff - though, I'd imagine a 24-port switch with SFP doesn't really fall under SOHO.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZyXEL:
    http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/high-end-vs-low-end-r…
    http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r9534155-Router-Debate-Zyxel…
    http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/388928-zyxel-admins-an…
    http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/370131-moving-from-hp-…

    For the most part - they're apparently considered adequate for the price-conscious, but not as good/tested (?) as Cisco, HP, etc.. One of the bigger complaints seems to be the UI, but the UI doesn't matter in an unmanaged switch. Now, you're comparing to D-LINK of all brands, and they are also considered crap in enterprise, so…

    Basically: as long as it doesn't suffer from a hardware failure, then it probably won't matter. And apparently ZyXEL hardware is decent enough, going by the above links.

    Also, as for running multiple wires - consider running a conduit instead, to more easily pull wires through in future. Well, ask how much that costs.

  • 

    Ramrunner on 14/06/2015 - 10:11

    Not familiar with ZyXel.

    I tend to stick to the Netgear PROSAFE range.

    They are a little more expensive than the consumer plastic stuff BUT here's the thing:

    In my 18 years of reselling Netgear, I've tossed and replaced plenty of their consumer level gear, as well as other brands of course. I have ONLY EVER replaced ONE prosafe switch after a lightening storm. Netgear replaced without question! Rocks solid otherwise. Just work.

    I know this is OzBargain, but I actually think the ProSafe stuff (even though costing a little more) IS a bargain because it has a life time warranty and seems to be indestructible by anything but lightening and even then Netgear replaces it!