Switch recommendations wanted.

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ecktt

Occasional Visitor

• Nov 21, 2015

• #1

My sister's home came pre-wired with cat5e and has 28 outlets distributed through out the house terminated to rj45 in a 2'x4'x4" cabinet. All the coaxial cable also ends up there, with an Arris modem for internet and a separate Arris router for a phone line for the security system, so space is pretty tight. She expressed an interested in activating all the ports in the house but given the tight space and almost complete lack of ventilation, I don't know what switch/s to suggest. I'm visiting form Trinidad and only have a few day left else I would have terminated everything to a patch panel and placed the switch somewhere else.

Right now I'm think of getting a Cisco Compact 24-Port Gigabit Switch with 2 Combo Mini-GBIC Ports (SG102-24-NA) but I'm not sure how reliable it would be in that space. Whatever I get has to available in the Houston area (or Amazon, Newegg, etc).

Any suggestions?

 

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System Error Message

Part of the Furniture

• Nov 21, 2015

• #2

you dont really need the mini ports if you're only using ethernet because they are meant for other things. As long as you avoid dlink than theres not much to worry about. Personally i'd recommend semi managed or managed depending on the features you need but it would allow for future things such as guests network and seperating rooms, etc incase you want to control the network such as for QoS or firewall reasons.

Fanless switches are fine but for a 24 port switch, ensure that you have ventilation capable of 30W extra of dissipation on top of what you already have. Add up the watt ratings of all the devices you have and it will give you an idea of how much heat to dissipate.

 

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KenZ71

Senior Member

• Nov 21, 2015

• #3

Since your visiting from out of town best option is an install and forget about it.

Maybe drill ventilation holes along sides and top then cover with screen door mesh fabric?

Many routers have a usb port might be able to put a usb powered fan in their.

Or, just stuff a couple unmanaged switches in there then plan for an upgrade on your next visit.

 

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Cloud200

Senior Member

• Nov 21, 2015

• #4

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004D3QOPA/?tag=snbforums-20

I have had decent luck with these units before. Rated for 50c operating vs the standard 40c most devices in this price range seem to be.

 

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Cloud200

Senior Member

• Nov 21, 2015

• #5

Now that I think about it, can you take a picture of the cabinet?

 

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ecktt

Occasional Visitor

• Nov 22, 2015

• #6

Cloud200 said:

Now that I think about it, can you take a picture of the cabinet?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input thus far. I've added the ZyXEL to cart. Just waiting for any last words.

 

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S

System Error Message

Part of the Furniture

• Nov 22, 2015

• #7

well seems like theres lots of room. As long as theres ventilation/holes to allow air to move than you dont have to worry about heat. A metal casing or door can also help to dissipate heat.
When the operating temperature is quoted it means the environment temperature not the device itself but as long as theres space low powered devices can dissipate heat using natural air convection but there need to be holes and space for the air to flow naturally.

Even 80W TDP x86 CPUs can be fanless if given a good heatsink and enough space, i've done it before using AMD CPU which is not as power/heat efficient as intel but the case did have good ventilation so for a desktop its usually the case that everything is in a small case with holes.

 

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migueln

Regular Contributor

• Nov 22, 2015

• #8

Take a look at edgemas switches you are going to love them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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Cloud200

Senior Member

• Nov 22, 2015

• #9

migueln said:

Take a look at edgemas switches you are going to love them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I use the Edgemax line at work. Unless you are going to be using any of the more advanced features (layer 3 static routes, ACL, Private VLANs, etc) its a waste to spend literally double. As a client facing switch, its great. Core, Top of the Rack . . . not so much. That's where you start hitting the limits of what it is capable of.

 

whsbuss

Senior Member

• Nov 24, 2015

• #10

I have a TP-LINK TL-SG108E 8-Port Gigabit Easy Smart Switch installed since 2013. It is starting to give me packet problems; intermittent high ping packets, timeout on some websites.

Any suggestions for a replacement? Is D-link's line of switches good or should I be looking at the Trendnet or Netgear?

 

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System Error Message

Part of the Furniture

• Nov 24, 2015

• #11

avoid d-link and you should be fine. Netgear switches are fine except when it comes to firmware as they may have 1 or 2 features that dont work properly.

 

Lee Sharp

Occasional Visitor

• Nov 27, 2015

• #12

Cisco business class switches are the best made and most dependable switches on the market. I have seen them last for years in metal shops and open warehouses!. But they are priced accordingly. The small business stuff they sell is not very good. If I can not get Cisco business class, I usually go with Trendnet. Much cheaper, and still good functionality. And them seem to last VERY well as well.