D-Link 5-Port Gigabit Switch (DGS-1005G)

I bought this a while ago, not knowing if I was really going to need it, so it sat on a shelf for a while, but when I subsequently needed it, it worked straight out of the box and is easy to set up.

I've been using D-link since my first 5 port gigabit ethernet switch I purchased for high speed internet sharing back in 1997. 3com was the big boy back then, but a gigabit switch was so expensive. D-link was affordable and hence my relationship with them began. The first switch I bought from them, had a fan, and the fan went bad after a couple of years which was painful, but I lived with it, until it died. I never replaced the fan, but never had issues when the fan stopped working, so guess I was good and the fan was extra caution.My eventual replacement, an 8 port gigabit switch was the same model, revised with no fan. I still have that one today and use it for small LAN parties and such and still works great.Purchased a 24 port for use in a SOHO, hated the fan noise (was meant for a server rack, so I ditched it. Couple of years later, purchased another 24 port (fanless) and still using that one today, no issues. Purchased a 16 port fanless for my wiring closet - been using that since 2003, no issues.So naturally, with all the good luck with D-link, I would keep going with them. I needed a switch for a garage work area and purchased this. It was moutable, so I could keep it out of the way. It's small, quiet (fanless) and looks sleek, though I would have preferred the old rectangular box look (not marking off for that). The problem with the sleep look is that you can't put stuff on it - it slides right off, but after all, this is a desktop switch, 5 port, so maybe that's the point. The shell is plastic, but feels pretty sturdy. It comes with the unit and a power adapter that used the same voltage/amps as one of my cell phone chargers.Speed is good through it on my wired network - very happy, and would purchase it again.

Connected and ran fine, died in just 35 days. The device is on a UPS and APCC CAT 5 network protection. I have three other D-link devices no issues of earlier models. I am not impressed with this model. Tech support was a joke. I substituted a known good switch but D-Link support (a person who could barely speak English) kept trying to follow a trouble shooting script. After 15 minutes of trying to communicate the issue, the phone connection dropped. Another call back to finally have a support person issue an RMA via email. I received the RMA information. You pay the return (about $12 for shipping). You will get a repaired/refurb product in return. I paid $35 for the D-Link and it is on sale now for $27. I would not pay another $12 for a bad product set and wait 2 to 4 weeks for the turn-around. Instead, I bought the Net Gear for $39 less $18 rebate, less $12 not paid to ship back the D-Link plus $.50 to mail rebate slip; net cash flow cost is $17.50 and the Net Gear will arrive in 2 days. I will not buy another D-Link device.4/15/2013: The saga continues. What the heck, I just installed the new Netgear and it runs great. So for laughs, I went through the D-Link RMA process only to discover that the D-Link Limited Lifetime Warranty is a laugh a minute. If you want to RMA the switch, you must send back everything that was included in the original box or face additional charges for missing items as follows:"Please ship your product to: D-Link Systems, Inc. 2901 South Harbor Blvd Santa Ana, CA 92704Please be sure to include the following items:1 x DGS-1005G1 x AC Power Adapter ($10.00)1 x Mounting Screws ($10.00)1 x QIG ($5.00)1 x Copy of Proof Of PurchasePlease return all listed bill of materials, failure to do so will result in the billing of your credit card for the missing parts at standard replacement pricing."Well, since the mounting screws use plastic mollies that cannot easily be removed from the wall without damage, that's a $10 charge. And who keeps the manual for a dumb switch (connect power, insert ethernet cables - done) so that's another $5, and shipping for a 1 pound box with tracking is about $12 ($39 for Express USPS).So, to use the D-Link "Limited Lifetime Warranty" will cost you $27 for a switch that was just on sale for $27. Surprise! Boy, I would love to be the vendor supplying D-Link with 2 mounting screws and plastic inserts for $10! Maybe they haven't heard of a hardware store!Let's hear it for D-Link folks, consumer friendly to the core of their pocket book! I plan to make a video of the D-Link being crushed by a sledge hammer before being taken to the dump for electronic recycling. Caveat Emptor.

Boy, this ethernet switch is small, fits almost anywhere and it works, so far, but I just got it so time will tell. In order to really take advantage of the speed I would need to replace all of my cat 5 Ethernet Cables with cat 6 something I am not ready or willing to do. I am getting 90 -93 mbps for large file transfers on my network so I can't complain.I did some checking on my system and only one of my three laptops has a gigabit ethernet port which is limiting my data transfer speeds to just under 100mbps. I found a small network data transfer speed test app for free on the internet. Checking from the one computer that has a gigabit port to the NAS I have on my gigabit router gives me around 300mbps data transfer. I feel the speed is now being limited by the hard drive I am using on the router. Based on this I am purchasing a gigabit ethernet to USB3 adapter for the main server on my network. It comes tomorrow and I will report on how well it performs later.One other nicety of this switch: the port lights show green for 10/100/1000 ports and orange for 10/100 ports. This really is a big help.

I needed a switch to extend my network into another room in the house so I could connect another computer, a Blu-ray player, and a network attached storage hard drive to the existing network. I chose this switch because of the price, the Gigabit ethernet ports, and because I've had good experiences with D-Link hardware before.This switch does exactly what I need, does it well, and is truly "plug and play". I connected a cable from my router to the switch, then connected my other computer, my Blu-ray player, and a network attached storage hard drive to the switch. Powered up the switch and that was all I had to do. No configuration, no software to install, no settings to change. It just works. The computer has much better Internet access now (was wireless before) and the Blu-ray player now streams Netflix at noticeably higher quality (it was wireless before as well). The network attached storage hard drive is visible across all computers on the network, and the Gigabit connection on the switch, combined with the Gigabit connection on the computer and on the network drive, makes for blindingly fast backups and data transfers.There are only a few minor things that could be considered negatives. The unit's shape prevents it from being stackable, the activity lights are a bit hard to read from certain angles, and the AC adapter seems cheap. None of these prevent me from recommending this switch, though.If you need to expand your wired network to more devices than your router can allow, get this switch.