24 Port Gigabit switch recommendations, managed or not??

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lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
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I figured I'd ask the pros here instead of relying only on a quick forum search..

So I am currently running out of ports on my cheap (and crappy) D-Link DGS-1008D 8 port gigabit switch and I am searching for a good 24 port switch (16 perhaps would be enough but I figured more is better especially if price difference is marginal).

No need to say, I want gigabit at least.

I am not sure if I need managed or not since I am currently using an unmanaged switch and I have never used a managed switch before.

Will be connected to this switch:

2 network printers
a desktop machine
a proxmox server with 1 port for the IPMI, another one for proxmox WebGUI, and 4 other for LAN
a freenas server with one for IPMI, and 3 other ones not currently being used (later used for aggregation?)
a network camera
a connection to another room where a desktop computer and a ATA device are connected thru a small 5 port switch.
a Raspberry Pi for home automation

The count of potential connections to this future switch is around 16 but could grow in the future to 24 (I could install a wifi AP or another networked device..)

I'd like a low power/fanless switch if possible, but taking into consideration my 2 supermicro servers already making a lot of noise, the noise from the switch would probably be unnoticeable anyways..

Rackmountable is a MUST.

If unmanaged, a WebUI would be nice for stats, etc but not mandatory since it would introduce another level of security concerns and would be useless performance & feature wise.

Any suggestions? Procurves seems nice but what about other brands such as TP-Link?

Budget: Less than 120$ !!

Thanks!
 

Clownius

Member
Aug 5, 2013
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0
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Unmanaged i got a cheap TPLink that came with rackmount brackets. For your LAN if your not doing anything tricky it should do the job. Obviously if you want managed for some reason its going to cost more.

Unmanaged i have a 16 port version of this. Just sits quietly in the corner and does its thing.

TL-SG1024 - Welcome to TP-LINK

Managed i have a D-link web managed 16 port switch i cant find on the website anymore. I think it was close to $200 so may be outside your price range.
 

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
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Thanks for the suggestions, I will look closely at them.

What could be a good purpose for a managed switch in a SoHo environment ?? My networking needs are very basic but I would not dismiss interesting features such as link aggregation to increase bandwidth or reliability, and the possibility to put certain LAN devices (wifi AP, guests laptops & cellphones) in a segregated VLAN so they cannot connect to my personal LAN..

Other than these uses (top of my head) I cannot think of other advanced networking needs I would have but I would be pissed to buy a 150$ unmanaged switch now and 2 or 3 years down the road realize that I should have put an extra 50-75$ to get a managed one...

Can I do these things with a standard unmanaged switch and pfsense??
 

Chuckleb

Moderator
Mar 5, 2013
1,017
331
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Minnesota
I have about 3 managed switches in my house, 48 and 24 Port nice switches... Have never used vlan tagging, etc, etc. Absolutely no need or care. I would do a fancy switch for my workbench, but not prioritize that for rest of house that just needs to work.

That said, the Zyxel is cheap enough to not matter. 24 ports for under $150 with management. I think it gets hard to buy unmanaged rack mount.
 

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
I was gonna go for a SRW2024 but based on newegg's comments, this switch seems to have stability issues?? Freezing, packets dropping and such... Anybody can comment on that?

Other than that, what about the Procurve 1800?

24 10/100/1000 ports
Rackmountable
Fanless
LACP (aggregation), trunking, VLANs, etc and a lot more stuff I will not use ;)

Used on FleeBay for around 160 shipped


A decent choice? Potential pitfalls? Drawbacks?
 

rnavarro

Active Member
Feb 14, 2013
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I have a Procurve 1800-24G and an 1800-8G at home, both work flawlessly. Got both of them on eBay as well.
 

capn_pineapple

Active Member
Aug 28, 2013
356
80
28
Another vote for the Zyxel GS1910-24 been using one for about 6 months now, it's a fantastic switch, does everything I need with 18 of the ports occupied, multiple VLAN's and LACP. I got it off ebay for $100.
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
956
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I have a ZyXEL GS1900-24e (not a rackmount model), it works well enough, but I don't like its UI.
I haven't been able to find the place where I can replace the SSL certificate (maybe all these switches use the same SSL certificate???), and it has a really annoying standard timer, that terminates sessions after something like 2 minutes (which can be changed).

It was cheap, but I am still regretting that I didn't wait for one of Mikrotiks CRS switches to become available.
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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Well the Mikrotik CRS226 is closer to twice the OP's budget. But I have 2 at this point and am looking at getting a third.