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pageek76's avatar
pageek76
Follower
Aug 25, 2021

Upgrading from GS105 Switch

About  year ago I purchased a GS105 Switch becasue i have a number of devices that I need to plug into my rounter which of ocurse only has a couple ports. I quickly filled up the ports in the switch with a Synology NAS and other devices and need to upgrade to give me more space.  I expect to grow to accompadate 2-4 security camera which will utilize PoE so i need a switch to support that.  What is a good switch to upgrade to that will support PoE?  Thanks.

 

2 Replies

  • CrimpOn's avatar
    CrimpOn
    Guru - Experienced User
    Aug 25, 2021
    pageek76 wrote:

    What is a good switch to upgrade to that will support PoE?  Thanks.

    Netgear and TP-Link both sell unmanaged gigabit switches with PoE ports.  The most common and inexpensive 8-port product has four ordinary gigabit ports and four PoE ports.

    Be very careful to count the ports needed.

    • One to the Orbi
    • One each to the NAS and other devices (which may take the total so far to five)
    • One PoE port to each camera (an 8 port switch has three ports left for cameras)

    My advice is, "you always need more ports than expected".

     

    It might be worth considering adding a switch rather than upgrading.  Netgear's GS108PP, for example, at $109 on Amazon provides 8 PoE ports which leaves room for growth in cameras and other devices.  Everything could be placed on the switch to start and then if the number of cameras (or other devices) pushes the total past 8 (including the uplink), then connect the original 5 port switch to the 8 port one and gain 3 more ports. (ugh. that sounds like a mess, doesn't it.)

     

    There are two other considerations:

    • Managed vs. unmanaged.  For some time, the conventional wisdom on the forum is that managed switches can cause problems if satellites are connected to the router with ethernet through a managed switch.  I have no personal experience with this, but have read numerous threads on the forum about it.
    • Name Brand vs.  "other brands".  Those same factories in China and Taiwan that churn out Netgear, D-Link, Linksys, and TP-Link switches also sell similar products under an assortment of brand names.  Only you can device whether buying them is a good idea (or not).