Best Ethernet Switches: For Domestic Use and Small Offices
Wi-Fi and Wireless internet technologies are only getting better day by day. With 5G being the latest generational upgrade to wireless communication, things are only going to get better. Still, those days aren’t quite there yet. The fact still remains true that in a lot of cases, Ethernet provides a more stable and faster connection as compared to Wi-Fi.
While the idea of wired internet might seem even primitive to people who use Wi-Fi daily, offices and even freelancers use ethernet for a stable, fast, and constant reliable connection. Plus, if everyone is hogging the Wi-Fi, you’re better off using ethernet on your PC or console anyway.
But what if you want to connect multiple devices at once with ethernet? Well, that’s when you should use Ethernet switches. Also, we know what you’re thinking and no, ethernet switches don’t reduce speeds. With all of that through, let us take you on the journey of finding the Best Ethernet Switches of 2021.
In all honesty, it’s not that hard to track down the best ethernet switch out there. You just have to know what you are looking for. If you buy a regular fast ethernet switch that doesn’t have gigabit ethernet, well that’s entirely on you. Still, research and reviews matter, especially if you need something reliable for your office or work use.
So taking design, speed, and reliability into account, we’ve decided that the TP-Link 5 Port Ethernet switch is the best bang for your buck. It doesn’t have a fancy design or anything, but it’s an ethernet switch and that’s not the main focus. In fact, that might be a good thing, as the black exterior means you can hide it behind your desk or somewhere in the shadows.
It’s also small, compact, and completely fanless. It even optimizes traffic quite, and best of all, it’s completely plug and play so you are good to go out of the box. It doesn’t consume much power, has full gigabit internet speed support, is extremely reliable, and even has a 2 year warranty period. What more could you want?
I know what you’re thinking and I’m just as surprised as you probably are. What in the world is a “Gaming” ethernet switch? A router I can understand, but how can you possibly market an ethernet switch as “Gaming”. Well as you can probably guess it’s nothing more than a gimmick, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t an excellent ethernet switch.
One quick glance at the design and you’ll quickly realize that this looks far from a traditional ethernet switch. While some people hide their routers, modems, network switches, etc (for obvious reasons), others just don’t have the space to do so. If that’s the case, at least this ethernet switch won’t look out of place on a shelf or maybe even a desk
Another great thing worth mentioning is the completely silent operation. I expected a switch this big to have a fan built-in. However, that’s not as this one is completely fanless, and there aren’t any thermal issues to report of. It even features a “gaming dashboard” which you view real-time network insights and auto-diagnostics.
All in all, this is a solid network switch and definitely delivers on speed and reliability.
Are you the owner of a small business organization? Or perhaps you run your own startup. Whatever the case may be, if you have people working for you in an office, they’re going to need a stable and fast internet connection to always be updated from time to time.
Well, assuming you don’t want to rely on Wi-Fi all the time, this generous 24-port ethernet switch might just be the perfect way to connect all your desktops in the workspace. It’s well built with solid construction. It actually feels surprisingly premium. You can mount it a few ways as it can stand up vertically as well.
All the 24 ports support gigabit internet, and the switch also has a good sense of monitoring traffic. It has a tonne of network diagnostic and smart features so you can set it according to your requirements. However, it’s quite difficult for an average joe to set up, so if you’re not experienced with networking, keep that in mind.
This is one of those “managed” ethernet switches, which means that it allows you greater control over all the separate connections. Again, this might require some know-how but could be perfect for precise control and stability.
The Linksys SE3008 is a rare sight. While it does function as a basic unmanaged ethernet switch for home-use, it could be easily used for a basic personal network set up as well. The design is what really stands out here. While it does look quite minimal at first sight, and it’s definitely not fancy, the metal finish is a joy to the touch.
Granted, you won’t be interacting with your switch too much once you’re done setting it up, but it feels good knowing you got a premium product. It also wouldn’t look out of place on a shelf or a desk. It also has a lot of basic network control such as quality of service, which allows us to monitor and configure how much bandwidth a device is using.
Another great feature is full-duplex control which should help with port congestion and help you to configure a stable connection across all your devices. Again, if you don’t want to use those features, you don’t have to and just treat it like a regular premium quality switch.
So far, we’ve included a couple of fast ethernet switches for both home and network use, and we even included one more advanced option for organizations or small businesses. But that’s not all that ethernet is good for. PoE, or Power over Ethernet, is an interface used by many devices that don’t actually require a lot of juice to work properly.
Most of these devices are either VoIP phones, IP cameras, Network routers, Access points, etc. You can connect these devices through this ethernet switch, and have a cost-effective way to route all the cable in one place. As for this particular switch itself, it is well-built and does a good job of powering devices that consume less energy. It has a total of five ports, but the fifth one isn’t PoE, so keep that in mind.
Apart from that, there is not much to say about this one. It’s easy to set up and intuitive to use, and it is built quite well for such a niche device. However, if your main purpose is just to get high-speed internet, you’ll want to look at the other gigabit ethernet switches we mentioned above.