D-link DES-1108 8-Port Ethernet Switch

I see a lot of confusion among consumers when it comes to home networking products. One main area that I see often is consumers who aren't versed in networking purchasing a simple switch to share their internet connection. The D-Link DES-1108 is one such product.

I hope my review will help you understand what a switch is and why you should purchase one.

Your Home Network
In most cases, people shop for network gear wanting to extend their internet connection to multiple computers. Once upon a time, companies made products called 'gateways'  which were used for just that purpose. Regrettably, these products are now called 'routers' since that's the vernacular that took off amongst consumers (routing is only a small part of the device's role).

A router is what you should use to share you internet connection. Products like the DES-1108 are what you used to EXTEND your router to accommodate more devices. This is where a switch is perfectly placed. Most routers have 3 or 4 ports for devices. Lets say you want to create another computer room downstairs and network everything togethers. Run a cable from your router to the new computer room and install your switch. Voila! Everything is networked and can access the internet.

Switches like this one are fairly plain devices. That's part of their beauty. Lets go over some facts.

Features
The DES-1108 is an 8 port switch. When determining the number of ports you need, remember to deduct one port from your router and one from the switch to link the two together. That leaves 7 more ports for devices.

As far as performance goes, the DES-1108 is a fast ethernet product. Top speed is 100Mbps both ways (full duplex). The switch is capable of linking in both full duplex (traffic both ways at the same time) and half duplex (traffic only one way at a time). It will even accommodate 10Mbps links. The introduction of Gigabit ethernet (1000Mbps) outdates the product somewhat but if your goal is mainly to share internet, it will do perfectly.

To round the DES-1108's performance, the devices is equipped to handle 1.6Gbps total. This means that all 8 ports can be going as fast as they can simultaneously. For a device in this price range, this is a fairly impressive feat.

Setup is completely plug and play. Once upon a time, you needed a special cable to link a router to a switch (called a cross-over cable). The DES-1108 can sense which type of cable is being used, doing away with the need for confusing (and unnecessarily expensive) cross-over cables.

In the networking world, there are switches and then there are switches. Products range from $30 (like the DES-1108) to $10K or more (for corporate gear). The difference is normally the configuration abilities of the switch. In this case, there is no configuration, which should suit home consumers perfectly as even the most basic switching features can be very, very tricky.

My Experience
I own a two storey house with a finished basement. My goal was to extend network to a new entertainment room in the basement. After running some cable and figuring out how the wall jacks worked, I used the DES-1108 to link my Blu-Ray player, X-Box, and Apple TV to the network. Total time to setup was about 5 minutes.

So far, the switch has been running about 5 months without issue. No need for reboots and no connection drops. This device is rock solid.

Overall
The DES-1108 is perfect to extend you router's network. It's combination of price, features, and stability make it a great choice.