Business Series?

This is proof that not all network switches are created equal - even from the same manufacturer.

Linksys, a name band that is highly regarded (especially since they are now under Cisco) produces a lot of reliable SOHO network devices.  They usually have a price premium over other brands such as D-Link or Netgear.  So after a glowing experience with SOHO network switch (Linksys EG008W 8-port Gigabit Network Switch), I was expecting the Business Series line to be as reliable and perform better.

Linksys SD2008 8-port Gigabit Network Switch
Enter the Linksys SD2008 8-port Gigabit network switch.  Both products does the same job, but the SD2008 has a sturdier build.  The case is made of medal, not plastic.  The color of the case is mostly silver, but the front and rear is adorned with black plastic.  The front is adorn with a slight buldging Linksys logo and 9 LEDs.  Eight of the 9 are indicators for the port's connectivity and activity, while the 9th LED marked "System" is really the power light for the network switch.

The sides of the network switch are peforated for ventalation, while the right side has the DC power jack that requires 12v 1A of power.

The rear sports 8 ethernet jacks and nothing else.  All in all, it's a plain-jane network switch, and seem to share everything the SOHO version (EG008W) has.

In Use
Setting it up is as easy as any other network switch.  Like the EG008W, it works with 10/100/1000 connections, and automatically works with all of them.  A 10 Mbit device can communicate with a 100 Mbit device at the fastest speed it can, all without throttling other devices to the slowest device on the chain.

Unlike others I've read, this hardware revision (2.2) is whisper quiet, since there is no fan.  It does get pretty warm, just like the EG008W.  There are conflicting info online about jumbo frames support, but I was able to use the larger frames without issues before.  However, unfortunately, I cannot test performance.

Why?  Because, like other user's experience, mine died after a year of use.  We used many of these around the office, and all of them seem to die around the same time frame.  They cause havoc on our network, dropping packets, loosing sync, etc.  Our network administrators have banned the use of this line of network switches.  To differenciate the SD2008 from the EG008W, we've started calling them "metal backs" to the users.  If they have one, we would send them the "plastic ones" (referring to the EG008W) as replacements, and have them trash the "metal backs".

When they worked, they were pretty trouble free - performance were indistinguishable from the "plastic ones".  When they fail, they cause havoc on the local network on the same subnet.  Thankfully, this mean it will not disrupt the entire company's network - just the local network.  Of course, our headquarters have a lot of users, and when this issue hit us, it was a huge headache.

We don't have these network switches anymore, so I could not do any real benchmarks for this review.  However, last I remember, they were performing close to 9 MB/sec for a 100 Mbit connection, so these are no slouch.  Back in the day, we didn't really have any devices (besides the server room) that had gigabit NICs.

The Upshot
These are actually about $10 more than the EG008W!  However, you should avoid the Linksys SD2008 8-port Gigabit switch like a rotten apple.  They will work good enough for a year, that you'll forget about them.  It took us a long time before we figured a few failing SD2008s were bringing down our network!  Thankfully, our smaller sites only had one, making it easier to locate and discontinue use.

We've replaced them with the EG008W and have not looked back since.  Funny how two devices that does the same thing, same ports, and from the same company produce two completely different experiences.