D-Link DGS-2205 5-Port 10/100/1000 Desktop Switch
by D-Link Systems, Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: $21.99 You Save: $34.00 (61%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of D-Link DGS-2205 5-Port 10/100/1000 Desktop Switch
Customer Review: not sure about product, but technical support is terrible
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased this switch 23 months ago. It worked fine until it failed this past week.
I submitted an RMA request online, and got an email in response giving me a case ID and telling me to call their number to talk to a live tech support. After fumbling through their menu, I reached someone who told me I needed to talk to their tech support department--which I thought I chose, but apparently not. She forwarded me to their tech support.
An Indian-accented girl was on the other line, who proceeded to ask me to supply my name, contact info, product model number, serial number, etc., all of which should have been available through the case ID for the RMA request I already opened. Furthermore, she insisted I supply answers to irrelevant questions such as what operating system I was using, how many wired computers were on my network, how many wireless computers were on my network, what ISP I was using, what cable modem I was using, etc--despite my objections several times that these questions were irrelevant.
She then placed me on hold for several minutes. After this, she had me run the diagnostic procedures of unplugging and re-plugging the power to the switch to see if it was still broken--which I had obviously done before. Then she had me try plugging the switch to a different power outlet. When it turned out that the switch still wasn't functioning, she concluded that my switch was defective and apologized that I was unfortunately out of warranty. I had to point out to her that this switch is covered by either a 3 yr warranty or a lifetime warranty, as is ambiguously stated on this product page, but either way I should still be covered.
She then placed me on hold for several more minutes, and came back and told me that I had to call their customer support line. I re-stated that I'm trying to do an RMA on this device, and their system told me that I had to talk to their live technical support, not customer service.
She then placed me on hold yet again, and came back telling me that she'll escalate me to their next tier of technical support. This lead to a ringing phone that was never picked up after several minutes.
All in all, I wasted about half an hour on the phone trying to get this product through their RMA procedure without any progress. It seems that all their tech support does is delay and deflect. This is the worst tech support experience I've ever had.
Customer Review: Easy expansion to my 4-port Linksys router
Summary: 5 Stars
QUICK SUMMARY: I use the Cisco-Linksys WRT320N Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router in my home, but I ran out of ethernet ports with all my connected devices. This easy-to-install network switch solved my problem by expanding the number of available ports in my network. Highly recommended!
Background: I had thought to buy a Linksys-branded network switch since I already was using a Linksys router. But this D-Link was less expensive than a comparable Linksys network switch, and it's been around long enough that D-Link has revised the hardware architecture several times to improve their product. My only concern was, "Will this D-Link play well with my Linksys router?" The answer is, "YES!"
WHAT I LIKE:
- It's stupid easy to install. Plug in the switch, connect it to the router using an ethernet cable. There, done. (You can plug it into any of the five ports on this network switch).
- Inexpensive! Saved me a few dollars over the Linksys brand.
- It has gigabit ethernet, so it's compatible with my gigabit router.
- Seems green. The product literature and box boast about how energy-saving it is.
What Could Be BETTER:
- It's not a stylish piece of hardware. But then, it's just a lowly network switch.
- The CD that comes with it is really useless. When I see a CD, I immediately think I'm supposed to install some software. The enclosed CD just has the electronic copy of the user's manual and little else.
Note: Since you're using one of the five ports to connect this switch to your router, and since you're giving up one of your ports on the router to connect to this network switch, your net gain is really just 3 ports on a 5 port switch. I had 4 ports on my router, but now only 3 of them are connected to devices other than this network switch. I have four available ports on the switch after connecting to the router. So, instead of a 4-port router, I've got a 7-port router + network switch. If you think you'll need more than a 3-port net gain, go for a bigger network switch.
CONCLUSION: This network switch simply works, and it's not expensive, either. Recommended!
Customer Review: So Good You Forget All About It
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this switch for over a month now and since installing it I haven't given it another thought. Obviously it works exactly as advertised and provides gigabit connectivity to all capable devices. Having owned and worked with numerous switches this one does a few things better than most:
1) Display - The lights on the front provide three pieces of information i) Link ii) Speed iii) Activity from two LEDs per port. The lower LED is solid green indicating a link and flashes to indicate activity. The top LED is green for 1000 Mbps and yellow for 100 Mbps. Differentiating using color lets you quickly detect any devices not correctly negotiating the link speed and helped me diagnose a faulty cable.
2) Heat - Unlike my DSL modem, wireless access point, or second switch (I won't mention the brands; but they are not D-Link) this D-Link emits no heat. The device is never even warm to the touch. I have a small wiring cabinet into which I installed my modem and other switch. Two days later the modem died from overheating. Not a problem anymore.
3) Energy Efficiency - Now I haven't actually tested this myself or noticed any savings on my electrical bill, but at the very least it makes me feel better about "going green" with devices that are powered on 24/7. I have no doubt the energy efficiency is a big part of the reason the device stays cooler.
The only downside with the device is that it cannot be easily stacked. Now, if you're looking to stack switches you should probably look at something a little bigger than a 5-port; however, this was a useful feature of my other switch and WAP because I could stack the two together and take up less desk space.
Overall, a five-star product at a great price.
Customer Review: D-Link DGS-2205 brief review
Summary: 5 Stars
This switch is a total gem. I have never used D-Link switches before, but I saw this one on Amazon for a decent price and decided to give it a go. It is truly the easiest thing I've installed into my home network. I originally bought it for my computer room to allow 5 more PC's to connect to my router, but the router's ports ended up frying after a lightning strike. I am now using the switch to connect all of the computers in the house (through one port on the router that goes to the Switch's uplink) and am using a dumb hub in the computer room. I have seen no drop in performance (since everything is gigabit) for daily internet usage or gaming. I have about 9 - 12 devices connected to my network at any given time and I have not encountered any problems. My network consists of PCs (Windows and Linux based), an Xbox 360 (wired) and a Nintendo Wii (wireless), with a few wireless laptops. My router has let me down a bit, but that switch is a breath of fresh air.
The unit itself is small, quiet, and cool, even stacked on top of my router. It has display lights for connected devices, which are color coded depending on if the device is gigabit capable or only 100-Base (amber for 100-base, green for gigabit). The lights blink for activity. If it matters I have the 5V version. There was no need to configure anything when I connected everything up, because it just worked. I definitely recommend this switch to anyone.
Customer Review: Decent, except for power supply
Summary: 3 Stars
Since they were available for cheap from various sales over the last 2 years, I bought a couple. Then one died, and I chalked it up as a fluke and bought another since it was by far the cheapest gigabit switch I could find to replace it. Today, #2 died.
Same symptoms: power light goes on, nothing else. Swapped the other still working DGS 2205 from the not-as-widely-used network (I have 3 gigabit switches in the house in various rooms), and turns out it's the power supply that failed, NOT the switch. Got the "spare" power supply from the one that died last year (I keep power supplies, I'm constantly re-using them), and slap-in-the-face #2: it's dead too - I recycled the wrong part last year. ARGH. That'll teach me to assume power supplies are no longer a common point of failure..
Grabbed a different (adjustable) power supply. Switch didn't like 4.5V, but is back up and happily running at 6V for now. So, in 2 years, 2 dead power supplies out of 3. Time to buy another power supply.. Wish I'd kept the (probably) working switch.
All 3 models were the "new" 5v models someone suggested one should get. I'm now wondering if they under-specced the 5v supplies, and are over-stressing them, trying too hard to be "green" and actually causing MORE e-waste in the end..
Such is life when you buy cheap consumer-level products.. At least, a new power supply is < $10.