This article understands explains what is a gigabit switch and its advantages and types.
Gigabit switches are much faster than the traditional fast ethernet switches. Fast ethernet switches delivers 100 Mpbs speed on each port of the switch. Gigabt switches delivers 1000 Mpbs on each of the ports on the switch. Gigabit switches comes as 8 port, 16 port , 24 port and 48 port option as in a fast ethernet switch.
Practical use of Gigabit switch
Take a scenario in a home or office where people are sharing resources on a server connected to the network using a fast ethernet switch. As the number of users increase, the load on the server increase. All users who are connected to the fast ethernet switch has has a speed of 100 Mpbs. The server is also connected to a port which delivers 100 Mpbs. Since the users and the servers use 100 Mpbs, the server network would be slow. In this scenario, a gigabit switch is recommended. The server can then deliver speed at gigabit output.
Gigabit switch types
1. Unmanaged Gigabit switch
This is a simple desktop switch which does not have any manageability capability like vlan, throughput, web console etc. All ports on the switch would have gigabit ports and ideal to be used in a scenario where a basic LAN network has to be setup with no additional setups like LAN segregation, vlans etc. Check out unmanaged gigabit switches on Amazon here – unmanaged gigabit switches
2. Managed Gigabit switches
These switches are more advanced than unmanaged switches. They have specialized operating systems in it, which provides additional features like setting up of vlans, QOS, and other advanced switching features. These switches are used when a network has to be setup which needs LAN segregation , security, inter vlan routing, traffic monitoring etc. Check out managed gigabit switches on Amazon here – Managed Gigabit switches
3. Gigabit switches with POE feature
PoE stands for power over ethernet. This feature is used when devices connected to the switches need power. Example of these devices can be VoIP Phones, access points etc. Check out gigabit switches with PoE ports on Amazon here- Gigabit switch with Poe
Gigabit switch FAQ answered
1. I am planning to buy a switch for my home / office . Should I buy a gigabit switch
Most of the PC’s / Laptops comes inbuilt with gigabit network cards.Also if there is a server to be setup, to leverage the performance, it is strongly recommended that you purchase a gigabit switch for your network.
Check out managed gigabit switches on Amazon here – Managed Gigabit switches
2. Can a gigabit switch increase your internet speed
A gigabit switch provides gigabit speeds on you LAN. Your internet speed is decided by your ISP. If your ISP does not provide gigabit speeds, then the speed may not increase as substantially as gigabit speed would be restricted to your network.
3. Should I upgrade to a gigabit switch for my Home/ office
If your home / office has a server or a gaming or any other application on a server which you use it on the LAN, which is bandwidth intensive , it would make sense to migrate to a gigabit switch.
Check out managed gigabit switches on Amazon here – Managed Gigabit switches