nad_masters's Full Review: Linksys EG005W 5-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch
Linksys EG005W
I started my new job, and was surprised to see many Linksys EG005W gigabit network switches. They seem to use it on all help desk stations to connect their own PC, as well as other equipment they may be troubleshooting at the time. And unlike the other reviews found here at ePininons, none of them have any active cooling (no fans), so they are absolutely quiet. It may be imperative to note that the switches here are version 2, so the "bad" switches everyone complained of were the first version.
The unfortunate thing is, though, that most of the equipment we use are 100 Mbit, so we really don't fully use the gigabit switches to their maximum potential. They were obviously purchased to future-proof the network infrastructure. All of their servers, racks, and network jacks from the wall are already provide gigabit connections. However, most of the computers are 100 Mbit only, with a few Dell Precision desktops that have gigabit NICs.
But as a SOHO (small office, home office) network switch, it's pretty decent.
Installation
I actually had to install a few of them, and they are just as easy to install as any other network switch. It comes with the EG005W gigabit switch itself (ver 2), as well as an AC adapter. No CAT5e cable was included with the device. There are 5 ports for any device that requires network connectivity.
You can basically plug in all of the devices you need into the network switch, but remember to leave one port free to connect to the rest of the network unless you were creating a small 5-computer private network.
Looks
The traditional blue and black look of Linksys's SOHO did not really migrate over to the EG005W. Instead, it is a dark navy blue with a silver body. However, the size and shape is the same as other Linksys SOHO routers, wireless routers, and network switches. This allows the EG005W to stack on top of the other Linksys SOHO equipment you may have.
In Use
With a 100 Mbit connection, I tested a quick file transfer from a local file server. I used a solid 600 MB ISO file containing an image of Windows XP SP2. I was able to muster 80 Mbit/sec (about 10 MB/sec), which is very good!
Using a 1000 Mbit connection, however, evaulating transfer speeds get a bit complicated. Your typical TCP/IP frame size is 1500 bytes in size. This was fine for slower networks, but as speeds ramp up, the smaller frame size causes overhead and slows down faster transfers. The overhead comes from processing all of the error correction for each frame. In order to transfer fast, the smaller frames come in much faster. All of the error correction needs to be calculated. The faster the CPU, the faster the throughput. In order to remedy this, "jumbo" frames need to be supported by all computers in the network, as well as the network switch. Jumbo frames are basically just larger frames, or more specifically, 9000 bytes. Add to the fact that the NIC interface and network chipset really affects the overall speed.
The problem is, the Linksys EG005W ver 2 does not really support jumbo frames very well. Even though their web site states that they do, in practice, they seem to drop packets with large file transfers. Short bursts (such as small files or print jobs) are fine, however. Because of this, it was hard for me to get hard numbers for you fine readers.
For the gigabit test, a Realtek PCI gigabit network card was used. Set to the standard 1500 bytes MTU (frames), the current set up with Core 2 Duo E2140 (1.6 GHz), I was only able to muster 120 Mbit/sec, which is around 15 MB/sec. It's quicker than 100 Mbit's 10 MB/sec, but it's not the 10x fold improvement the number lead us to believe.
The fault in the Linksys EG005W isn't the fact that it is slow with gigabit networks, since it is more complicated than that. Simply put, the EG005W's failure is its lack of stability with jumbo frame support, which would have improved gigabit network transfer speeds.
Conclusion
With most SOHO (consumer) gigabit network switches not supporting jumbo frames at all, the Linksys EG005W's claim of jumbo frame support would have been nice if it were true. However, it does not really hamper 100 Mbit speeds, nor standard 1000 Mbit speeds. It just doesn't help you if you decide to adjust your network to use jumbo frames and you expect your EG005W to play along.
If you already own Linksys SOHO equipment, the EG005W stacks well with the rest of your Linksys collection. However, if this isn't a priority, your choices for a gigabit network switch have widen.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 59.99 Driver Availability: Windows, Linux, and Mac
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