In a bid to assist users of growing businesses and home offices to plan for future needs, Netgear has expanded its GS300 Business Essentials Series of Gigabit Ethernet unmanaged switches with the addition of a new 48-port switch and a new Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) capable 5-port switch.
The two switches – dubbed the GS348 and GS305P respectively – complement existing switches in the GS300 Series which includes 5-port, 8-port, 8-port PoE, 16-port and 24-port options.
According to Tobie van Schalkwyk, Netgear business development manager at Duxbury Networking – the local Netgear distributor – the new switches are targeted at businesses with a need for additional ports without the sacrifice of network bandwidth and speed.
“The switches are based on Netgear’s understanding of the importance of supporting high-performance networks able to adapt to requirements now and in the future,” he says. “In this light, the new GS348 is able to expand a network, in a single step, to 48 ports, avoiding the congestion often experienced when stacking lower port count switches.
“Offering up to 96Gbps of maximum throughput, the GS348 enables businesses such as hospitality, catering, education and retail to eliminate bottlenecks and prepare for future expansion involving additional workstations, servers and network attached storage.”
Van Schalkwyk notes that the GS348 switch’s fan-less design makes it ideal for operation in noise-sensitive environments such as classrooms, conference rooms, open-space offices and healthcare centres while its 50°C maximum operating temperature allows it to function in small network cabinets.
Turning to the GS305P – the 5-port POE switch – he says it is one of the most appropriate options for homes, small offices and conference rooms as it supports 55.5W of cost-effective PoE power.
“Within small businesses and homes, there is a growing trend towards the adoption of PoE devices such as VoIP phones, wireless access points, IP security cameras, proximity sensors, LED lighting, door locks and other IoT devices.
“The GS305P switch has four Gigabit ports supporting PoE, enabling a single wire to provide both electrical power and connectivity for these devices. With its fan-less design and desktop or wall-mount positioning, the GS305P represents an easy network upgrade for PoE device connectivity,” he adds.
Both switches offer features associated with other Netgear plug-and-play unmanaged switches including a non-blocking switching architecture for maximum throughput at wire speed and an ‘auto-negotiation’ function for automatic connection at the highest common speed between the switch and an end device.