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Networking provider Netgear has introduced new offerings in its range of five-speed switches for smart home and small business users, with buyers able to select between models with 12 or 24 ports depending on their needs.
The new switches can operate at 100Mbps, 1Gbps, 2.5Gbps, 5Gbps, or 10Gbps. Netgear states that the devices' intuitive interface provides users with easy, reliable and affordable connectivity with granular per-port bandwidth control and traffic monitoring. This can be achieved without needing to install expensive new cabling in order to overcome speed barriers.
They are the 12-port XS512EM and the 24-port XS724EM. Both provide two SFP+ fibre ports with 1Gbps or 10Gbps connectivity, are desktop or rack mountable and can be run in either silent mode or with a quiet fan. This, combined with its small form-factor, makes them especially useful for deployment in smaller spaces.
"New devices on your network today each operate at their own speed for optimum performance," said Richard Jonker, vice-president of product line management for SMB products at Netgear. "Our new five-speed switches automatically sense and adjust to the appropriate speed on a per port basis, over existing cabling."
The switches have been designed to be plug-and-play, so buyers should be easily able to ensure they get the maximum performance out of all their devices, regardless of the type of connectivity they use.
Each of the intelligent multi-speed copper Ethernet ports on the switches is able to automatically detect the speed requested by the connected device, as well as the quality of the cabling, and deliver the appropriate connection at one of the five speeds. Ports are able to be connected with regular Cat5e Ethernet cables, which means businesses can enjoy high performance without the need to upgrade to Cat6 wiring.
In the past, many 10Gb switches would limit the performance of any device requiring less than 10Gb to just 1Gbps. But with many modern high-performance devices, including desktop PCs, servers, NAS storage and AC Wave 2 Wireless Access Points, now able to offer 2.5Gbps or 5Gbps connectivity, they could be failing to meet their full potential with these solutions.
Netgear's multi-gigabit switches, however, are able to fill this gap, allowing businesses to combine legacy Ethernet speeds like 100 Mbps or 1Gbps with all their 10Gbps, 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps through the same switch, ensuring that all the devices can run at their individual highest speeds.
Both of the switches also offer the full range of Netgear's additional features found across the brand's Smart Managed Plus products, including network monitoring, traffic prioritisation, and network segmentation. These help small businesses achieve greater visibility and control on top of plug-and-play connectivity.
