Comparison Netis P116GH vs TP-LINK TL-SL1218P

The form factor determines how the switch is installed.

— Desktop. Devices designed to be placed on a flat surface such as a countertop or shelf; some models also allow hanging on the wall. Significantly easier to install than rack or DIN rail equipment (see below), but most desktop switches are entry-level, maximum mid-range. This is because desktop placement is less secure than rack or rail mounting, making it less suitable for professional equipment.

— Rack mounted. Switches designed for installation in a telecommunications rack. To do this, the design provides for an appropriate set of fasteners, and the body is made in a standard size. This size is quite large, which allows for numerous network ports; and the rack mounting itself is reliable. Therefore, this option is used by most professional-level switches, although there are also relatively simple models with this installation method.

— Mounted on a DIN rail. Switches mounted on a standard DIN rail. Such rails are used as mounting fixtures, in particular, on electrical panels and in cabinets for special equipment, however, if desired, they can be fixed to any vertical surface, including a regular wall. Specifically, "switches" with a similar installation, as well as rack-mounted ones, are mainly of a professional level; however, rail-mounted models are much smaller, resulting in more m...odest functionality and fewer ports. Also note that they are usually executed in a vertical rather than a horizontal layout.

— Street (on the mast). Switches that can be installed outdoors. A characteristic feature of such equipment is the enhanced protection of the case, which protects the internal components from dust, moisture, high and low temperatures, etc. winter application (if you need a frost-resistant model, you can use the "Operating temperature" list below). However, if the equipment needs to be placed on the street (or in a room where the conditions are not very different from the street ones), then it is definitely worth choosing from this category.

The bandwidth of a switch is the maximum amount of traffic that it can handle. Specified in gigabits per second.

This parameter directly depends on the number of network ports in the device (excluding Uplink). Actually, even if the bandwidth is not given in the specifications, it can still be calculated using the following formula: the number of ports multiplied by the bandwidth of an individual port and multiplied by two (since both incoming and outgoing traffic are taken into account). For example, a model with 8 Gigabit Ethernet connectors and 2 SFP ports will have a bandwidth of (8*1 + 2*1)*2 = 20 Gbps.

The choice for this indicator is quite obvious: you need to evaluate the expected traffic volumes in the serviced network segment and make sure that the switch's bandwidth will cover it with a margin of at least 10-15% (this will give an additional guarantee in case of emergency situations). At the same time, if you plan to often work at high, close to maximum, loads, it will not hurt to clarify such a characteristic as the internal bandwidth of the switch. It is usually given in a detailed technical description, and if this value is less than the total throughput, serious problems may arise under significant loads.

The maximum number of MAC addresses that can be stored in the Switch's memory at the same time. Specified in thousands, for example, 8K — 8K.

Recall that the MAC address is the unique address of each individual network device used in physical routing (at layer 2 of the OSI network model). Switches of all types work with such addresses. And it is worth choosing a switch according to the size of the table, taking into account the maximum number of devices that are supposed to be used with it (including based on the possible expansion of the network). If the table is not enough, the switch will overwrite new addresses over the old ones, which can noticeably slow down the work.

The number of standard RJ-45 network connectors in the Fast Ethernet format provided in the design of the switch.

Fast Ethernet is the most modest of the wired connection formats over a twisted-pair network cable nowadays — it provides data transfer rates up to 100 Mbps. However, even this speed is often enough for relatively simple tasks that are not associated with large amounts of data. Therefore, this interface is still widely used in modern switches.

As for the number of connectors, it corresponds to the number of network devices that can be connected to the "switch" directly, without the use of additional equipment. In the case of Fast Ethernet, the number of connectors up to 10 inclusive is considered relatively small, from 10 to 25 — average, and the presence of more than 25 ports of this type is typical for professional-level models.

The total output power provided by the switch when powering devices using the PoE standard (see above).

This indicator usually corresponds to the sum of the powers of all outputs — that is, the power of one PoE port, multiplied by their total number. However, the power limits for one output and for the entire switch are somewhat different: if a load with a power equal to the output power of the power supply on this connector can be connected to a single connector, then the total power consumption of all devices connected via PoE should ideally not exceed 75% of the total power supply — this gives an additional guarantee in case of malfunctions. In fact, this means that all PoE outputs cannot be used “to the fullest” at the same time. For example, if there are two such outputs, and one is loaded at 100%, then the second can be loaded with a maximum of 50% — the total power consumption in this case will be the same 75% of the total output. Therefore, a large total power is needed when using the device to the maximum.

The amount of voltage required by the switch for uninterrupted operation. The power supply voltage of network equipment can vary from 5 V to 230 V, which allows you to power compatible devices from either a low-voltage USB socket on your computer or a standard household outlet. Values in the middle assume that the switch is powered by the appropriate power supply.

Power consumed by network equipment during operation. Knowing the indicator of energy consumption, you can, for example, calculate the battery life of equipment from an uninterruptible power supply or choose a suitable “uninterruptible power supply”.

The range of operating temperatures allowed for the switch, in other words, the air temperature at which the device is guaranteed to remain operational.

All modern switches are able to normally endure conditions that are comfortable for a person. Therefore, you should pay attention to this indicator, first of all, in cases where the conditions at the installation site of the switch will differ markedly from home / office; a typical example is the placement of ISP equipment in the attic of a multi-storey building. At the same time, special attention should be paid to the lower limit of the temperature range — not every device is able to operate at sub-zero temperatures. If we talk about specific numbers, then for an unheated room frost resistance is desirable at least at the level of -5 °C, and ideally — — 20 °C(although, of course, this also depends on the climate).

Also note that, in addition to temperature, most switches have restrictions on the relative humidity of the air; these restrictions are usually specified in the documentation.