Linksys EZXS16W EtherFast 10/100 16-Port Workgroup Switch

The unit is very easy to install, and works right out of the box. Given the prevalence of wireless devices, switches like this are indeed coming down in price, and make for an easy addition to any home or small business network.However...Within 5 months of my purchase, the uplink port (#16) stopped working. After much troubleshooting with their technical support unit, I was issued an RMA without any argument. Somehow the RMA was enter twice and I was sent a second unit as well. This took some time to convince customer support that they had screwed up, and I wasn't paying return shipping for the 2nd unit. All was cleared up eventually, and the replacement began working immediately.About three months later, the same port died, and once again I had to go through the horrors of their support staff. After three hours on the phone with their technical support staff, customer service, and two supervisors, I eventually got another RMA. I am currently awaiting the third replacement now.It's worth noting that they attempted to blame the cause of the outage on a faulty router attached to port 16. That is until I informed them that the router was a Linksys WRT54GL, that has been working flawlessly since its installation. Replacing the switch was cheaper than replacing the router.It's a 5-star switch when it works. But my expectations for its longevity are very slim.EDIT: I received the third replacement unit today, and as I feared it has the same defect. Of course, Linksys will not refund any money at this point so I can purchase a working unit. Looks like I'm just going to be put out for the replacement cost of a functional switch. This is most certainly the last Linksys/Cisco product I'll buy.

This is an excellent switch. It still uses the old form factor of the standard WRT54G Linksys routers that everyone had in the 2000's, but it works as well as anything else. Keep in mind it is NOT a gigabit switch.WHAT IS A SWITCH? A Switch is like an expansion for more inputs on your router. On most home grade routers, you'll have an internet Ethernet port, and four numbered Ethernet ports. If you take a numbered Ethernet port and run it to any port on a switch, you now have as many ports as are left. So, a 16 port workgroup switch with a standard router will allow you to hook up up to 18 devices. That's four on the router, and 16 on the switch. One gets used on the router, and one gets used on the switch to make the link. Every device plugged into the switch is given an IP by the router. The router does all the work even though the switch has many more ports.

BROKEN

Rocketfuel was the seller and they sent me a nonfunctioning unit. The power supply was dead and the unit wouldn't work. I tried to return it and they wouldn't let me nor give me a refund until I got my credit card company involved. They then gave me a refund on the product. I went and bought the same switch from another supplier and everything was fine with it. My complaint isn't really with the product but with the seller. I have purchased this switch before and it is excellent except that it might have a life span of only 10 years. I owned two of these switches and they both quit after 10 years of service for me and I have now replaced them with identical switches again.

I just purchased this switch and it works great. Here's some of the reasons why I recommend it.Works great and it's relatively cheap. 5 minutes out of the box and it was up and running. I own several Linksys equipment and have not had any problems.It stacks well with other linksys equipment. I also have a cable/DSL router and this switch has the same footprint so they stack together. Beware of the linksys 5 port or 8 port switches, they are much smaller and will not stack on top of a Linksys Cable/DSL router or Wireless router. The pictures make them look the same but make sure you look at the dimensions of the item.The ethernet cables run into the back of the unit. I think this is plus for home use since it keeps the desk less cluttered. You can tell the status of the connection on the front without the cables everywhere like the Netgear switches.Highly recommend this switch.

In my smart home, I had been using both the 8-port as well as the 16-port Giga bit switches from Netgear, for the past 3 years. I had to return them for exchange more than 3 times after they failed to perform, since they have a lifetime warranty. I was sick and tired of going to UPS and paying $19.99 each time for 2-way shipping and the service interruptions. I finally decided to buy the Cisco-Linksys switch despite it not being a Giga bit. So far it has worked as well as you expect it to after using for 30 days. I cannot rate their technical support or warranty services, since the item has worked without any problems. I will update my review in the future should I need to.

After an unfortunate power spike that fried 3 of the 8 ports on my old switch, I felt that as long as I need to replace, I may as well upgrade at the same time.With the expansion of the wireless market, switches like these are coming down in price. Life is good. If you can accomodate the wiring it's tough to beat the Mbps/cost ratio that wired networking provides.This switch is just as easy as its little brother. Plug it in, plug in the CAT5 and you are up and running. The LEDs let you know at a glance if there are any collision or speed issues.This switch provides enough performance to share the DSL connection, play skipless music and video over the network and make the transfer of large files quick and easy.With 16 ports, I doubt I will be filling out the switch anytime soon and I will probably upgrade to Gigabit networking before then anyways.