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Network management Toolkit

Gigabit Ethernet: a buyer’s guide

Manek Dubash ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 08 Dec 2003

Linksys SD2005 5-port Unmanaged Desktop Gigabit Switch

Pros
Very easy to set up; drop-in replacement for 10/100 switch; silent
Cons
No line speed indication
Verdict
Simple and good-looking the Linksys SD2005 switch has no vices, although it's relatively pricey.

Price
£179.00 inc. VAT (£152.34 ex. VAT)

Housed in a compact, grey and silver metal box, the silent, wall-mountable SD2005's ports live at the rear, indicators on the front. All ports can auto-negotiate 10, 100 or 1000Mbps speeds at full duplex and will detect crossover cables, so uplinking to a server, hub or router is simple.

To use it, you simply plug it in, it lights up and goes to work. The only tiny niggle is that the LEDs don't show line speed, just activity. Documentation is clear and explanatory but, to be honest, you don't need it.

Linksys EG1064 Gigabit Network Adapter

Pros
Easy to set up and use; transparent gigabit networking
Cons
No native Linux support
Verdict
Easy to set up (especially under Windows XP), this card works as expected, although prices of both the 32- and 64-bit cards are higher than the competition's.

Price
£69.99 inc. VAT (£59.57 ex. VAT)

Although it’s intended for servers with 64-bit PCI slots, this 64-bit card can be used in 32-bit mode in a standard PC. As well as speed auto-negotiation, it includes wake-on-LAN, flow control and priority queuing -- all unlikely to be critical in a small office/home office environment. It also offloads TCP/IP checksum calculations from the CPU.

After physical installation, a portion of the card overhangs the end of the PCI slot, so check it will fit. Linksys supplies drivers for Windows 95, 98, ME and 2000; XP detects and installs the card automatically. Linux users must go to the Web for open source drivers.

As we finished this round-up, Linksys informed us it now has available a 32-bit version of the card, the EG1032 (£57.99 inc. VAT), so unless you need enterprise-level features, this is a more appropriate product.

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