Even a small home computer network must be properly organized. One of the elements of a local network is a switch. How to choose the right one for your home?
If you have a desire or need to connect several devices (computers, laptops, smart TVs, etc.) to your home LAN via a wired connection, you will most likely need a switch. It can also be useful for connecting devices in the "smart home" system, and of course for organizing a network in offices and in production.
The main criteria for choosing a switch
Number of ports
The number of device ports depends on the number of equipment that can be connected to the switch. For a home network, it is not necessary to buy the largest switch, a 4 - 8-port switch will be enough.
Device control capability
There are unmanaged switches, managed switches, and custom switches. The former are suitable for creating small LANs, for example, for home use or a small office. More complex and expensive models (manageable, customizable) are suitable for creating more complex, branched networks, for example, in a large office. Using special software or via the web interface, they can specify individual network parameters that are important for the safety and comfort of users.
Baud rate
In this case, the data transfer rate at which the switch ports work is meant. These are standard values for this type of device.
MAC Address Table Size
This table is used automatically by the switch and is needed to optimize the distribution of information by the device.
Today this characteristic varies for different switch models and amounts to 1000 or more addresses. For a home network, a gadget is suitable even with the minimum value of this table, but if it is selected for a larger network, it is better to choose a device with a larger number of MAC addresses.
Switch price
Depending on the number of ports, the availability of the ability to configure and manage the device, its price also increases. For a home network, the simplest and most inexpensive switch is suitable.
