I found this product while looking for a way to split the LAN at my job into two. We get one ethernet cord running to our desk and that's it. I was worried that my company would have some kind of block to not allow this to happen (they don't allow streaming video, audio, etc... so they block a lot of things). I found the unit on sell (about half price) and decided it was worth the price to try it. I tried it at home at first and it worked great (I have a router at home, so don't really need this at home, but just wanted to make sure it worked at home so if it didn't at the office, then I'd know it wasn't the device). I unplugged the ethernet from one computer, plugged this in and plugged in two computers. So, basically, there was one ethernet cord going from the router to the TRENDnet box and two computers branched off from there. Worked great - no set up needed, just plug-n-play. So, now for the big test: I took it to work. Worked with no big problems - same plug-n-play. The only thing is that when I plug my computer directly to the work LAN, it says the connection at 1 GBPS, but through this device, it shows up as 100 MBPS. I can't really tell any problems so far with speed - everything is working as normal, but now I have online access on both my work computer and my laptop. So, for me, this device works as advertised and meets my needs.
PS - sorry for my non-technical review, but I'm no tech expert!
PPS - don't forget you'll need an additional ethernet cord to make this connection. I didn't think of it at first, but luckily remembered before I finished my transaction and was able to pick up a cheap 3-footer. TRENDnet 5-Port Ethernet Switch (5 x 10/100Mbps Auto-MDIX RJ-45 Ports) TE100-S5 (Blue)
This little 5 port switch is in my laptop computer bag at all times. There are plenty of situations I find myself in where there are several people who need Internet access but there is only one connection. Does anyone happen to have a switch? 9 times out of 10 the answer is "no."
This switch has a great feature that I wasn't expecting to find on such a small, low-cost unit. It auto-uplinks to any other switches on the network - no crossover cables necessary. That's one less specialty cable required to carry around to ensure network connectivity. Good job TRENDnet!
Otherwise there is nothing remarkable about this switch besides being small, light and does what network switches are supposed to do. After quite a bit of searching, this was the smallest switch I could find. At 3.1" x 3.9" x 1.2" it can't get much smaller!
Bottom line: Small, light weight and just works. Power brick is half the size of the unit itself and is also very light.
I was looking for a portable network switch to keep in my backpack for occasions when I had a network drop but no wireless. Searching around I found this one and saw that the switch itself is small and light, but I was worried about the power brick. Turns out the brick is small too, so I'm very happy with my purchase.
I've used the switch to network two Macs together and to connect multiple Macs to various network drops. The switch has always worked flawlessly. It doesn't care in which of the five ports you plug in the cables, it figures it all out and just works.
According to my kitchen scale, the switch weighs just under 4 ounces and the power brick just under 3.
I needed to "split" a single Ethernet connection between my DirecTV box (for DTV on demand) and my Samsung BluRay DVD player (for Netflix streaming)so I did not have to keep swapping the cable back and forth. This little Trendnet gem really fit the bill. It is small, lightweight and completely unobtrusive. The best part is there is no setup, completely plug and play. Look no further, you found what you are looking for!
This switch works really well for what it is; but it is limited. It's easy to use, easy to set up, just plug it in and go. However, if you are trying to connect multiple devices to the internet and you are using a Comcast cable modem (and probably other cable internet service providers too), this is not the device you want to buy. You will only be able to connect one device at a time if you use this device unless you purchase extra IP addresses from Comcast. If you don't want to pay Comcast extra money every month what you need to buy is a router (which is able to take the IP address assigned to you by your ISP and then assign its own IP addresses to each device, something a switch cannot do). Some routers do not have enough ports for the number of devices you want to connect to the internet, and with those you would need to add a switch like this device (see what playing around with home networking can teach you? :-)) I hope this review helps someone else avoid my mistake, but this is not to suggest that there is any fault with the device itself. For what it is, it works great! :-) - Ethernet Switch - Switch - Hub - Trendnet'
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