cheap switch upgrade?

[Cazale]

One of the schools I work with still has hubs all over (chained together, with one very overworked 24 port hub!!!). Not a massive school, they have about 40 PCs, printers, some access points, other bits and bobs attached to the network. As you might imagine, it is slloooooooooooow (I haven't seen a hub for 15+ years!).

 

Two tins and a piece of string would be an upgrade, but I'd like to upgrade them to something half decent. The budget is "as cheap as is humanely possible". TBH, other bits of the network desperately need updating at some point too.

 

Anyone used a Cisco SG200-26P in a school setting? I've seen one new for a very decent price, I'm thinking they could push it out to the edge when they have money to upgrade (any recommendations welcome; in the "cheap as chips" price range!). TBH, a layer 2 switch would suffice. Reliability is probably the most important "feature".

[Passat1983ICTech]

hi there have a look at hp switches look at out of box one save some money that way I had look in to this for at the school I am at:-)

[Steve21]

Just a single one in core or multiple? Just obviously that Cisco is only 26 ports and you mentioned 40+

 

And what's "cheap" to you?

 

Steve

[Chris_]

I like the HP switches so would recommend something along the lines of this: HP J9980A - 1820-24G SWITCH - Ebuyer

[mikeprice]

Look for used ones maybe - I have seen a few places that have piles of old switches lying around that haven't got all the modern bells and whistles but would be faster than an old hub

 

or you could try this method if any of the distances are large

https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1149

[mowgli82]

I use D-Link and they seem to be fine and cheap

[NB9457]

Is the current switch Gigabit? Also are the hubs all in one place or scattered about where there is say only on Ethernet point but 3 PCs?

 

And I'd recommend D-Link and NetGear, never had an issue with both, plus D-Link offer the 10Gb stackable switches at a very good price now, I'm pushing for these in a few schools at the mo' that are a bit tight on budget but have a lot of equipment.

[FN-GM]

If I was you I would get one of these. Cheap as chips and much better than what you had. Still has the warranty etc

 

Cisco 2960-48TT-L (WS-C2960-48TT-L) Catalyst 2960 48-Port Switch | eBay

[localzuk]

If I had a budget which had limited me to hubs so far, I'd be looking at Zyxel to be honest. You can get a 50 port gigabit switch for £230ish. I've heard some good things about Zyxel's business switches also, as an ex-colleague's new place uses them throughout (and that's a 1400 pupil college).

[Cazale]

Bizarrely there are a couple of switches in far end wall cabinets (I think only 100mbps, they might have been put in for telecoms and for the POE needed for some access points), they route back to a cabinet in an IT room, all terminating in the 24 port hub. 24 port would be enough, as it would replace like for like.

 

Used gear is certainly an option. I wouldn't rule it out. Would either have to have some form of guarantee or be very cheap (a saving big enough that I could say "no guarantee with this, but if ever fails, you can just buy another").

[Cazale]

I looked at something very similar myself. I figured having more gigabit ports (24, instead of 2) might "futureproof" it, or make it re-usable on the next upgrade.

 

Although, at those prices, they really can be throwaway!

[NB9457]

If the main switch gives out to two other switches and I'm guessing server and a couple of other things, I'd be looking at a full Gigabit 24 port switch (New Netgear ones are £99 with lifetime guarantee), it'll definitely ease up the bottlenecks and increase speeds a bit!

[twin--turbo]

If it's on hubs then any second hand 100Mb switch will instantly vastly improve performance.

 

I would not even use a hub in a home environment for 5 ports..

 

TT

[ReBoot]

My school just bought a pair of new HP 1920-48G switches on eBay for £150 ex VAT each. Used fast switches are as cheap as chips - I got a pair of used HP 2610-48 for £60 inc. shipping.

[pow]

Look at the Unifi Switching range.

[Roberto]

As much as I loathe and detest them personally, I'd be looking at Netgear to replace hubs on a really tight budget. It's cheap and (I never thought I would say this about Netgear equipment, someone will need to get @Norphy to a fainting couch when he sees this) would represent a substantial upgrade on what is in place currently.

 

http://www.businessdirect.bt.com/products/netgear-smart-switch-24-port-gigabit-10-100-1000-gs724t-400eus-98MG.html?q=netgear%20switch - can't argue with that when you're on a tight budget and hubs have been coping up to now... (Also, Hubs? Really? !!!!!)

Edited January 26, 2016 by Roberto

[Norphy]

Who are you and what have you done with the real @Roberto? Dosbox, I think you might need to check that his account hasn't been hijacked

[Cazale]

Yup, really... hubs! There is a 10/100 switch in the rack, lit up like a Christmas tree (and non-functioning). I suspect they put the switch in on top of the hub without taking the hub out, the switch died at some point in the past X years, and someone plugged all the cables back into the hub and it just got forgotten about.

 

I am very much in agreement with "anything will do", and appreciate the views on second hand gear (I was sort of wanting opinions on this, without really wanting to prompt that discussion).

 

I'm very familiar with Cisco switches, although recognise the features won't be fully utilized in this environment (even with old switches). The toss up now is whether to go with some second hand Cat switches (in a "do for now"/until a bigger upgrade plan), or jump straight in with some (very cheap) gigabit switches (a colleague suggests Dell Powerconnect, tech I'm not familiar with). TBH, I think the x2 gigabit ports on the Catalyst 2960's is more than enough for the old kit they are using, and would improve things substantially, and the more expensive immediate jump to gigabit would be virtually indistinguishable (especially as there is other 10/100 network kit dotted around the school). Anyone disagree?

[twin--turbo]

Cisco..

[NB9457]

What is the plan over the next few years? If there are plans to get new kit and replace old kit, it makes sense now to spend that few quid extra and get the slightly better gear IMO. Don't think in this year I'd consider less than all gigabit given the pricing on some switches and the majority of PCs over the last 10 years came with gigabit ethernet.

[PotNoodleTech]

Given the lack of budget and lack of awareness about how bad things are there - I would suggest not going Cisco. I bet you could replace the entire school with second hand HP Procurve for the price of that Cisco 2960.#

 

Stuff like Procurve 2650 can be picked up for peanuts, 50 ports, 2 of them 1 Gig Cat5/SFP.

 

Realistically you will want to get your edge switches linked at 1Gbit so you will need a core switch that's all gigabit. I would recommend doing the whole lot in one go, influence how important the school values it's network and remind them that it's these little flashy light boxes that keep it all up and running and they don't cost much at all for the importance they have to the daily running of the school.

[Cazale]

I bet you could replace the entire school with second hand HP Procurve for the price of that Cisco 2960.#

 

Stuff like Procurve 2650 can be picked up for peanuts, 50 ports, 2 of them 1 Gig Cat5/SFP

 

The Cisco switches someone posted above were circa £60 IIRC (including rack mount kit).

[PotNoodleTech]

Woops my bad, I was looking at 2960s not 2960's (there's a big difference in price!!)

[cpjitservices]

HP Procurve for the win you can pick them up dirt cheap these days.

[Roberto]

a colleague suggests Dell Powerconnect, tech I'm not familiar with

 

On balance, I think I'd rather buy netgear.