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In the Forums... |
Posted: May 27, 2003 Written by: Davey McWatters Compex PS2216 Switch The Switch (Cont'd)  Port trunking allows a user to connect four ports one each of two switches together and creates a single high bandwidth link between the two switches. Instead of connecting switches through a standard uplink or crossover cable you can connect with four separate cables, giving you bandwidth of up to 800Mbps instead of a single ports 200Mbps full duplex maximum bandwidth. You cannot use trunking with any number of cables except four. Each PS2216 offers the ability to connect to two other switches via port trunking.  VLAN or virtual LAN is not very useful in the home environment. However, this would be a great feature for large businesses with many computers. VLANs reduce broadcasts sent out by workstations on a network by segmenting the LAN into separate virtual LANs. The VLAN functionality on the PS2216 allows for up to 15 different VLANs. Ports 2 through 16 are used as separate VLANs while port 1 is used as the common port on the switch. Conclusion The PS2216 has surprised me with the overall features and amount of ports available on the very affordable unit with an MSRP of only $89.95. It can be found online for even cheaper than that, coming in at around $65 at some retailers. It offers features that are usually only found on expensive corporate switches. Compex has done a great job designing this product for the home user as well as making it appeal to larger businesses. It would make an excellent switch for LAN parties. You can plug your dedicated game server into port 8 or 16 and flip the priority switch and your server will get bandwidth priority over all other ports on the switch. If you are in the market for a new switch for your home network, large business, or the occasional LAN party that needs large switches I would have trouble not recommending the PS2216 from Compex. Pros:
Score: 9/10 |
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