Considering there are only two 10Gbps, you can add only one 10Gbps device to your existing network. This thing worked great. I do have to say that I had a 30 foot run downstairs. I ran a brand new, fancy, CAT7 cable down there, seemed to work fine with the gigabit switch, but I only got 100mbit. Being the first time I've ever set up 10G, the troubleshooting process was a bit tough. I spent an hour or two, looking at the drivers and configuration of the new 10G nics I put in, everything. I, kinda, went nuts working on it. In the end, I figured it must be the cable, but I wasn't sure. As a last ditch effort, I plugged in an old blue CAT5E cable that I already had run there. CAT5E isn't supposed to work, and it's a 50 foot cable on top of it. Thing is, it just came up. BAM! 10G. The other 2 Linux machines I connected just worked. No issues, and now my Xwindows pop up like they're native. Everything just works beautifully. We wanted to do a performance comparison between this and the unmanaged version. We loaded ports and passed traffic through the switch trying to hit maximum speeds using a 10Gbase-T NAS as a target. Netgear GS110EMX Performance I used the Netgear GS110EMS for more than a week, and the switch worked well. I had no issue with it at all. It was silent though it did get a bit warm during heavy loads -- not to the point I'd be concerned. First, the two heatsinks are the same as we found in the unmanaged version. These are the primary switch chips which is why they are the same. Netgear GS110EMX Internal 3

Smart Managed Plus: These switches include more advanced QoS, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and network traffic monitoring at a great price point. Some also support PoE.

Final Words

Unmanaged: These are plug-n-plug switches for the home. They do no more than adding more ports (Fast Ethernet, Gigabit, or Multi-Gig) to an existing network. Some support PoE, too.

We took a picture of this area because Netgear also makes the GS110EMX switch. That switch is a managed unit and the controller is placed on this side of the PCB. That review is forthcoming. Netgear GS110EMX Management

If we took a poll of STH readers that at some point have had a Netgear unmanaged switch, it surely would be a high number. The Netgear GS110MX is a truly simple device that may well be your next unmanaged Netgear switch. It has 8x 1GbE ports, along with two 10Gbase-T ports. Those 10Gbase-T ports are Nbase-T devices which means they also can handle 2.5GbE and 5GbE speeds. In our Netgear GS110MX review, we are going to take a look at what the switch has to offer. Netgear GS110MX Overview The underside of the unit shows important facets of this multi-gig enabled switch. As you can see, the switch has a number of mounting options. For the photos thus far, we have had rubber feet supplied with the unit. The GS110MX also comes with a wall mounting kit that anchors to the underside as well. Netgear GS110MX Under With Rubber Feet Expand your network instantly, and give your devices either 100Mb, 1, 2.5, 5 or 10-Gigabit, automatically

You can see that there is also a heat transfer cover with pads that will hit the heatsink. Netgear GS110MX Internal No Management And here's the side of the Netgear GS110EMX switch. There's nothing of note here other than the mounting holes. As for a genuine 10Gbps connection, the GS110EMX was fast, but it was farther south of 10,000Mbps than most other switches I've tested -- so far, none could deliver real 10,000Mbps. Cons: Gets very hot. This is the hottest switch I've ever owned. I have a 5 port 2.5Gbe Unmanaged switch which stays much cooler than this one. The side with the 10Gbe ports gets very hot. I actually have a small case fan pointed at the switch. It's under a desk so I was able to do that. I don't know if it's fine and all within normal operating spec. You can do a lot with the Netgear GS110EMX, including testing the connected cables. Netgear GS110EMX: Excellent (Gigabit) performance

Compare

Mind you, this isn't the first time they closed the case. The first time I opened a case for this switch, the person asked me to do some troubleshooting steps. I did. They closed that case without responding. So then I opened a new case which then led to the above. As for performance number, the switch did very well in my Gigabit test. Clearly, the Multi-Gig uplink played a role. Gaming: These switches come with some game-related features for wired consoles, including low latency, port prioritization, and Quality of Service (QoS).