OPEN BOX - D-Link 24-Port Gigabit Smart Managed Switch, Layer 2 features, VLANs, Cable Diagnostics, Energy Saving Features, Rugged Metal Housing, WebSmart, EasySmart Web UI, Lifetime Warranty (DGS-1100-24)

An upgrade from my previous 8 port D-Link as my needs grow. Device is made of sturdy steel, has solid construction and more features than I will likely ever need - this switch is likely smarter than I am. Was super easy to install, plug in the ethernet cables throughout the house and good to go.

This item looks just like one that I already had with 8 GBit ports, only 4 with PoE. I just did a brief test and it does and found that all 8 ports do support PoE

I was testing if a VLAN solved my issue, I created 3 VLANs with this switch and yes, my problem went away. I am planning on buying another one.

I have a relatively complicated network in our house that consists of a firewall appliance, wireless APs on different floors, a guest wifi VLAN, an IoT VLAN, and the main house network (also on a VLAN). I have my personal desktop plugged into the ethernet jack in my office, but my work laptop running on wifi. It worked fine, but wanting to optimize from the long "working from home" haul, I wanted the laptop to be hardwired as well. A normal unmanaged switch doesn't work well with VLAN environments. I have a few extras sitting in the basement (Netgear, D-Link, TP-link, etc). None of them worked when connecting the desktop and laptop because of the VLAN. This D-Link switch, because it's managed and supports VLANS, was entirely plug and play. Plugged in the desktop and laptop into the switch, plugged the switch to the ethernet jack in the wall, and everything just worked. The only thing I didn't like about this is the web interface is statically set to 10.90.90.90 out of the box. Who does that? I had to create a temporary network connection (changing the IP to 10.90.x.x) to connect to the interface and change it to DHCP. All is well now.

Overall, the management capabilities of the D-Link DGS 1100-24 are good but have serious holes and feels very pre-beta. The firmware seems rushed and not ready for public release. Below are some of the issues I have run into within the first couple days of use. Network time settings require the NTP server IP as well as entry of daylight savings information as hard-coded dates, and as such must be manually updated annually (I.e. the date changes as daylight savings changes always occur on a Sunday but this is not an option). Further, the settings don’t appear to be saving in non-volatile memory and are lost after a power reboot. A major nuisance is that logging off is required after each session, otherwise the user is locked out for hours or requires a reboot to clear. If you simply close a window and reconnect with the switch later you will not be allowed back in. In fact, if there are any other network issues that cause you to loose a connection and you try logging onto the console, then you get the “Reach max login number” error. Really?? Why did D-Link add this to a system used to aid in network trouble-shooting? Settings are routinely lost, including the switch’s IP address and time (NTP) settings. Power cycles (often needed to be able to log back on) exacerbate this problem. Very short port descriptions (8 char max) can be entered in the port setup screen, but they are only shown in that screen. These should be shown in other screens to make other status, logging or test screens easier to follow, but are never used anywhere else. The management screens do not include a link status screen to show the connected speed (I.e. 1000 Mbps or 10/100 Mbps). You must physically view the front panel to determine what speed each link is running at. In fact, of all the management screens available there is no “Status” screen to see the current status of the ports. The switch is capable of 10/100/1000. However, the front panel does not distinguish between 10 and 100 Mbps. While you can set a speed through a management screen, if a port is set to Automatic speed detection there is not way to tell you what speed was actually detected. To make things worse, the Cable Diagnostics speed generally disagrees with the Port Setup speed. Cable diagnostics appear to be powerful, but the results are very generalized; reporting status as “Open” or “Short” for the entire cable instead of identifying what pair has the actual open/short. I even have an “Openshort” situation with one cable with no explanation what that means. The online manual fails to explain the purpose of many features and assumes the user already has experience with managed switches. For example, the management screen and manual refer to items such as FDB and OAM, but do not even mention what these stand for.