Switch? But hubs are cheaper!

First of all knowing the difference between a hub and a switch is critical. The simplest explanation of the differences would be a four port hub running at 100Mbps actually will share that bandwidth with each computer. On the other hand a switch works slightly differently with the same four port switch would actually allow for full 100Mbps connections. A switch is a much more reasonable tool to use for large networks as sixteen computers sharing bandwidth would become very slow.

What's in the box?

Upon opening the box in addition to the unit one will find a power cord, and a number of manuals and pamphlets. The manual supplied with this unit does a pretty good job of explaining how to setup this unit as well as detailing the use of some of the more advanced options. One of the only things I would have liked to see with this unit would perhaps be the inclusion of some Cat5 cable in the box. We would also like to have seen a much longer power cord supplied as the one that arrived with the unit was very short.

What can it do?

The Dynastack DS2216 has a number of useful features that are often only found in more expensive switches. First of all the switch has sixteen 10/100Mbps ports. This unit sports neat "power buttons" on the front of the unit to allow for greater control and configuration. This will allow you to power and control each connection to the switch on each individual port. In addition, port 8 on this unit can be used as an uplink to another hub or switch, which can be extremely useful if one is trying to connect to an existing network.

There are a number of modes that can be set on the DS2216 via using the "mode" and "set" buttons. The FDX/Col light will illuminate all the ports are running full duplex mode, it will also blink if there are packet collisions. The Speed LED will light up all ports are running at 100Mbps. The Link/Act will light all ports that have activity. The 100M will light all LEDs that are forced into 100Mbps mode, once you cycle through to the port you would like to force 100Mbps mode onto you hold down the set button to enable it.

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