TP-LINK TL-SG105 Business Switch Review – The best entry-level SoHo switch?

TP-LINK TL-SG105

RM 73.00

8.7

Design

8.0/10

Built Quality

8.5/10

User Experience

9.5/10

Advantages

• Affordable
• Metal casing enclosure
• Ease of use
• Don't need any special configuration

Disadvantages

• Insecure if used for large network (honeypot)

Buy Now

The TP-LINK TL-SG105 is an entry level gigabit switch specifically designed for the SoHo based environment. The switch comes with auto-negotiation RJ45 ports that supports speed up to 1Gbps (1000Mbps). Further, the switch is an unmanaged switch, in other word, it is a dumb switch. The TL-SG105 doesn’t need any configuration as it supports plug-and-play. Featuring together with the switch, TP-LINK’s Green Ethernet technology serves as to reduce the power consumption to lower your monthly energy bills. In addition, the switch supports 802.1p/DSCP QoS and IGMP Snooping function. The IEEE 802.3x flow control provides reliable data transfer.

SPECIFICATIONS

For full specification of the unit, you can refer the sheet here.

USER EXPERIENCE

Upon unboxing the switch, standard accessories will be supplied, a unit of TL-SG105, four detachable rubber feet, a power adapter and a user manual.

Design

tp-link – SG105’s top view.

tp-link – SG105’s left view.

tp-link – SG105’s right view (left from back).

tp-link – SG105’s rear view.

The switch comes handy in a small size. The TL-SG105 enclosed with a metal casing that adds a premium feel over an unmanaged switch. Next, at the each side, there is a small ventilation holes craft to allow the heat to be dissipate from the switch since the switch comes, fanless. At the rear of the unit, there is an AC in port. The switch doesn’t features a physical power switch, hence, plugging the AC adapter to the switch will automatically power up the switch.

At the front of switch, five gigabit-capable switch given with each port allocated with a small LED indicator to indicate the status of the port. Another LED indicator were present to indicate the status of the overall switch, i.e. active or inactive.

Setting up for first use

The switch doesn’t require any special configuration unlike managed and smart switches, instead, a LAN cable from your router can be directly plugged into the LAN port 5 of the TL-SG105. Do note that, the switch is compatible with all the wireless router in the market currently. If you are looking for a VLAN capable switch, then the TL-SG105 is not for you.

Jumbo Frame Pass Through Test

For this test, I’ve used two physically connected client using the switch.

In order to successfully conduct this test, the jumbo frame feature should be enabled on each client’s network adapter. Once activated, proceed with CMD (administrator) by keying in, “ping -f -l 9000“. I’ve statically set the IP address for each client device. The results of the Jumbo Frame are as below:

Based on the test, I can definitely use this feature for my home network, but, I won’t really get any benefit from it. However, if you intent to use this feature, you would be requiring a large business organization that has more than 20 dedicated clients that supports Jumbo Frames else, the standard ethernet frames will be locked at its default state

CONCLUSION

The TL-SG105 priced at RM73 and I would recommend you to purchase this switch from TP-LINK certified online store. The switch performs well from my point of view, doesn’t get overheated regardless being a fanless switch and, easy to be wall-mountable. To summarize the review, if you’re currently looking for an entry level SoHo based unmanaged switch, then, the TL-SG105 can do the job for you. Overall, I can vouch this switch as one of the recommended switch for SoHo environments.