Home networking

[t121anf]

My house network has grown a bit recently and I'm looking to improve the setup.

At the moment, 3 rooms have unmanaged TP-Link switches in them, something similar to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-SG1008D-Desktop-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B001EVGIYG

I'm wanting to replace these with one switch, I think a 24 port should be sufficient, 48 and POE would be nice but too costly at the moment. Should I need POE I can always use an injector.

I've been looking at these switches
Managed - https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-24-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Managed/dp/B07PHL1V2B/
Unmanaged - https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-SG1024D-Ethernet-Rack-Mount-Lifetime-Warranty/dp/B003UWXFM0

Is it worth paying the extra for a managed switch?

Any specs I need to watch for? I'd like to improve the transfer speeds from my home server if possible, it stores my video files and moving them about can sometimes be slow (I think the source is slow rather than the network, the drive is connected via USB 2 at the moment)

[Easy-X]

For a home network a managed switch is only for levelling up nerd points

You can do things like set up virtual LANs so a 24 port switch behaves like two separate 12 port switches. The other thing is MAC address security so only authorised devices can plug into the switch.
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[xX-Alex-Xx]

Managed switches are nice as when you upgrade to proper WiFi access points, you can truly segregate your LAN and guest networks.

If you go POE, just check the typed used by your existing/potential equipment. The standard for most of it is 802.3AF or AT, but some kit like Ubiquiti use passive 24 volt.
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DILLIGAF

[t121anf]

I have little use for vlans, well non I can think of.

My router can do vlans and I’ve never explored it, the only thing I would say is that I have firewall rules on my server to block all traffic from my web server and torrenting machine. Would a vlan help with that?

Thanks for the info about POE, i didn’t know there was a difference. At the moment the only thing I would consider it for is my diy raspberry pi cctv camera.

[panrider_uk]

You shouldn't need a managed switch for home use.

Apart from vlans you'd be able to monitor port traffic and restrict speeds
and duplex on ports (and disable them). None of which is that useful normally.

Netgear do good kit.
I swapped out all of our Cisco gear at work for Netgear.
Vastly cheaper and works just as well. Less complex too.

POE is useful for CCTV cameras. I also use it to power an external network switch and indoor and outdoor wireless access points.

The external network switch (Ubiquiti) is useful as you only need to have one network cable going through your wall and up to 4 other devices can be powered/connected via it.
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