Netgear GS108Ev3 Review and Setup

Nov 1, 2022 · 2 mins read

In the video below, we’re going to take a look at Netgear’s GS108Ev3 network switch

It’s an 8 port switch which is part of their Plus Management range

What this means is that if you want to separate your computers, and you should for Smart Home devices in particular, you’ll be able to configure VLANs on this switch

Now if you buy an unmanaged switch on the other hand, you’ll need to buy additional switches for each network segment

So while managed switches do cost a little bit extra upfront, they can save you money over the longer term

Energy efficient ports is another useful feature for this 1Gb switch, but what is it like to configure and is it worth considering?

Initial Connectivity:

Other than using Netgear’s discovery software, there are two options to access the switch and manage it

One is to cable the switch into your existing network and it should obtain an IP address from your DHCP server; You’ll then need to find what IP has been assigned

Without DHCP, the switch will use an IP address of 192.168.0.239. So you could connect a computer to this switch and assign it’s interface a static IP address of 192.168.0.100/24 for instance

Either way you need to point your web browser to the switch’s IP address and you’ll see a login prompt

NOTE: The session is not encrypted because it uses HTTP, which is a security let down

There is no username to login with either. Instead the default password is password

When you first login, you’ll prompted to change this password, which is a good thing as you should change it

So enter and confirm a new long and complex password then click Change Password

From then on you can manage the switch using the new password

Overall Opinion:

Because the switch is managed and supports 802.1Q VLANs this is certainly a network switch to consider

The security could have done with more attention though

But configuring this switch is relatively straightforward and it does offer a lot of flexibility

So it would be something suitable for a small office or home user as an entry level switch