Linksys Wi-Fi devices

The cut throat world of home data networking is a dog-eat-dog business, and standing still is much like going backwards.

Linksys, Cisco's house brand is acutely aware of this and have been working overtime to develop a raft of new gear. With the inclusion of zippy 802.11n wireless and gigabit ethernet, these new Linksys goodies are designed from the ground up to keep pace with our growing appetite for bandwidth as we sling HD video and 5.1 channel surround audio around our homes with wild abandon thanks to the growing number of gizmos such as ultrabooks, tablets, game consoles, smart TVs that are busily consuming data.
SE2550 5-Port Switch

First cab off the rank is the Linksys SE2500 5-port Gigabit Switch which gives existing wired networks an upgrade to Gigabit networking, significantly improving performance in the process by shunting data around at speeds up to 10x faster than 10/100 ethernet. This said you'll need gigabit ethernet capable devices to realise these speed benefits. Looks-wise the SE2500 is a sleek yet understated bit of gear.

Perhaps the first question you'd need to ask is just what is a network switch and why would I need one? Where routers are designed to move traffic around your network, a network switch acts a lot like a multi-plug power strip outlet, allowing you to plug multiple ethernet connected devices into your network.

In short, if you're running out of ethernet ports on your router, odds are that you'll probably need a network switch.

Speaking of getting set up; installing the SE2500 was a quick and pain-free process. Un-boxing the SE2500, I connected it to the one remaining ethernet port on my router, hooked up all the networked widgets that I'd previously not been able to connect and powered it on. It simply worked, so good riddance to plug 'n' pray.

Using to video conference used to be a pretty painful experience involving stuttery audio and slow-mo video slideshows (especially when my network was already under load), this has however become considerably less commonplace as the SE2500 comes with a rudimentary form of Quality of Service or QOS which prioritises network traffic to ensure that Skype and other capacity sensitive data is not impacted as load on the network grows.

Another biggie for me, and my wallet, is power usage. Thankfully the SE2500 features auto-sensing ports that'll not only adjust their data throughput for each connected device, but will also power down when unused. Better still, the SE2500 will also enter a power saving sleep mode when all ethernet ports are inactive.

Another feature that impressed with the E2500 was the inclusion of a port status switch for control LED lights so I didn't end up with an impromptu light show in my lounge.