D-Link Smart Managed 8-Port Gigabit Desktop PoE Switch Review

The D-Link DGS-1100-08P is marketed as an affordable Smart Switch with intuitive graphical management interface and essential Layer 2 switching.

With a total of Eight Gigabit ports all supporting Power over Ethernet (PoE), this device offers both basic and advanced feature sets suitable for home, small office or enterprise deployments.

Features

Highlight summary:

• Desktop form factor
• Eight (8) 10/100/1000BASE-T Ports
• Power over Ethernet (PoE) support on all Ports
• 64W PoE power budget
• Port-Based Bandwidth Control
• Port-based VLAN
• 802.1p QoS
• IGMP Snooping
• 802.1Q VLAN for traffic segregation
• D-Link Green & IEEE 802.3az compliant
• Web-Based management interface
• Metal housing with fanless design
• Limited Lifetime Warranty

Hardware

D-Link's website has a compare feature you may utilize prior to purchase, but in any case be aware that the DGS-1100 Series has six different models to choose from, varying between 5, 8, 10, 16, 24 and 26 Gigabit ports. The 5 and 8 port models come in compact desktop metal enclosures, while the 10, 16, 24 and 26 port models come in metal enclosures that support either desktop or rack mounting. Four models support Power over Ethernet (PoE), with a range of PoE power budgets from 64W to 370W.

This review covers the D-Link DGS-1100-08P, which is an 8-Port, desktop form factor switch with PoE support.

The unit housing is made from pressed metal with fanless ventilation and measures in at 6.73” x 3.85” x 1.13”. By design this model specifically is meant to be wall mounted or positioned on any flat surface.

Included is a rather large brick type external universal power supply, nearly equal in size to the device itself. This particularly is due in part to the Power over Ethernet (PoE) support on all ports with a 64W power budget.

Eight (8) 10/100/1000BASE-T Ports are present on the front panel along with the standard amber/green LEDs indicating link status, device power and PoE modes for clear visual indication.

Specifications

• Eight (8) 10/100/1000 Ports
• External Universal Power Supply
• Switching Capacity: 16 Gbps
• PoE Capable Ports: Ports 1-8
• PoE Power Budget: 64W
• Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) compliance
• Standby Power Consumption: 2.0W
• MTBF: 786,841 hours

Software

According to the user manual, the D-Link switch can be managed by using a Web User Interface (Web UI), D-Link Network Assistant (DNA), console port, Telnet, or Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) management interfaces. I didn't validate these methods and opt to use the Web Interface.

The switch Web Interface is accessible via any current browser. Upon login you'll be presented device information, I'd strongly suggest checking your firmware version is up-to-date before getting started.

DGS-1100 Series is feature rich to the point where it may seem overwhelming if you're not familiar with networking and switching. Needless to say, this makes the device perfect for a wide variety of applications, both basic and advanced.

The navigation menu does a good job of grouping system settings, management options and configurations based on features sets. Though intuitive, I found the interface aesthetically dated and really wish D-Link would develop a more modern looking graphical interface which could be applied across all their product lines in an effort to provide uniformity.

I was pleasantly surprised at the available features on the DGS-1100-08P. Present are Layer 2 switching features such as FDB, VLAN, Spanning Tree, Loopback detection, Link Aggregation and Multicast control. QoS (DSCP Priority & Rate Limiting), Traffic Segmentation, Storm Control, Port Trunking (static link aggregation only, no LACP support) and port security options are available too. Operations, administration and management (OAM) offers cable diagnostics, along with additional monitoring of statistics & mirroring.

Power over Ethernet configuration is simplistic and the interface offers a lot of detailed information on ports, state, priority, power limits, watts, voltage, current(mA) and status. While on the topic of power, I should also mention IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) is present on the D-Link DGS-1100-08P. This standard allows physical layer transmitters to consume less power during periods of low data activity.

Energy Efficiency

Power consumption will vary based on active switching and PoE implementation. So for this test I simply recorded idle utilization. Our energy efficiency test measured power consumption fluctuating between 2.1W to 2.6W.