Netgear EN104TP 4-Port 10 Mbps Ethernet Hub RJ-45 with Uplink Button

This is a true ethernet hub (not a switch). This product is exactly what I needed for packet sniffing while working on a mobile app. The seller has gone above and beyond what I expected in this purchase. I cannot express how impressed I am with this seller for how they behaved in this purchase.

Just had to replace the power supplier with an Italian type, and worked. Really helpfull on troubleshooting... Cheers, StefanoA

Like most consumer electronics these hubs eventually fail in a slow painful death. I believe you can expect around 3-5 years of faithful service before these cost-effective hubs give out.I wept when the first port stopped lighting up, and only three ports remained working (2 useful for my hw, 1 uplink). But my sympathy for a long-lived product went out the window when the thing got extremely hot and then all the lights went out.:| It made a resounding thud when it hit the insides of my rubbermaid garbage can. The case is metal and extremely durable. I once used two of these as a monitor stand.The power cube is still functional, and continues to power my home-built electronic hobbies to this day.Not a bad product but I'd recommend a 100Mbps / 1Gb hub, and for slightly more money you might as well go with a wireless / wired router or WAP.

I needed another Ethernet Hub for a software development project I'm working on. Hubs are difficult to find these days as low cost network switches are a dime a dozen, and provide isolation between network ports.But for network hardware development you do not want this isolation when you are trying to monitor network traffic between devices. That is where an Ethernet Hub comes in. Yes you can use "managed" network switches but those are more expensive than the garden variety network switch.This Hub was available at a fair price, and works fine. If I need another one I would purchase again.

The unit i received was DOA.

When you need a hub and not a switch, this is what you need. It is perfect for running Wireshark. At this price I should have bought an extra one. The one I received works great and looks brand new with no scratches or scuffs.

still being used after many years of use

Our office used to use a handful of the EN-104 4-port hubs and some of the EN-108 (the 8-port version of the same product).As 10 Mbps hubs go, the EN-104's are really nice.The quality of NetGear equipment has always impressed me:- Nice sturdy metal construction instead of plastic.- Status indicators built into the jacks, so you can easily tell which cable is connected and is active.- Right-angled barrel power connector which reduce the likelihood of disconnecting power accidentally.- With an easy-to-access switch, Port 1 toggles between station mode and uplink mode. Unlike some hubs where two jacks are wired together, this design prevents accidentally shorting a station to an uplink.- Screw-mount notches on the underside allows for easy attachment to the wall, underside of a counter, etc.If you want to set up a network without spending much, these hubs work well. However, I suggest you buy a 10/100 Mbps hub instead.Here's why:Practically all new networkable devices today support 100 Mbps (FastEthernet) as well as 10 Mbps (Ethernet). The EN-104 hub (and other 10 Mbps hubs) will limit you to the slower speed.As 10/100 Mbps hubs are readily available today, and are quite affordable, I think your money is better spent on the faster hub.Is there a noticeable difference between 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps? It depends on your usage, but if you regularly work with files larger than about 300 KBytes or larger, you'll notice a tangible difference. For truly large files (like graphics/movies, or when installing an application via a network drive), a 10 second transfer at 100 Mbps will take well over a minute at 10 Mbps.If the NetGear 10/100 hub (DS-104) is a bit too pricey for you, you might consider the Linksys EFAH05W 10/100 hub. Though not as "nice" as NetGear equipment, the Linksys 10/100 hub is only a few dollars more than this NetGear 10 Mbps hub.