Hawking Technology PN105ES 5-Port 10/100 Switch

Rating:
Summary: Spend a little more
Review: I have used this switch on a daily basis in excess of 6 months. It was inexpensive and worked great when I plugged it in. After about 4 months I started to have problems connecting thru the switch. At roughly the 6 month stage the switch would stop working entirely after about 10 minutes. After noticing that the case was getting warm to the touch, I pulled the card from the case and positioned it in front of an exhaust fan on my work bench. Within a few seconds it had re-established a network connection and has been working since. Obviously the chip has an overheating problem. I could not recommend this card to the average user who needed long term reliability. Spend a little more, get a switch you can rely on.

Rating:
Summary: An "ugly" switch, but sometimes ugly can be beautiful!
Review: This is a "supplementary" switch I'm using to link a couple of *ancient* machines in the attic to the house network. I wanted them to be hooked up, but I didn't think they warranted the expense of a Linksys switch.

And there was Hawking, looking kind of like a poor relation next to the others. It certainly isn't as physically "attractive" as other hardware, and doesn't carry a "prestigious" brand name, but the price convinced me I had nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Setup was simple, as with most any simple network switch: unpack, plug in power, plug in network cables. Up and running in about three minutes. No problems so far, and it seems to be as good a performer as its more beautiful and famous cousins. It seems solidly constructed, and each port has its own yellow/green status LED to indicate connection speed.

So, if you're looking for an inexpensive 10/100 switch, and you can convince yourself that "beauty is only skin deep," I recommend you give the Hawking a try.

Rating:
Summary: An "ugly" switch, but sometimes ugly can be beautiful!
Review: This is a "supplementary" switch I'm using to link a couple of *ancient* machines in the attic to the house network. I wanted them to be hooked up, but I didn't think they warranted the expense of a Linksys switch.

And there was Hawking, looking kind of like a poor relation next to the others. It certainly isn't as physically "attractive" as other hardware, and doesn't carry a "prestigious" brand name, but the price convinced me I had nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Setup was simple, as with most any simple network switch: unpack, plug in power, plug in network cables. Up and running in about three minutes. No problems so far, and it seems to be as good a performer as its more beautiful and famous cousins. It seems solidly constructed, and each port has its own yellow/green status LED to indicate connection speed.

So, if you're looking for an inexpensive 10/100 switch, and you can convince yourself that "beauty is only skin deep," I recommend you give the Hawking a try.

Rating:
Summary: Poor Choice for a critical app
Review: We purchase a dozen of these switches a year or so ago. All but 2 have failed. They heat up over time and then the network speed drops to nearly nothing. The user still sees the network but bandwidth is almost non-existant. If you need a cheap switch for a network go with a Linksys or if you need to step down a bit a D-Link.

Rating:
Summary: It's a switch . . .
Review: You get exactly what is advertised... Since I've installed it in my network the only difference I've found is that I have more ports, which is exactly how a switch should work. This is the second thing I've purchased by Hawking Technology. I hadn't heard of them before, but am very pleased with their products and quality.

Rating:
Summary: It's a switch . . .
Review: You get exactly what is advertised... Since I've installed it in my network the only difference I've found is that I have more ports, which is exactly how a switch should work. This is the second thing I've purchased by Hawking Technology. I hadn't heard of them before, but am very pleased with their products and quality.