The Linksys SR2016 is a 10/100/1000 Gigabit switch for SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) installations. It is unmanaged, rack mountable, and has 16 auto-sensing (speed and MDI) ports.
I purchased this switch for my home as I was using an non-rack mount 8 port Gigabit D-Link switch. The D-Link switch was installed in a structured wiring panel in one of the closets of the house. I’ve needed to add additional ports for some time as I need to add an additional wireless access point (WAP) and two more Ethernet security cameras in the house. I decided to ditch the structured wiring panel for home networking (while keeping it for video) and order a 3U wall-mount rack from Rack Solutions.
My obstacle was finding a 16 port Gigabit switch that was rack mountable and quiet. Since this is an installation in a home I did not want to have to listen to a jet engine in my closet. I read several reviews of this switch on Amazon and other on-line stores that hinted at the switch being “very” noisy. However, according to the specification page at Linksys the switch was rated a 0db acoustic noise. This confused me greatly as the switch does have fans. I assumed the Linksys specifications were wrong, but decided to take a chance and buy the unit as it had all of the other features I needed. Plus, the price was right at $249 (Fry’s).
After getting the switch home and installing it, my fears came true. Linksys was wrong about their switch being 0db. However, my fears were quickly relieved as I realized the switch wasn’t very noisy at all. In fact, it was amazingly quiet for a switch of its size with two internal fans. After installing it in the closet and shutting the door, there isn’t the slightest bit of noise radiating from the room. I will however point out this switch would not be appropriate for a quiet office or desktop. It would drive me nuts in that arena, but for a closet, it is perfect.
One thing I should point out is that the picture on both the Linksys page and the NewEgg page which depict the rack mount brackets are incorrect. Since this switch is only 14 inches wide and a standard rack is 19 inches, the rack brackets are each 2.5″ in length to make up the difference. This doesn’t make any difference in functionality whatsoever, but is confusing when trying to determine the actual size of the switch itself (see picture to left).
As far as operation, the switch works flawlessly. It also supports jumbo frames which is great if you do lots of backups or file copies of large video or other media (you’ll need to enable jumbo frames on your computers too for this to make any difference).
One thing I really like about some of the new Linksys gear is the metal casing. This switch is rugged and will last a long time in a business environment. You won’t have to worry about it, just mount it on the wall and go.
UPDATE 9/28/2009: This switch failed after slightly over 2 years in operation. It would show link when nothing was plugged in and refuse to pass traffic on random ports.
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