We don't need no stinkin' router

Author's Rating:

Pros: True plug and play, with sturdy construction

Cons: none noted

The Bottom Line: 
Works exactly as advertised, and as described in my review

Author's Review
Actually not true, but more on that in a minute.
What I bought this for was to give myself some additional network lines in another room.
The first step for me was to buy a set of powerline adapters and install them. If you aren't familiar with powerline adapters I'll explain: Look up powerline adapters on Amazon or Newegg or... and you will see a range of products to choose from.
To use them you plug one into a wall outlet (120V), and run a network line from your router to it.In another room you plug in the matching powerline adapter into a wall outlet. What you should see is a couple of lights flashing to indicate that you now have what is in effect a new high speed network cable coming from the adapter.
This will enable you to use a switch such as this one to plug other or multiple cables into.


The switch under review also comes with a DC converter power supply, so you will need an outlet to plug that into before using it. It's not necessary to actually have a powerline adapter, you could also use it as a stand alone device, but you must plug in a source cable, or in other words, the network cable from somewhere. Once you have the cable bringing the Internet to it you can share that one cable with up to 4 other cables, or devices.Here's how I use mine:

I take the one line from the powerline adapter and plug it into this switch in position 1.
I have a game system plugged into the 2nd cable.
 I have a TV plugged into another one. 
 I have my satellite DVR hooked up to a 4th line. 
 I have a wi-fi modem plugged in to the last outlet

The first three are probably self-explanatory, but if not, they each attach to a device that can use the Internet. 
My TV for example can access news and weather. The game system downloads games, content, and many other things. The DRV gets movies and other on-demand items. The modem gives me a strong signal for wireless devices in this part of the house. 
My other wi-fi modem does not provide a strong signal in bedroom for example, but the 2nd one does.

This switch works perfectly, with no passwords, configuration or other setup required. Truly plug and play. It is in a metal enclosure, and is quite sturdy. It can be will or rack mounted also.