Hubs and Switches

Review: Gigabit switch offers flexibility

D-Link’s Layer 3 Gigabit Ethernet switch provides room for LAN and WAN growth

Price: £1,196

Our rating: **** (4 out of 5)

Review : Plug-in solution for LAN-less offices

Motorola’s Powerline MU Gateway brings LAN connectivity to buildings via the mains

Price: £728 for Powerline MU Gateway

Our rating: *** (3 out of 5)

Review : Layer 2 switch gives Extreme value

Extreme’s Summit X150 switches offer a good range of features for an affordable price

Price: £1150 for 24-port model with PoE

Our rating: **** (4 out of 5)

Review : Gigabit switch offers controllable power

Nortel Networks’ 4548GT-PWR is a fully featured switch with impressive PoE capabilities

Price: £3440

Our rating: **** (4 out of 5)

Review : Appliance keeps rogue systems at bay

Fortinet’s UTM offers a good range of security options, but configuration can be tricky

Price: £4477

Our rating: **** (4 out of 5)

3Com SuperStack 3 4500PWR

A Layer 3 stackable switch providing controllable Power over Ethernet for converged networks

Price: £1,084+VAT

3Com OfficeConnect Wireless 11g

A set of products giving teleworkers, small firms and branch offices everything needed to build a secure 802.11g wireless LAN

Netgear FS526T

This Fast Ethernet switch offers simple management facilities and Gigabit backplane support

Rose Electronics UltraConsole

A sensible solution for reducing server-rack clutter

Netgear HE102 access point

Netgear's 802.11a wireless LAN access point proved easy to set up

D-Link DWL-900AP+

D-Link's latest wireless access point offers souped-up 802.11b throughput, but only when linked to other D-Link products

Intel 802.11a access point

Intel's WSAP5000 802.11a access point can support 54Mbit/s wireless LAN data rates, but a licence is needed to use it

Price: £340

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