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Smart move IMO - 5 ports fill up fast, considering you'll populate 3 ports right out of the box. Better to have the headroom of the 8 port. I've helped out a couple folks with their SOHO setups, and the 5 ports usuallty end up in the e-cycle pile.
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Depending on your needs, don't forget that you can usually set an old unused wifi router to AP mode (with wifi disabled if you don't need it) and use that as a quick 5-port switch (WAN becomes another normal port in AP mode).
Depending on your needs, don't forget that you can usually set an old unused wifi router to AP mode (with wifi disabled if you don't need it) and use that as a quick 5-port switch (WAN becomes another normal port in AP mode).
Smart move IMO - 5 ports fill up fast, considering you'll populate 3 ports right out of the box. Better to have the headroom of the 8 port. I've helped out a couple folks with their SOHO setups, and the 5 ports usuallty end up in the e-cycle pile.
Why three ports right out of the box? I understand saying two since you'll have one for connection to the rest of the network and then a second one for the component you're expanding to. What's the third?
Why three ports right out of the box? I understand saying two since you'll have one for connection to the rest of the network and then a second one for the component you're expanding to. What's the third?
The third is the uplink to the rest of the wired network.
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The third is the uplink to the rest of the wired network.
I already covered that one. It was the first one I mentioned. That activates the other four ports for connection. So, you could say two because you're only expanding it because you have something to connect to it. What's the third?
I already covered that one. It was the first one I mentioned. That activates the other four ports for connection. So, you could say two because you're only expanding it because you have something to connect to it. What's the third?
As an example, I have a network cable connected to the back of my PC on my desk. I want to add a network printer next to that PC, and it's not practical to run an additional cable back to the switch or router that the PC's cable is connected to - I buy an unmanaged switch, put it on my desk, plug in the cable that was previously plugged in to my PC to the uplink port on the switch (in fact ANY port on the back of the switch, as even these unmanaged switches can figure out which of their ports is the uplink), and then use a patch cable to connect the PC to any of the other unoccupied ports, and another patch cable to connect the network printer to any of the other unoccupied ports. 3 ports - one for the uplink, one each for the PC and printer.
An unmanaged switch that's uplinked to the remainder of the network on one port and only has one additional device plugged in to it (like a PC) on another port (2 ports in use) is an unnecessary use of a switch, consuming unnecessary power as it's plugged in, and adding additional unneeded network overhead - the "uplink" cable can simply be plugged in to the back of the PC, no need for a switch.
As an example, I have a network cable connected to the back of my PC on my desk. I want to add a network printer next to that PC, and it's not practical to run an additional cable back to the switch or router that the PC's cable is connected to - I buy an unmanaged switch, put it on my desk, plug in the cable that was previously plugged in to my PC to the uplink port on the switch (in fact ANY port on the back of the switch, as even these unmanaged switches can figure out which of their ports is the uplink), and then use a patch cable to connect the PC to any of the other unoccupied ports, and another patch cable to connect the network printer to any of the other unoccupied ports. 3 ports - one for the uplink, one each for the PC and printer.
An unmanaged switch that's uplinked to the remainder of the network on one port and only has one additional device plugged in to it (like a PC) on another port (2 ports in use) is an unnecessary use of a switch, consuming unnecessary power as it's plugged in, and adding additional unneeded network overhead - the "uplink" cable can simply be plugged in to the back of the PC, no need for a switch.
Depending on your needs, don't forget that you can usually set an old unused wifi router to AP mode (with wifi disabled if you don't need it) and use that as a quick 5-port switch (WAN becomes another normal port in AP mode).
How's the latency on a repurposed router? It might be higher than a barebone switch . These things have minimal latency because they're driverless
Last edited by make_moneys August 2, 2026 at 10:16 AM.
How's the latency on a repurposed router? It might be higher than a barebone switch . These things have minimal latency because they're driverless
Depends on how old the router is, I suppose, but it's generally a non-issue, like 1ms or less since we're talking about wired connections. In AP mode the router turns off most of the stuff that might cause latency and it pretty much becomes an unmanaged switch. Even in router mode the wired connection hardly adds any latency (unless it's a cheap/old underpowered router trying to do too much, perhaps). If it's a gigabit router from the last 15 years or whatever, it probably won't add much latency. If it's like 20+ years old and only 100 Mbps, maybe it will. If you're using it as a wireless AP/bridge, that's a different story, but even then it's probably fine especially if you're just using it for streaming, browsing, etc. The other other issue is it might be less efficient in terms of power consumption and on a long enough timeline it might use more in electricity cost than this $10 switch. 2 watts takes like 2-4 years to cost $10 depending on your power cost. If this is 4 watts less than whatever AP mode router you have, then "pays for itself in power savings" will obviously be sooner. Of course, by then a chicken sandwich combo will probably cost $20 (if it doesn't already), so it's all relative.
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An unmanaged switch that's uplinked to the remainder of the network on one port and only has one additional device plugged in to it (like a PC) on another port (2 ports in use) is an unnecessary use of a switch, consuming unnecessary power as it's plugged in, and adding additional unneeded network overhead - the "uplink" cable can simply be plugged in to the back of the PC, no need for a switch.
An unmanaged switch that's uplinked to the remainder of the network on one port and only has one additional device plugged in to it (like a PC) on another port (2 ports in use) is an unnecessary use of a switch, consuming unnecessary power as it's plugged in, and adding additional unneeded network overhead - the "uplink" cable can simply be plugged in to the back of the PC, no need for a switch.
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