recommendations for or against, from experience, brands of gigabit ethernet switches?

[Ellis Vener]

The headline says it all. I now need a gigabit ethernet switch. Preferably 5, or better yet in a future proofing sense,  8 port.

Thank you,

Ellis
http://www.ellisvener.com

[degrub]

You might ask over in smallnetbuilder as there are folks with significant experience on the forums if you have special application needs.
http://www.snbforums.com/

What will be connected ?

Do you need capabilty to pair ports ?

Do you need to have virtual networks ?

Managed switch or plug-n-play ?

I've been using gigabit Cisco SMB routers and switches as well as Netgear prosafe switches for years. They meet my modest needs with a couple simple NAS boxes, WAPs, and virtual networks for kids and visitors, typically 4-5 users, MythTV boxes, etc.

[Schewe]

The headline says it all. I now need a gigabit ethernet switch. Preferably 5, or better yet in a future proofing sense,  8 port.

It almost doesn't matter which switch cause they are really essentially a commodity at this point. I would be inclined to go Cat 6 as recabling isn't a big hassle (unless you have cables inside of walls).

[sandymc]

The headline says it all. I now need a gigabit ethernet switch. Preferably 5, or better yet in a future proofing sense,  8 port.

I have used a cheap TP-Link 8 port unit for years now without any problem, connecting several Macs and PCs to a pair of servers.

[Ellis Vener]

thank you everyone.