3Com's 10/100 Switching... Wallplate

An anonymous reader wrote in to say "Tom's hardware has an exclusive review of the new 3Com Network Jack. This is a 4-port 10/100 switch that fits in a standard-sized wallplate." Alright, thats a good idea (he says while accidentally kicking the switch hidden under his desk). Having run more then my share of ethernet drops in the past, I gotta say I dig this idea.

Comments

Ridiculous

[zTTTz]

This is pointless. It's a $399 four-port hub. And where is the flexibility? Hmm? At my office we ran 4-Cat5 ports to ever cubicle. That means that at the patch panel, if someone needs three network ports, cool. If someone needs two network ports, and two analog modem lines, cool. If I want to put a dumb terminal on my desk and patch it to my serial port in the server room, cool. No problem. Sooooo much flexibility.

This gives you nothing, and unless you want to buy some expensive power over ethernet equipment you still have a power cable going from the wall to this socket. Anyone who claims this is useful is full of themselves! Concerned about a mess of cables under the desk? Excuse me but if you have a need for four Cat-5 connections at one desk, I'm assuming four computers. That means that you have a mess to start with. What is a four port hub thrown into the mix?

This device is the logical equivalent to saying, "Instead of using surge protectors at every desk, we shall install 8 power slots in a straight row in such a configuration that a power block (for say a printer) doesn't take up three slots."

Then you have troubleshooting. It is a lot easier to use cable testing equipment and knowing that if one of the four cat-5 cables between the patch pannel and the office magically goes out, at least we have three. If this little thing goes out, we are talking DOWN TIME until you can replace the part (might be minutes instead of just seconds like now). Any arguments?