Home > Consumer Reviews > Cisco SD2005 5-port 10/100/1000 Gigabit Switch

Real quickly, I'm a network administrator for one of the largest websites in the US, so I'm not clueless when it comes to these devices. Like all the positive reviewers here, I was very happy with this unit when I first bought it. Worked like a charm, fast, cheap - what more could I ask for? Well how about a unit that didn't go belly up due to Linksys cutting corners on parts?

Apparently some versions of the SD2008 and SD2005 had fans, but they have been cut out. Now these little buggers overheat, and when they do, it can cause capacitors to go bad which basically kill it's ability to operate in gigabit mode. In fact, several of my computers (and I've tried all sorts of NICs/computer combos) just repeatedly drop connection in a neverending loop. Nice work Linksys.

I've read on forums that many others have the exact same problem - usually takes months for it to show up. One guy actually tore his apart, and saw the blistered/bulging components that had overheated and replaced them (hope you're handy w/a soldering iron.)

You'll get the switch, you'll love it and write a great review. Then in a few weeks or months it will start going flakey. Eventually it will die completely. You'll hate it. Do us all a favor and wait a few months before you a write a breathless review about how great this is, and you'll save a lot of people trouble. Cisco should be sued over the uniformly poor quality of these switches.

Here's a hint: if a company like Cisco won't put their name front and center on a product, it's probably because they're cutting corners. LinkSys is the brand Cisco uses when they want to sell crap but don't want to tarnish their own image. Real IT people know the LinkSys is Cisco's code for "we really phoned in this one."

I work in systems/network support. Our department has bought 6 of these switches over the past year (not all in one purchase, but 1 at a time as needed). 3 out of the 6 have now failed as others have mentioned in their reviews. The switches worked great for the first few months, but suddenly failed. Post-failure, they provide a 'gigabit' link, but throughput is < 100 Kbps. If I could give this switch zero stars, I would. Don't waste your money on this switch.

I have two SD2005 V1.2 5 port gigabit switches and one SD2008. One of the SD2005 V1.2 switches went bad, and I can easily verify by replacing it with the other used in another room.

The unit cannot connect at Gigabit speeds and only negotiates to 10 and 100 megabit, also has lots of packet loss.

I called for an RMA and was told that the product was outside of telephone support warranty period, but was entitled to replacement- however; in order to get a replacement, the $74 fee for troubleshooting over the phone was necessary! They will not allow you to open an RMA without troubleshooting over the telephone!

Being a Network and Systems admin this is insulting-- then the price of $74 when I can just go out and buy a brand new unit for around $50?! Linksys has lost a customer forever- and I hope that those of you reading this review investigate this for yourselves and DO NOT purchase items from a company like this. Deplorable, disgusting and absolutely shady behavior... I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau immediately.

This worked for a short period of time, after which network speeds were awful. For no obvious reason -- as others have reported -- it will only work at 10mbits now. Even with a 3 foot cat6 cable. Replacing this with other gigabit switches (and no other changes) results in instant gigabit speeds.

It took a while to diagnose the network issues I was seeing where the SD2005 was involved. Reading these reviews, or having connection speed LEDs like my other switches, would have saved a lot of time and frustration. Now I know why Linksys doesn't want you to be able to see the connection speeds!