Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This switch is designed to fail. Period. Several of ours failed. Instead of bothering with the steps below or an RMA and waiting for replacements, we went with Cisco/Linksys. Switch prices are now so low that we can't be bothered with Netgear's bad design and poor QC. Unless you've got the tools, there are better switches out there designed to last without all of the folderol below. But, for the handy and prepared, this over and over. Read on...switch can be resuscitated In looking at the reviews, it seems that Netgear has not fixed the fundamental flaw on this switch's mainboard since ver 1. I'm seeing in reviews that ver 3's are still failing. What's the built in obsolescence of this switch for the unsuspecting consumer? There are two capacitors on the mainboard, that for whatever reasons, FAIL FAIL FAIL. Don't believe it? Do a Google search for Netgear GS 108 and blinking lights (of death). You'll find all sorts of posts about how to identify the bad capacitors, remove them, buy replacements at Radio Shack and then, yep, solder them back on to the board. Here's a link to a great step by step to repair this switch because it will fail. [...] Unless you have a) a soldering iron, b) the know how to use it or c) someone handy at home, skip this switch and look at either Cisco or LInksys. Shame on Netgear for still selling this switch without fixing its mainboard.