- Azure Cloud
Azure ExpressRoute: When You Need a Dedicated Connection
16 Jan, 2026





£21.53 inc. VAT
AI-generated summary
At £17.94 ex-VAT, the D-Link DGS-1008D/E is the definition of “buy it because you need it to work.” This is a basic unmanaged 8‑port gigabit switch—ideal for quickly adding wired network ports in small offices, meeting rooms, or home/SMB setups where you don’t want to faff with configuration. It’s a good match if you’re plugging in things like PCs, printers, access points, or a small lab setup and you just care about stable connectivity rather than fancy management features. For the price, it’s hard to argue against: you get gigabit speeds without paying more for features you won’t use.
That said, you shouldn’t buy it if you’re expecting control or network hygiene. Unmanaged switches don’t let you troubleshoot traffic patterns, set VLANs, or prioritise voice/video—so if your environment needs tighter network segmentation or monitoring, you’ll outgrow it fast. Also, for deployments with lots of noisy usage (many devices running continuously, heavy file transfers), spending a bit more on a higher-quality, business-focused switch line can be worth it for long-term reliability—cheap switches can be perfectly fine, but they’re not built for “set it and forget it” under demanding conditions.
**Verdict:** Buy it for simple, low-cost expansion in a small UK office or small-workgroup scenario. Skip it if you need manageability, VLANs, or deeper control—because at this price, you’re paying for simplicity, not for features.

TP-Link
TP-Link TL-SG1005LP - V1 - switch - unmanaged - 5 x 10/100/1000 (4 PoE+) - desktop, wall-mountable - PoE+ (40 W)

TP-Link
TP-Link JetStream TL-SG2428P V5 - Switch - L2+ - smart - 24 x 10/100/1000 (PoE+) + 4 x Gigabit SFP - rack-mountable - PoE+ (250 W)

D-Link
Metal Housing 8p 10/100

Zyxel
Zyxel XGS1010-12 - V2 - switch - Managed - 8 x 10/100/1000 + 2 x 100/1000/2.5G + 2 x 1 Gigabit / 10 Gigabit SFP+ (uplink) - desktop, wall-mountable