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Buffalo BS-MP2008 8-Port Multi-GbE Switch Review

Final Thoughts and Pricing

Pricing

The Buffalo BS-MP2008 8-Port Multi-Gigabit Ethernet Switch (link) can be yours for £443.98 or $505.64 through Amazon. The bigger 12-Port model has a price of £685.90 and $752.24 at the time of this review.

Conclusion

It was a pleasure testing Buffalo’s BS-MP2008 switch today. It was the first Buffalo product which I officially got to review, and at the same time, it isn’t your everyday product. Yes, switches aren’t new, and neither are 10 Gbps switches, but getting one at an affordable price, that’s new.

The BS-MP2008 is built in a metal chassis and doesn’t feature a lot of design aspects. It isn’t 19″ sized, but it comes with brackets for setup in such racks. It can also be placed on the desktop or be wall mounted. With green-ethernet functions, it should also be economical. Although I’m sure that quite a few will want to run it at full performance at all times.

One thing everyone is wondering about is the noise output. It isn’t as loud and annoying as my server room-type switches, but it isn’t silent either. It reminds more of a mechanical drive working hard in an open chassis than a vacuum cleaner or turbine. So, if you plan to run it in an area where noise can be an issue, you might want to replace the fans with something better. However, modding is as always at your own risk. So, keep that in mind.

Features and Performance

There aren’t as many features available as some other more expensive switches, but that’s okay. The vital features are all covered and included. That includes IGMP, QoS, port trunking, and VLAN setup. Fewer features also mean less to learn and easier management by novice users. Most SOHO and SMB setups will easily be satisfied with what the BS-MP2008 has to offer.

The performance is barely different from other switches I’ve tested. In fact, I’ve rerun all tests on all compared switches at the same time – just to verify earlier results. The difference between the various switches is negligible which means that you can focus on features and price instead.