Tenda TEG1016M — 16-port Gigabit Ethernet Desktop Switch

Buying it, and when not to

The TEG1016M is a 16-port gigabit Ethernet desktop switch. Sixteen gigabit ports, unmanaged, nothing to set up - the same proposition as the SG108 at double the port count.

This is the right size for a real small office: a dozen desks, a printer, a couple of access points, a DVR and the router, all on one switch with ports left over. Sixteen ports on one device is also better engineering than two eight-port switches chained together, because every extra hop is another thing to lose power, another link to go faulty, and another place for somebody to unplug something.

It is a desktop body, so if the install is going into a cabinet with other rack equipment the TEG1016G gives you the same port count in a rack-mount chassis and looks and ages better in a cabinet. It has no PoE, which is the thing most often overlooked: a site with ceiling access points or IP cameras needs a PoE switch such as the TEG1110PF-8-120W or TEG1120P-16-150W, not this. And it is unmanaged, so there are no VLANs and no port statistics - for a site needing staff and guest separation or remote visibility, look at the cloud-managed TEG2226F or the managed TEG3328F.