Making a decision between a managed and an unmanaged switch will ultimately be based on cost and/or whether you want to segregate your traffic. There are many other features possible with a managed switch, but VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) is the popular feature.

Using VLANs on your managed switch is pretty much how it sounds. You assign devices to a virtual LAN which will keep one device from talking to another device without your consent or the use of a router to help process the traffic. Why would you ever want devices to stop talking to each other? To reduce bandwidth on parts of your network, or make your network faster. It can also help reduce unneeded processing by other network devices, such as routers. Is this as easy as it sounds? No, most home networks need all devices speaking to each other and do not have enough equipment to constitute separated traffic. If you decide to separate your traffic it will benefit you, and your network, to understand what the traffic is doing and how to design a good network layout.

Managed switches can also be used for added security. Depending upon the abilities of your managed switch you can turn off ports, or set up your ports to disable themselves if a device you do not want connected is attached to your network. This comes with a price, though. If you setup your network to stop equipment with unknown MAC (Media Access Control) addresses you will spend a lot of time managing your ports, especially if you change out equipment or NICs (Network Interface Cards) on a regular basis. VLANs can be used to add security to your network as well. If an unauthorized user connects to an open network port on your switch or at a empty jack, you can use a dead VLAN to stop the traffic from going anywhere.

There are other more advanced features to managed switches, such as, Access Control Lists, Spanning Tree Protocols, Quality of Service settings, SMTP options and more, but most are not necessary for small business or home networks.

Managed switches come ready to be used like an unmanaged switch. Plug it in and your network is moving information without any real traffic processing, but you have the options if you want to use them.

An unmanaged switch is a device that receives network traffic and sends network traffic. It does not process the traffic or make decisions on the traffic. You power it on connect the cables and things can communicate with each other. If you have a small or simple network this will most likely handle your needs without any issues. If your network grows in size and you start to experience slow downs due to data collisions it may be time to think about separating your traffic.

As you probably already suspect managed switches cost more than an unmanaged switch. Deciding whether or not the cost is worth the benefits, depends on you and your needs.

About the Author: Bo Patrick has been involved in network troubleshooting and design for over 7 years.  He is currently a support supervisor for large network technology company.

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