Netgear's Nighthawk S8000 8-port switch gets the LAN party started

Supporting traffic prioritization down to the port level and link aggregation to deliver up to 4Gbps, the new switch delivers what all gamers look for in a LAN party.

Dong Ngo SF Labs Manager, Editor / Reviews

CNET editor Dong Ngo has been involved with technology since 2000, starting with testing gadgets and writing code for CNET Labs' benchmarks. He now manages CNET San Francisco Labs, reviews 3D printers, networking/storage devices, and also writes about other topics from online security to new gadgets and how technology impacts the life of people around the world.

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Dong Ngo

Jan. 4, 2017 10:26 p.m. PT

2 min read

The Nighthawk S8000 8-port Gaming and Media Switch at CES 2017.
Dong Ngo/CNET

When it comes to gaming, the best way to connect your rig is via a Gigabit connection, and today Netgear brought that to a next level with the Nighthawk S8000 8-port Gaming and Media Switch (model GS808E).

Netgear says this is a 8-port switch designed to connect Playstation, Xbox, Wii and other gaming consoles, as well as basically any device that needs a smooth, lag-free connection. Each of its Gigabit Ethernet ports can be configured differently, allowing for complete versatility to users. You can use a web interface to configure each port for a certain service, like media streaming, gaming or VoIP, and the switch will automatically prioritize the traffic for that particular service.

On top of that, the GS808E also supports link aggregation, meaning you can combine up to four ports into a single, super fast connection (up to 4Gbps) that works with supported NAS server or gaming rigs. This is great for those who want to host LAN parties where one server hosts multiple simultaneous gaming sections.

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The Nighthawk S8000 8-port Gaming and Media Switch has 8 Gigabit network port, four of which can be combined into a single super-fast 4Gbps connection.
Dong Ngo/CNET

Netgear says the Nighthawk S8000 Gigabit Ethernet Switch seamlessly integrates with any Nighthawk router and includes the full set of NETGEAR Web Managed Switch software features. Its other attributes include:

"Cool-touch" premium zinc alloy housing design, with soft-touch no-slip base  
Easy, one-click optimized configuration presets for gaming, media streaming or standard  networking, plus two user-defined configurations  
Port-based and 802.1p/DSCP-based QoS (Quality of Service) for 4 levels of network traffic  prioritization  
Auto "denial-of-service" (DoS) prevention  
IGMP snooping support for multicast optimization  
Loop detection and broadcast storm controls  
Rate limiting and priority queuing for better bandwidth allocation  
Port trunking/link aggregation (LAG) enables increased throughput beyond 1Gbps [up to 4Gbps]  or to provide redundancy across the link(s)

The switch comes with a 3-year warranty and will be available in Match at the suggest retail price of $99, which converts to roughly AU$140 and £80.