[orrelljet]

Thanks Vlad.

I did initially look at Linksys but I've heard mixed reports of the quality of their products, since Cisco took over. The SR2016 was top of my list but user reviews on Amazon.com has made me change my mind - fans that get nosier over time and mutiple failures...my own Linsys Gigabit (8 port) switch has also just failed and the (lack of) support I received didn't exactly overwhelm me.

I'm definitely with you on the Netgear side of things though - consistently reliable products but the more robust switches they offer (metal casings) aren't too light on the pocket, which is a shame, which is why I was looking at lesser-known brands, eg. Repotec.

J.