Unless you're aiming for some very specific things, literally any modern switch and many old ISP leftover ethernet routers will do. What are you trying to achieve, just networking these devices?

The main idea is to have the machines (PCs and PS2) access RetroNAS via SMB / FTP; if compatibility is not an issue, I'd like to be able to run apps/games via SMB (or other similar protocol) without having to copy to the machine's internal drive.

I may have other ideas in the future, but for obvious reasons it will always be limited to network stuff that makes sense for PCs of that era (ie. I'm not trying to stream 4k video or anything like that).
From what I've been reading, Win9x for example is not optimized for networking and it makes no sense to try and get 1Gbps out of it (looking at other threads here it seems it may not even be able to max out 100Mbps). I'd assume something similar happens with DOS/Win3x. But if 1Gbps switches/routers have no issues with older machines, then it may be a good idea to consider for NT4/2k? Not sure, my focus at the moment is non-NT OSes (but NT OSes will be the focus later on).

You appear to be overthinking this. A switch that supports 10/100 isn’t going to care two hoots about what OS is connected to it, and the OS isn’t going to care what the switch is.

If you REALLY want to ensure compatibility and no unforseen issues with auto negotiation, get any managed switch where you can set fixed speed and duplex on a per-port basis.

If you can get something 10/100 with one or two 1Gbps uplink ports then your NAS could at least be on gigabit, allowing for multiple retro devices to use 10/100 at the same time.

Netgear GS105N or GS108N (5 and 8 port respectively).

I have deployed dozens upon dozens of these switches over the past decade or so and have only ever had 2-3 develop issues.

paradigital wrote on 2023-04-21, 19:10:

You appear to be overthinking this. A switch that supports 10/100 isn’t going to care two hoots about what OS is connected to it, and the OS isn’t going to care what the switch is.

If you REALLY want to ensure compatibility and no unforseen issues with auto negotiation, get any managed switch where you can set fixed speed and duplex on a per-port basis.

If you can get something 10/100 with one or two 1Gbps uplink ports then your NAS could at least be on gigabit, allowing for multiple retro devices to use 10/100 at the same time.

Of course I'm overthinking it; 😀 I have little network knowledge, and I want to make sure I buy something that will bring me as little trouble as possible (I don't have money to buy lots of switches and test myself, and I also don't want to have to buy, resell, buy resell, etc until I get to a proper device).

I know the switch doesn't care which OS is running on the devices; but I don't know, I thought maybe some network setting in the OS or in the NIC driver may not like whatever's coming from the switch (be it the speed or whatever else they communicate about besides the data).

So, I guess that's a start, I should preferably look for a managed switch where I can set fixed speed and duplex on a per-port basis.

pool7 wrote on 2023-04-21, 16:31:

I must admit networking is not my forte, especially when it comes to choosing hardware.

To be honest, for you I'd recommend any unmanaged switch, even from a thrift store ~ 5-10 € $ £
For your purpose 99,99% of the available switches will have no difference in performance.
The only thing you might care about is TCP/IP and DHCP.
Since I do not know about your TCP/IP knowledge, I recommend to learn and use static IP addresses first.
With a managed switch you surely will be overwhelmed by the features. You won't know where to start.

Any of the available switches uses auto-sensing of port speed and MDI/MDI-X, so there is no need for crossed patch cables while you still can use them.

Literally get any 8 ports gigabit switch from the last 15 years that you can get on the cheap in classified ads around you, shouldn't be more than a few 10's. With your requirements and admitted lack of networking knowledge, you definitely don't need a manageable switch. You're not going to do network segmentation/VLAN's or QoS or anything like that anytime soon to interconnect a few old computers/consoles and a RetroNAS....

Is there anything specific you want to do that makes you think you need a router on top of a switch? Are you looking to replace your ISP router or something? What traffic are you actually hoping to "route"?

I hope this does not sound condescending or anything, but based on what you wrote, you overthinking this feels to me like the best way to put it. Maybe try to describe in more details what your ideal final situation is. From the specs you wrote, it feels like you just want a couple of older machines talk to each other on your LAN. If that's the case, you don't need anything but any basic flat switch, and getting a 10/100 switch today is probably harder than finding a gigabit one. If your old machines accessing internet is a concern, just set every machine's gateway to its own IP address and they'll be cut from your ISP router while still being able to access all machines on the LAN, and that's the cleanest way to achieve this scenario.

Disruptor wrote on 2023-04-21, 20:00:

To be honest, for you I'd recommend any unmanaged switch, even from a thrift store ~ 5-10 € $ £ For your purpose 99,99% of the a […]
Show full quote

pool7 wrote on 2023-04-21, 16:31:

I must admit networking is not my forte, especially when it comes to choosing hardware.

To be honest, for you I'd recommend any unmanaged switch, even from a thrift store ~ 5-10 € $ £
For your purpose 99,99% of the available switches will have no difference in performance.
The only thing you might care about is TCP/IP and DHCP.
Since I do not know about your TCP/IP knowledge, I recommend to learn and use static IP addresses first.
With a managed switch you surely will be overwhelmed by the features. You won't know where to start.

Any of the available switches uses auto-sensing of port speed and MDI/MDI-X, so there is no need for crossed patch cables while you still can use them.

Sent while I was writing the message, same spirit behind it. I'd just argue against the "you will be overwhelmed with a managed switch's features" point - a factory-reset managed switch is just a flat switch and will be fine as long as you don't try to mess with its config. So finding a managed switch on the cheap is definitely not a no-go, and if you ever want to learn some networking, at least you'll have it 😀

DHCP is most probably handled by your ISP router.

Easiest setup:
- ISP router is DHCP/DNS (look into PiHole for an ad-free internet experience instead of your ISP router, but that's going off-topic 😉 )
- Have an unmanaged switch OR managed switch in factory/flat config and connect your ISP router to it
- On machines you want to restrict internet access, set a DHCP IP reservation for them on your ISP router, and set the Default gateway to that IP in the machine's networking config. That's the best practice to avoid unnecessary delay/timeouts. In Windows any version you can go in adapter settings and leave IP with DHCP but still set a fixed Default gateway and/or DNS.

And honestly..that's just it.

The one you can get at your local thrift store for $1.99

keenmaster486 wrote on 2023-04-21, 20:43:

The one you can get at your local thrift store for $1.99

Unless it is Belkin or MonoPrice or some no-name brand. Seen way too many of those be absolute trash.

cyclone3d wrote on 2023-04-21, 20:57:

Unless it is Belkin or MonoPrice or some no-name brand. Seen way too many of those be absolute trash.

That's true. I've seen a lot of Netgear stuff at thrift stores though.

I say dive into pfSense. It's easy (and fun) to get up and running with ultimate flexibility, reliability, and a skill you can continue to cultivate. You can learn the basics pretty quickly, there's a web interface, and there's plenty of tutorials on YouTube to cover entry level to the most advanced setups.

https://www.pfsense.org/

You can install it on just about anything from any price range. I'm using something like this, but you don't have to spend nearly as much, of course:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KM7YY4Y?psc=1

haha! while pfsense is indeed interesting, compared to what that person's goal is that just requires a $10 2nd hand Netgear GS308, that's quite steep both in hardware expense and learning curve 😁

HP or Cisco.

To the OP's original question, I've only encountered one Ethernet card that was too picky to work with any "modern" 10/100 or Gigabit switch. It was a card of some form in a Mac IIci. My solution was to just pull an old-school 10 Mbps hub from my stash, plug it into one of the switch ports, and then use a hub port for that machine.

I doubt you will even encounter this though. I've never had even an ISA card pull this on me.

-no known issues with retro hardware/OSes (DOS 5.x, Win3x, Win9x, etc)

Actually, this is becoming an issue.

10Mb Ethernet uses different voltages (+-2.5V) to 100Mb/1Gb Ethernet (+-1V). It is still a requirement for 802.3 compliance to support 10Base-T, but I've been encountering more and more stuff over the past few years that can't talk 10Base-T anymore. I hit it myself with two sets of Comtrend powerline adapters (PG-9073 and PG-9083). Not a major issue as I intended to put a Netgear GS116E in between the PLC stuff and the retro computers, but it confused the hell out of me when I tried to test it directly first into a system with 3C509B that wasn't getting link.

dionb wrote on 2023-04-22, 00:52:

-no known issues with retro hardware/OSes (DOS 5.x, Win3x, Win9x, etc)

Actually, this is becoming an issue.

10Mb Ethernet uses different voltages (+-2.5V) to 100Mb/1Gb Ethernet (+-1V). It is still a requirement for 802.3 compliance to support 10Base-T, but I've been encountering more and more stuff over the past few years that can't talk 10Base-T anymore. I hit it myself with two sets of Comtrend powerline adapters (PG-9073 and PG-9083). Not a major issue as I intended to put a Netgear GS116E in between the PLC stuff and the retro computers, but it confused the hell out of me when I tried to test it directly first into a system with 3C509B that wasn't getting link.

I learned something, thanks! Would have puzzled me too 😁

I see that many other suggest the same thing more or less, just get a cheap-but-not-junk switch and you'll be good.

I wanted to comment on something else I believe you might have overlooked:

pool7 wrote on 2023-04-21, 18:36:

From what I've been reading, Win9x for example is not optimized for networking and it makes no sense to try and get 1Gbps out of it (looking at other threads here it seems it may not even be able to max out 100Mbps). I'd assume something similar happens with DOS/Win3x.

So you keep thinking "maxing out" things, but I'd start worrying about device drivers for the old OS. For example how many Gbps network cards have drivers for windows 98 or packet drivers for DOS? Just another parameter to consider.

Thank you everyone so far; keep it coming 😀 Glad to see some nice conversation.
I'm taking note of the mentioned tips and suggestions and looking at locally-available switches.

I heard of pfsense some weeks ago, but their official hardware is prohibitive in cost and I don't have other compatible spare hardware to run it in at the moment (might consider it in the future). And yeah, there's also the learning curve to configure it.

To answer some of the things mentioned:
-At the moment I plan to set devices with static ip
-There will be no internet connection for the switch/devices; only LAN

While I don't need a router right away, I was thinking it might be a good idea to get some advice on it as well, since it's within the same category (networking).
The main thing I'd want a router for in this case is DHCP (but I may take advantage of some other feature).

I've been checking what's available locally and these seem like the best options so far:
TP-Link TL-SG105 (unmanaged) https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networkin … witch/tl-sg105/
TP-Link TL-SG105E ("managed") https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networkin … itch/tl-sg105e/
Cisco SF100D-08 https://www.amazon.com/Cisco-SF100D-08-8-Port … T/dp/B003AVN1MA

The local price for these is almost identical. The benefit of the TP-Link is they're gigabit, and one of them has some limited manageability. The Cisco has the advantage of more ports (though not useful for me at the moment) and being a known brand, but the disadvantage (though not a big issue at the moment) of being 10/100 only.
Alternatively, I found some lower-end TP-Link and Encore branded switches, but just by their looks I'd stay away from them.

Anyway, back to checking for more options.