3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4226T review

In our last switch group test, 3Com's Switch 4400 walked away with a well-deserved Recommended award thanks to a fine combination of traffic management features, performance and value. The new 4226T is a simple Layer 2 switch that offers a more basic set of network services and comes equipped with a fixed configuration of 24 dual-speed ports and a pair of 10/100/1000BaseT ports.

In terms of build quality, you'll either love or hate 3Com's plastic chassis. We've always found it sturdy enough, but it will no doubt be easier to damage than the steel-shod alternatives. Underneath this baby-blue exterior lies a reasonable hardware specification that's similar to Cisco's 2950T-24, although 3Com can't match the Catalyst for features.

Up to 60 port and 802.1q VLANs can be created, but only two queues per port may be used for traffic prioritisation. Link redundancy is available with support for aggregated links and the switch can be stacked up to a height of four 4200 series switches. The stacking method is basic, as it requires one of the Gigabit ports on each switch to be used for the link and the latest firmware must be applied using 3Com's bundled TFTP server utility.

For performance, the 4226T failed to deliver a clean sheet, with a slightly higher than expected frame loss in the backbone test, although latency was on a par with the frontrunners. We contacted 3Com to discuss the results and it said the head-of-line blocking employed by the switch could have had a minor impact on performance.

The 4226T is aimed at offices without dedicated support staff, so it's designed to be easy to install and manage. All that's required is a quick trip to the CLI (command line interface) to assign an IP address to the switch and then it can be remotely managed using a browser that presents the same commands but in a more intuitive manner.

For general management, 3Com's standard interface is provided, with a switch graphic containing hotspots for quick access to port, expansion slot and switch settings, while Wizards offer assistance for setting up features such as broadcast control and port security.

Author: Dave Mitchell