How to prevent a loop with an unmanaged conference room switch

[pschutter317]

We have multiple conference rooms that have unmanaged 8-port switches that connect to a single port in the room. Is there a configuration we can set on that port that will prevent looping from occuring. We've had numerous times that someone has connected both ends of the cable to the same switch.

Thanks 

[Tom Watts]

Hello Patrick, unfortunately not. You would need a switch that supports STP (spanning tree protocol).

You can buy relatively inexpensive managed switches. You may want to look in to such as SF200, it is a very lightly managed switch which has STP enable by default.

-Tom

[pschutter317]

Tom,

So if I decide on the SF200 and has STP enabled by default, is there any other configurations I need to set??

Thanks again for the quick response....

[Tom Watts]

No, the switch is a layer 2 switch. It has features such as spanning tree enabled by default and does not require configuration. Basically, you can just plug it in and let it go. But, keep in mind, it is a managed switch, you may need to upgrade to the latest firmware if there are any performance issues.

-Tom

[pschutter317]

Excellent.....

Thanks Tom and have a great day