GS1200-8 - Brilliant! But can ZyXEL make it perfect?

Zyxel_Nami

Hello @ahorner

Thank you for your valuable feedback on adding VLAN Trunking to the GS1200 series. Your engagement is highly appreciated.

We want to reiterate that the GS1200 series is tailored for home users, focusing on basic networking without the complexities of VLAN Trunking. We don't plan to integrate VLAN Trunking into this series, but we are open to better understanding market demands.

Could you share your specific need for VLAN Trunking on this switch? Such insights are crucial for us to assess market needs.

We attempted to check Amazon reviews but couldn’t find any reviews specifically mentioning VLAN Trunking. If you could share with us specific reviews expressing the need for this feature, it would greatly inform our understanding of user preferences.

Thank you for your understanding and contribution to our product development.

ahorner

Hey there @Zyxel_Nami

Here are some examples of people asking for trunking for this switch:

• https://www.amazon.it/gp/customer-reviews/R2EWRAEHK11JF5/ref%3Dcm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0798PKGFQ
• https://community.zyxel.com/en/discussion/8003/trunking-port-on-gs1200-5-gs1200-8

Trunking is a really important feature on any 802.1Q switch, even for the home and SOHO user who would have the need to use VLANs in the first place. Having to configure each incoming VLAN increases the complexity of an implementation further due to the requirement of specifically defining all VLANs incoming and outgoing to a port, whereas setting a port to Trunk for something like an incoming uplink from other equipment or an outgoing downlink to something like an Access Point means no complication of configuration is required for every known VLAN. A really good example of a situation at home where these VLANs might exist is for a personal network, a guest network for visitors and an isolated network for things like IoT and cameras.

Your product page very much shows a mixture of both home and business applications (and business office and workshop environments in the pictures) for this switch, so there is a good argument that it is indeed marketed towards businesses: https://www.zyxel.com/global/en/products/switch/5-port-8-port-web-managed-gigabit-switch-gs1200-series

I do not plan to raise this request again after this as sadly ZyXEL's opinion on this seems clear and impossible to change, but I really do hope that the plans are at least discussed and reconsidered before being dropped entirely. It would be a good final feature for this series and is an odd limitation given the other available features. The 1900 series is much bigger in terms of footprint compared to the 1200 series making it unsuitable for smaller spaces where the 1200 would work well, such as in my home environment where I would like it tucked away behind some monitors.

Thanks

Zyxel_Nami

Hello @ahorner

You previously mentioned that equivalent models from Netgear and TP-Link include the Trunk feature but lack the management interface VLAN option. Could you please specify the model names of these Netgear and TP-Link switches for our reference?

Thank you for your assistance

ahorner

Hi @Zyxel_Nami,

The models I have tested are:

TP Link TL-SG105E (limited functionality)

TP Link TL-SG108E (limited functionality)

Netgear SG308E (dynamic based rather than static)

These aren't great either, and a better implementation would of course be explicitly setting a port to Trunk, but it is better than nothing

Zyxel_Nami

Hello @ahorner

We deeply appreciate your valuable input and the time you've dedicated to this discussion. We have checked the models you mentioned and found their features not quite equivalent to our VLAN trunking. However, we recognize the potential benefits this feature can offer to our customers.

Thorough internal deliberation and considering our available resources, we have decided to relocate this feature request to the 'Switch Ideas' section. Here, we will closely monitor user votes and interest regarding the addition of VLAN Trunking to the GS1200.

Your contribution is invaluable, and we eagerly anticipate further collaboration.