If you find a $100 used server, that server will probably have 2-10 NICs on it. And any time you run a network cable, you should run 2 instead. And nobody wants to connect to a dead port. It all compounds. In a house 48 ports is kinda hard to use, but in a business with 10 people it is easy to fill a 48 port. It’s crazy how network cables multiply like rabbits.
What’s a switch for so I can feel slightly more justified when i buy one?
OP can now connect 48 Ethernet devices. So like your desktop, and uh, a sip phone, and, uhhh the other 46 things on your desk that don’t have wifi.
If you find a $100 used server, that server will probably have 2-10 NICs on it. And any time you run a network cable, you should run 2 instead. And nobody wants to connect to a dead port. It all compounds. In a house 48 ports is kinda hard to use, but in a business with 10 people it is easy to fill a 48 port. It’s crazy how network cables multiply like rabbits.