Hi, a question for the more serious amongst you. I have some Cisco 3750s and 2600s and was wondering if they are considered to have sonic improvements on a par with the 2960s? Whilst I wouldn’t want them in my room because of the noise and power consumption I may give it a try with a long Ethernet cable just to see.
Anyone any experience with them ?
Thanks
Alan
Are they catalyst too?
Have they 8 ports?
If yes, don’t bother.
I checked. These are not Catalyst series. So 2960 8 ports or 3560 will sound better.
@Simon-in-Suffolk should confirm.
The 3750 is a Catalyst switch, and although you presumably won’t need its layer 3 abilities, I’d say that would potentially bring the same benefits as a 2960 etc. The larger fan cooled models are, as you say, not ideal for the listening room, better to have a fanless (usually 8 port) model there. No problem using a longer Ethernet cable though.
I’m not familiar with the 2600, but I believe it’s not a Catalyst model. No harm in trying it though.
Are you sure 3760 is catalyst? 3560 yes. But if you are sure, it’s ok.
Thanks all for the comments. I will give it a try and see if I can hear any difference.
There’s no way I’ll be using the 3750 for anything other than a trial because of the noise but hopefully it will give me an idea of what I can expect from the 2960.
I was just wondering if anyone had already tried it. Guess I’ll be the first !
The 2600 is a router and not a switch… so you won’t get far with that if you are wanting a switch…
The 3750 is a Catalyst switch and I use one… it works well.
Apologies all, I checked and it is a 2950 not 2600 
So an ancestor of the 2960 then.
I may get around to doing that CCNA one day.
Well, I’ve been using the 3750 since the weekend and I think there was a slight difference. Bit more stability in the soundstage, slightly smoother and grooved that little bit more. Not sure what others have heard.
Went back to Netgear managed switch today and felt there was something missing. May have to run a new Ethernet cable and put the switch in the attic !
Alan
So, One morning I started playing some music and whilst it sounded good I thought something was missing. It felt hesitant, it wasn’t grooving as well as it normally did, slow even. Thought maybe it was because everyone else in the neighbourhood was making tea etc. But after a while thought I’d check everything which is when I realised I’d switched back to the netgear from the 3750 (upstairs at the end of a long cat5) for some reason - trying catsnake I think.
I am now the owner of a silent 2960L fed from the 3750 upstairs.
Still find it difficult to believe the difference it can make.
Probably in the middle of unplugging and rebooting their ND streamers after FW upgrade. 
Good Morning,
I am about to receive an 8 port 2960 which i would like to ‘stack’ in front of my EtheRegen via SFP, however, i am struggling to work out which SFP modules would be suitable… specifically those which are cisco compatible. It would be an experiment and therefore i am looking for a cheap solution (maybe e- bay?)
If anyone could suggest a suitable pair (LC multimode) i would be grateful
mark (frojo)
p.s. sorry if this is a hi-jack of the thread
It depends on speed, distance and whether either twisted pair or optical.
The 2960 supports these variants
For very short runs I suggest you use copper SFPs, and for longer runs use the multimode fibre (SX) SFPs.
Your connector types can be any that you find appropriate - but the LC (Lucent Connector) is a common connector for SX Fibre.
If using non Cisco - then you need to ensure the alternative guarantees interworking with Cisco 2960… but in short look for 1Gbps Copper or SX (Multimode) Fibre SFPs
My suggestion would be to buy genuine Cisco SFPs to avoid the issue Simon mentions where the switch will block one if it detects that it’s not the real McCoy. It’s not that hard to log into the switch and override this, but still a bit of a faff for us amateurs.
The genuine Cisco SFPs are pretty expensive compared to many other ‘compatible’ brands, but like the switches, can be picked up cheaply on ebay.
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