I'm looking for a competitive comparison of the different models of managed and unmanaged switches from Netgear and Luxul. Can anyone help?
Why those brands? Can you take an other brands as opinions? You should try Unifi, Qnap, or even Cisco 1000 series. All of those are pretty similar on quality, functions and bargains for what you are paying.
So far I know Netgear but not Luxul. So as always, I say check the cost. Similar brands should be a similar cost - if not, I probably make a bet for Netgear!!
If your concerns is only the "switching" (L2) almost any brand will work, at least the brands I've mentioned.
I did not use Luxul. I don't know anything about those switches. So, any comparison coming from me would be biased. Netgear products are very professionally designed and carry lifetime warranty. Most of the managed switches also have console port, allowing Command Line Interface (CLI). Datasheets are detailed to make comparisons possible. There are many many many models to choose from.
However, checking the Internet, I didn't come across any Luxul documentation with satisfactory details to make any comparisons possible. Also, I see that there are not as many models as there are at Netgear. I see that PoE budgets are not as good as what Netgear offers with various models.
If you are on the market for unmanaged and managed switches (you did not mention what your needs are, you did not mention anything about Layer-3, you did not mention anything about redundant power supplies, you did not mention anything about CLI, etc.), I assume that your primary concern is price. For me, I would go after the cheapest price. Because, at that level, switch is a switch and it will meet the basic expectations no matter which brand you choose.
Use case: use existing Netgear products in home network
Home network: LAN, WAN, managed network both wired and wireless
Security: POE cameras, doorbell, PC's
Room for growth -- server, local cloud storage
What sort of network would benefit from switch stacking? Are there any drawbacks to taking this approach? What would be an alternative to stack switches?