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An unmanaged switch is the simplest type of network switch. You plug it in, connect cables, and it starts forwarding traffic based on MAC addresses with no setup required. There is nothing to configure – and nothing you can control. It is appropriate for small, simple networks where all connected devices are trusted.
The trade-off is total lack of visibility and control. You cannot segment traffic, prioritise certain data, monitor port status, or recover from a ring failure. In any deployment where OT and IT traffic share the same physical network, a managed switch is the correct choice.
- No configuration required – genuine plug and play
- No VLANs, QoS, SNMP, or redundancy protocols
- No visibility into port status, traffic volumes, or errors
- Appropriate for: simple field panel networks, a small cluster of trusted devices on a flat network
- Not appropriate for: any shared OT/IT infrastructure, camera networks, or industrial ring topologies