About the NS-0505D
The NS-0505D is HiLook by Hikvision's compact 5-port gigabit unmanaged desktop switch, built to do one job properly: give you extra network ports where you need them without any setup, configuration or fuss. Plug it in, connect your devices, and it works. There is no web interface to log into, no VLANs to configure and no firmware to worry about, which is exactly what you want from a switch sitting behind a TV unit, in a cupboard or alongside an NVR in a small install.
It is a data switch, so power for any connected IP cameras comes from your NVR's PoE ports or a separate supply. That makes it the natural choice for everywhere else on the network: linking an NVR to a router when you have run out of ports, feeding a couple of hard-wired devices in a home office, connecting a smart TV, games console and desktop PC from a single wall socket, or extending a run to an outbuilding where you need three or four connections rather than one.
All five ports are full gigabit, running 10/100/1000 Mbps with automatic speed negotiation. Total switching capacity is 10 Gbps with a packet forwarding rate of 7.44 Mpps, which is non-blocking across all five ports at once, so no single busy device slows down the rest. That headroom matters more on a CCTV network than people expect. Pulling recorded footage back off an NVR, viewing several 4K or 8MP streams at once, or letting a system run a backup while someone is streaming in another room will all saturate a 100 Mbps link. Gigabit throughout removes the bottleneck, and it costs very little more to specify properly at install than to come back and fix later.
The switch uses store-and-forward switching, checking each frame before passing it on so corrupt packets are discarded rather than propagated across the network. MAC address auto-learning and ageing build and maintain a table of up to 2,000 addresses, so traffic is sent only to the port it is destined for instead of being flooded to every device. A 1 Mbit internal cache absorbs short bursts of traffic. Auto MDI/MDIX on every port means the switch works out the cable wiring for itself, so straight-through and crossover patch leads both work and there is nothing to think about when you are terminating on site.
Physically it is genuinely small, 87 mm x 51 mm on the desk and 25 mm tall, in an ABS shell weighing just 59 g. It runs from an external 5 VDC 0.6 A adapter and has no fan, so it is completely silent and can sit in a living room, bedroom or reception area without anyone noticing it. Operating range is 0 °C to 40 °C, so a cupboard, cabinet or desk suits it well. Five LINK/ACT indicators and a power LED give you at-a-glance confirmation that each port is connected and passing traffic, which makes fault-finding on a small system quick.
For a homeowner, this is the tidy answer to running out of network sockets. For an installer, it is a cheap, reliable way to add ports to a small CCTV or data install without introducing anything that can be misconfigured, and the price point makes it easy to include in a quote rather than leaving a customer daisy-chaining devices off a router. Approvals cover CE-EMC, CE-LVD, UL and CB safety, plus RoHS, WEEE and REACH.
