So, indeed, as I’ve stated, the problem with my smart switch hanging is due to static electricity. Static electricity from Ethernet cable ends rubbing against floors, carpet, tabletops, or other surfaces. Static electricity discharged to computers and conducted through cables. You walk across the carpet, you touch a computer, you get a shock, and the smart switch is hung with all lights but the system light illuminated to indicate this.
So, now I’m looking for products that are either switches designed to be resistant to static electricity or devices to protect against it. Essentially, “surge protectors” are the devices you use to protect against static electricity, in addition to other power surges that could go through Ethernet wires. However, good such devices are not cheap, which indeed does explain why such functions may be removed from a network device in order to cut costs. The switches that have documented specifications against static electricity resistance appear to be almost all larger enterprise-class style switches.
20190206/Google ethernet switch protect static electricity from port
Here is one switch that can withstand static electricity up to 6 kW. Alas, this is a “metro switch” rather than a conventional one of its size, so it may not be right for me.
20190206/https://www.dlinkmea.com/index.php/product/details?det=VWx4cGxNa21HS211a3g1RVJlQnVTUT09
20190206/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Ethernet
8-port Ethernet surge protectors do exist, but they are expensive.
20190206/DuckDuckGo 8 port ethernet surge protector
20190206/http://www.l-com.com/surge-protector-indoor-8-port-med-power-10-100-base-t-cat5-lightning-surge-protector#
20190206/DuckDuckGo 8 port ethernet static electricity surge protector
This is a good PDF detailing the particulars of static electricity and surge protection for Ethernet equipment, and it talks a little bit about an integrated circuit designed to protect an Ethernet PHY driver chip from static electricity on the port of a device. Interestingly, it notes another source of static electricity is bending an Ethernet cable back and forth, which creates a static electric charge within the cable that gets discharged to the equipment when plugged in. November 2007 is the date of the paper.
Notably, an unprotected Ethernet PHY has some degree of static electricity resistance, some more than others of course.
20190206/http://akrossilicon.com/home/admin/files-doc-s/finish/3-whitepapers/29-ethernet-esd-compliance-w-as1602-wp12-rev1-3-pdf
20190206/https://www.ebay.com/itm/24-port-separate-Ethernet-RJ45-surge-protectors-all-8-pins-rack-19-PoE-support-/251367419365
Here is a single-port surge protector device. Again, it’s fairly expensive. D-Link is looking to be a pretty good brand for providing network devices designed to tolerate static electricity.
20190206/http://us.dlink.com/products/business-solutions/dpe-sp110i/
20190206/DuckDuckGo DPE-SP110I
20190206/https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/6860764/D-Link-Gigabit-Ethernet-POE-RJ45/
20190206/DuckDuckGo netgear static electricity protection
Here is a pretty good article discussing some of the general numbers for static electric buildup from humans in an indoor environment, and how this relates to the sensitivity of electronic devices. Variations in relative humidity, of course, can have a huge impact on the static electric voltages that can build up. Also, it’s interesting that in an anti-static work area, you can setup meters to show the amount of static electricity present.
20190206/https://www.minicircuits.com/app/AN40-005.pdf
Wikipedia article on Netgear? Indeed, like I thought, Netgear outsources manufacturing of its own equipment. Curiously, there can be considerable quality variations in their equipment based off of which manufacturer it comes from.
20190206/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netgear