Unmanaged switches are basic plug-and-play switches with no remote configuration, management, or monitoring options, but many of them can be locally monitored via an LED indicator. They can immediately start forwarding traffic once users have plugged them in. These inexpensive network switches are typically used in small networks or to add temporary workgroups to larger networks. They can be desktop or rack-mounted and they are a less expensive option for connectivity switching needs.
Unmanaged switches use auto negotiated ports to determine parameters, such as data rates and whether to use half-duplex or full-duplex mode. Additionally, unmanaged switches have no concept of virtual LANs (VLANs). Thus, all devices belong to the same broadcast domain.