Netgear PS101 Printserver- crap or what?

Howdy-

I have been purchasing these things left and right for about two years
now, replacing them, adding new ones, praying they'd work more than
say a few months. I have used these on different printers- Epsons,
HP's, etc and they ALWAYS break.

The symptom?

Alternating blinking lights on the link and power. It happens the
exact same way to ALL the printservers. They work for X time then
they just plain break. When the lights are alternating blinking the
printserver will not work, regardless of turning the printer off,
reseating the PS101, whatever. I've done it all.

I emailed Netgear probably 2-3 weeks ago and still haven't heard from
them (I don't really expect to; reading Google implies Netgear doesn't
know how to reply to emails).

I can't seem to find out a *reason* for why the lights alternate
blink. Maybe it means *something* but I can't find it- Netgears
support for the product on their website is pathetic.

All help appreciated

-sd