TL-SG108E hardware version 1 did not offer a web UI, so you could manage it through the Easy Smart Configuration Utility only. Starting with hardware version 2 the switch offers a web UI.

Using static IPs is not a "trick", but the standard procedure in professional network setups. DHCP is mostly useful for non-stationary (mobile) devices, but definitely not for stationary devices such as switches or routers.

If you have hardware version 2, try to reset it to factory defaults and use a direct connection between the switch and your laptop/PC for the initial setup. Make sure you use a static IP on your laptop, too. Assign each switch an unused and unique IP from your network to add it to your network.

If you have hardware version 1, reset it to factory defaults and use the Easy Smart Configuration Utility to configure it for use in your network.

Of course, connecting two TL-SG108E to the same network without having changed their standard IPs will lead to an IP conflict when trying to connect to their web UI.

mtcbfs wrote

Both my switches are V3, so they do not have a reset switch, and without UI or Easy Utility access I cannot alter the config or factory reset, unless I'm mistaken.

TL-SG108E v3 has no reset switch? Can you double check against the product picture in the data sheet please? On this product picture it has a reset switch: http://static.tp-link.com/TL-SG108E(UN)_V3_Datasheet.pdf

The Easy Smart utility does not detect the second switch, so I can't use that.

Then either your PC isn't part of the subnet the switch's web UI is assigned to or the switch is broken.

I do not normally consider static IPs a trick, but I do when you are assigning them on a temporary basis, in a different subnet to your main network to gain access to the web UI.

Before a switch can be managed through your network, you always need to initially assign it an IP of your network, except if your network uses the same IP range as the switch's default assignment. And even if the latter, you must ensure that the switch has an unique IP. This initial IP assignment is needed for any manageable switch, not only for the TL-SG108E.

BTW: a discovery doesn't discover devices, it always discovers certain services of a device. Since a TL-SG108E offers a web UI only, you could just discover its web UI, for example by using nmap or other port scanning tools. To check wether your switch is accessible, use the ping command.

No problem. Maybe you can send back the switch to Amazon and get a TL-SG108E instead.