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Hub vs. switch vs. router?

brigden

brigden

Diamond Member
Our house has three computers, three seperate IPs, and all are connected using a 5-port Linksys Workgroup Hub (model EFAH05W). Anyway, I'm going to be networking my girlfriend's house; three computers, three seperate IPs, and I want to use the same Linksys hub, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

My question is: What is the difference between a hub, switch, and a router? Which do I need? Isn't a switch the same as a hub? I've read the AnandTech FAQ, but it left me just as confused.
 
A switch and a hub are simmilar, but not the same a hub will share the bandwidth that you have with all the computers (ex. 100Mb/s connection between two computer place them on a hub the bandwidth is cut in half place another computer on that hub and the bandwidth is cut again and is even slower)

A switch on the other hand lets you keep that 100Mb/s connection on all computers connected to it, it dosent lose bandwith with more computers. A router on the other hand is basicly a switch most the time but lets you connect to the internet via broadband and have only one IP going to the net (the Router).

Im not sure if this has helped you or not.


My experience go with a switch a five port isnt that expensive now days. If they have bradband internet use a router or are planning on getting it.
 
Thanks. I should have mentioned the point of networking is to connect all three computers to the 'net. We use a hub for that. I'm still confused on the advantage a router has over a switch.
 
You have it backwards; a switch is better than a hub.

A hub is basically a very "dumb" connection between a bunch of networked devices, it does nothing special, it merely lets them talk. When one computer sends a packet to another computer, it goes to every machine, and when it reaches the correct machine, it gets accepted. Fairly inefficient, but for some situations, it doesn't really matter. A switch is like a hub with some traffic lights. It inspects every packet coming in, checks where it's going, and then sends it to that exact computer ONLY. The result is better performance, and loss of the ability for anyone to sniff the entire network.
 
for small numbers of computers (2-4) a hub may be faster than a switch (no logic loss)

As far as connecting 3 pc's to the internet on a hub, you will need 2 extra IP addresses from your ISP, which could cost as much as $14/mo. Might as well get a wireless router for $15...
 
a router allows more security, and vasty more trusted files sharing abilities. some have print servers so no computer has to glitch when somebody prints a doc. unless your getting the ips for free i'd stick a router in there and ditch the hub for a fully switched nat hidden network.

 
How does your ISP let you ahve 3 sperate IPs free of charge?....or are you using the old multiple connect trick with DSL?
 
Essentially, a router runs the network. It assigns IPs, transfers traffic from the modem to the intended computer, and often times acts as a firewall. It also lets a person filter traffic, like turning certain services like ftp on or off, denying access to a certain website, or making sure a particular service like ftp requests go to a particular computer. It also makes sure no one computer hogs all the available bandwidth.

A switch is basically a traffic relay. It takes traffic from computer A and sends it specifically to its intended destination. Like a router, it also makes sure no one computer hogs all the available bandwidth. But that's pretty much all it does.

A hub is a stupid version of a switch. It takes traffic from computer A, but it sends it to every computer on the network until it is accepted. It doesn't make sure no one computer hogs all the available bandwidth, and it doesn't have any sort of firewall.

So basically, if you want to share a dsl or cable connection with multiple computers, you need a router. If you want to network four or five computers (and know how to assign IPs and DHCP and all that), get a switch. It's not really worth buying a hub anymore, imo.
 
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