is a 10/100 5-Port Switch the same thing as a router?

[udonoogen]

Linksys EZXS55W EtherFast 10/100 5-Port Switch

could i use this instead of my router? its in my amazon gold box and i need to buy it within the hour. =) could use some help. thanks!

 

[BurnItDwn]

no a Switch is just a switch .. THink of it as a fast Hub ... It doesn't do any routing... If you want to hook 5 pcs up on a network a switch is fine, if you want to share a broadband connection, you can not do that with a switch alone (it is possible with a Seperato router, or proxy software, or IP Masq, or other measures)

 

[Doggiedog]

Like BurnItDwn said, a switch is just a switch. It is used to connect PCs, servers and other network devices together at wirespeed unlike a hub which connects together devices as well but has shared bandwidth.

A router is an intelligent device that reads and forwards packets according to IP addresses. Switches are dumb devices that just pass along packets to other ports according to MAC addresses. Cable/DSL routers also usually incorporate a simple firewall to prevent hackers from breaking into your network.

If you want to connect to the Internet, you'll need your router. If you just want to connect PCs together in a local network then you can just use a switch/hub.

 

[LordThing]

Somewhat right.....

For an explanation (because I am too lazy to type it out) I stole this from a FAQ posted on HardForums

Q. What is the difference between a Hub, Switch and Router?
A. Hub ? Also known as a Repeater.
A LAN device which allows the computers connected to it to talk to each other. All the computers share the same bandwidth. Switched technology replaced the repeater concept.

Switch ? Also known as a Bridge.
A LAN device which allows those computers connected to it through a network to talk to each other. Each computer connected to the switch has its own dedicated bandwidth. Thus for a 100BaseT (100 Mbps) Switch and 4 computers, each computer gets its own personal 100 Mbps to the switch.

Router ? Also known as a Gateway.
A networking device that is used to connect different networks (LAN & WAN) together (example: home network to the Internet). Most SOHO (Small office / home office) routers use NAT (Network Address Translation) to hide internal private addresses from the public Internet, but routers are used more commonly to simply route traffic.

 

[toant103]

or you can use your switch to setup a network to share internet. But one computer need to be on all the time and you need 2 nic on that computer.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: toant103
or you can use your switch to setup a network to share internet. But one computer need to be on all the time and you need 2 nic on that computer.

Not necessarily.

You could connect the RJ45 coming from your cable/DSL modem directly into your hub or switch & put two IP's on the NIC in your "server." For example your PC would have both a public IP coming from your ISP and a private IP on your local network.

A little expansion on what has been posted already on the hub/switch/router differences:

- Hubs are one giant collision domain
- Hubs broadcast packets to ALL ports - including the one they came in on
- Switches only broadcast packets on the port they are intended for (once it has identified which port a given MAC address is connected to)
- Routers have been covered pretty well, they connect disparate networks

Any more 100 meg switches are dirt cheap, there is no reason to get a hub - But they don't do any more than a hub as far as interfacing between networks.

Bottom line is unless your cable/DSL "modem" is actually a router you will still need your router - though you could use the switch to expand the number of ports you have available for systems.

Viper GTS

 

[Lucky]

I have a linksys 5 port router, using three of its ports for computers and then using the uplink port to connect to a 16 port swtich, of which another 5 are currently being used.

 

[Special K]

If your ISP gave you more than 1 IP, wouldn't it be possible to get by with just the switch?

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: SpecialK
If your ISP gave you more than 1 IP, wouldn't it be possible to get by with just the switch?

Yep.
Don't forget that if the switch doesn't have an uplink port, you'll need to use a crossover cable to plug the cable modem into the switch lest you get funky funky issues.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: SpecialK
If your ISP gave you more than 1 IP, wouldn't it be possible to get by with just the switch?

Yes, but it would still depend on the capabilities of the "modem" they provided.

Viper GTS