In essence, a switch and a hub are the same thing. Except for one major thing: each switched port is its own network segment, where as the whole hub is a network segment, with all of the devices connected to it sharing that segment.
In other words, if you have a 4-port switch, all of the devices connected to the ports can talk and listen at the same time. Not so with a hub. Here, since it's one network segment, only one device connected to the hub -- be it a printer or a computer -- can talk at a time. The others listen and talk in turn. This explanation is somewhat simplistic, but I believe it addresses your question.
In addition, if you have a small network, you will not see much of a difference between a hub and a switch: both should perform well.
In essence, a switch and a hub are the same thing. Except for one major thing: each switched port is its own network segment, where as the whole hub is a network segment, with all of the devices connected to it sharing that segment.
In other words, if you have a 4-port switch, all of the devices connected to the ports can talk and listen at the same time. Not so with a hub. Here, since it's one network segment, only one device connected to the hub -- be it a printer or a computer -- can talk at a time. The others listen and talk in turn. This explanation is somewhat simplistic, but I believe it addresses your question.
In addition, if you have a small network, you will not see much of a difference between a hub and a switch: both should perform well.
Comments
But then again, who needs a network that is more than 3 layers deep in a private home network?
G-News
PS ebby: so you have two routers/dhcp servers in the same subnet? sounds like trouble.
[ 10-22-2002: Message edited by: G-News ]</p>
In other words, if you have a 4-port switch, all of the devices connected to the ports can talk and listen at the same time. Not so with a hub. Here, since it's one network segment, only one device connected to the hub -- be it a printer or a computer -- can talk at a time. The others listen and talk in turn. This explanation is somewhat simplistic, but I believe it addresses your question.
In addition, if you have a small network, you will not see much of a difference between a hub and a switch: both should perform well.
In other words, if you have a 4-port switch, all of the devices connected to the ports can talk and listen at the same time. Not so with a hub. Here, since it's one network segment, only one device connected to the hub -- be it a printer or a computer -- can talk at a time. The others listen and talk in turn. This explanation is somewhat simplistic, but I believe it addresses your question.
In addition, if you have a small network, you will not see much of a difference between a hub and a switch: both should perform well.
G-News