Hub or Switch

Originally Posted by Grinnin Reaper

I'm like you chaplndave I've never heard of a DSL with dial up capabilites. And from what I've seen the switch is better than a hub. I just got one from www.newegg.com for about 55 bucks and it has 8 ports. Not that I need that many now but if I have friends over and we have a Lan party for gaming it's a nice start. Also you may want to check on newegg for some of your parts. It's a good site, doesn't have the widest selection on the net but it does have some of the best deals. You may even be able to get an XP 2000 processor for just a little more than the XP 1800. Have a good day. And my hat is off to those that are defending this country. I was for a while but went back to the civilian world. Me and my family appreciate those that continue to endure the hardships that come with a military life.

Thanks alot Reaper...for the information...and for the cudos on the military. I have been in the Navy now for over 16 years and I have met and dealt with some of the finest men and women I have ever known.

By the way...just purchased a TDK 48x24x48x to replace my 16x10x40x (will put that one into my wife's machine) for $99.99 from Price Club/Costco with a $20 rebate. Hoping to get it into my machine sometime this weekend.

Also, I have decided to go with a switch for my internet home network. I will most likely get an 8 port for future growth...and in case I need it for LAN parties that I may throw for other sailors in my home. It has been fun working on this project and rebuilding a machine for my wife. Still need to get some quieter fans, some speakers, a 17" or 19" monitor, and some round cables for her. Then the network... Thanks again for the response. Looking forward to hearing from you in the future. chaplndave

Routers, Switches, and Hubs... whats the difference. I just need a brief description if possible. Thanks

Here's the skinny the way I understand it.

Hub - let's you network, cheap but not very effecient

Switch - very good but costs more. Gives each node a dedicated amount of bandwith.

Router - Normally used more in WAN evniorments (cable modems can also be considered a WAN) Can sort traffic to diffrent ports.

That's my understanding. If I'm wrong please correct me someone.

[Omega]

I think I've explained this in another thread, but here it goes again:

Hub: repeats all signals on all ports. Also known as a multi-port repeater. Functions on OSI Layer 1. This creates a larger collision and broadcast domain.

Switch: reads the source and destination MAC (hardware) address, creates an address table (associating a MAC address with a port on the switch), and then creates a virtual circut between the source and destination ports. If the destination MAC address is unknown the switch will forward the packet out all ports. Makes forwarding decisions based on OSI Level 2 information. This creates smaller, and more collision domains, but creates a larger broadcast domain.

Router: commonly used term to describe what is more accurately described as an internet gateway router, or internet sharing box. A true router creates an address table using a special routing protocol, such as open shortest pathway first (OSPF), or internal gateway routing protocol (IGRP). These routers make path determination decisions based on OSI Layer 3 information. This gets into IP addresses, subnets, subnet masks, etc. A true router would be used in a large corporation to create smaller broadcast domains and logically segment networks.