Switches and Routers

[bhath19]

What is the difference between a Router and a Switch. I saw this Netgear 5 port Switch and am not sure whether or not to get it, I'm thinking I can't b/c I need something that will allow three computers to use the same connection. Someone help!

[Telexen]

If you need them to use the same connection you need a router...they can all connect from the same modem when you use a switch, but each link must have it's own IP...

[VHockey86]

Routers are designed to take the incoming internet connection, assign IPs to all the systems, then direct the packets to the computers.

Switches more or less are just direct connections.. however I'm not sure what the diffference between a switch and a hub is

[JayMan]

My understanding of the difference between a router, a switch and a hub:

Hub: Sends data out to all... E.g. you have 3 PC's connected to a hub. PC1 sends a message to PC2, the hub will actually send that message to both PC2 & PC3, PC2 will get the message and realise the message is addressed to it and will open the message, PC3 will also get the message but will see that its not addressed to it so will discard the message.

Switch: Only sends data to the required ports... E.g. as above, PC1 sends a message to PC2, the switch will only send that message to the port PC2 is connected to. Creating less network traffic, meaning a more effecient network setup.

Router: Same as a switch, but also has a uplink port which translates data to & from an outside network.

Like i said, thats just my understanding of it all so it could be slightly off....

But yeh if you wanna share an internet connection you will be looking for a router (you can do this with software too if you don't have the money for a hardware router).

JayMan

[ArcticFox]

Unless you want to network, sharing a broadband connection just requires a router. I use my switch because I need to network and share files at the same time, so you may want to do the same, just plug your CAT5 cable from your broadband modem into one of the slots along with your other PC's.

[Siliconjunkie]

Hub- all data goes to all PCs connected. Colission prone and cheap. (layer 1 dumb device)

Switch- Data is sent to only the port that the destination MAC address is on. Greatly reduces colissions and increases security by making sniffing much more difficult.(layer 2 device)

Router- Routes packets between networks using IP Address and a routing table to determine the appropriate path to send the packet down. (layer 3 device)

NAT Router (Linksys and such)- Uses network address translation to allow several PCs to share one exteral IP address. (hacked layer 3 device/process)

Most home NAT routers can function as a simple layer 3 router, but are seldom used this way.

[bhath19]

You can share files and stuff with a router, can't you?

[Siliconjunkie]

Yes, with one of the home networking routers such as Linksys.

[bhath19]

How do I know which Routers are for home networking applications?

[dunbar]

Can users ping a switch?