Hub vs. Switch

[tgxiii]

What's better between a hub or a switch?

A HUB only allows half-duplex, data can go one way only at any given time and bandwidth is shard. Collisions.

A SWITCH allows full-duplex, data can go both ways all the time, bandwidth is not shared. No collisions.

SWITCH is faster than a HUB.

[shawshank62]

imo, a hub. that you dont have to press the switch when need to do something like switching between printers. but like evil rick said, only going half duplex.

EDIT: but it kind of depends, if you are going to be hooking up 4 computers to 1 printer, it would be easier to hook up hub. but if you have 2 computers and hooking printer, switch is easier. smaller=switch, larger=hub....at least that is my take on it.

[vass0922]

in general on a small home lan you won't notice any difference

Its not until you get to 10-20 PC's that it becomes more noticeable.

[joker_927]

"A hub operates at the first level of the OSI model"

hahahahah from cisco class.

Say that you, I, and a friend are in a room with 40 other people. I want to tell you something. You, I, your firend and EVEYRBODY ELSE hears it. That is a hub. It does nothing but allow us to talk to each other.

With a switch, its like a I have a telephone and I call you up and talk you to. Only you and I hear the conversation. The result is a LOT less noise (lag) when you start adding people (computers) into the room.

The best part about a switch is the with a hub, if I yelled to you and your friend yelled to you at the same time, you don't understand and throw a temper tantrum. In computer speak, this is called a collision.

Well, whith a switch, if we both yell at you at the same time, the switch SAVES one of our sentences. So my sentence gets to you first, you hear it, then your friends sentence gets you, and you that one fine too.

Switches are so much better.

[joker_927]

Originally posted by vass0922
in general on a small home lan you won't notice any difference

Its not until you get to 10-20 PC's that it becomes more noticeable.

While I agree in theory, vass, I noticed network improvement when we changed from a hub to a switch with our 4 computer home network.

If my mom and sis transfer files it doesn't shoot my CS ping through the roof anymore.

[tgxiii]

I can understand why switches are better, but what about what makes hubs better? I don't understand the part about pressing the switch when switching between printers....

[shawshank62]

if you have two computers and one printer. You hook the printer up to the switch, so that way when you want to print from computer A you just switch to that one, and vice versa. Im not sure what you mean be switching between printers, because if you have the switch, you shouldnt need to have a couple printers.

[John Prophet]

Shawshank is thinking of an A/B switch. lol. Has nothing to do with the kind of switches you are talking about.

Printers have nothing to do with any of this, lol.

There are no "switches" to press on a switch, lol. They look exactly like hubs...no way to tell the difference by looking at em except its written on it somewhere.

A hub just repeats whatever comes in on each port back out to EVERY port...then every comp has to sort of read that data and see who its for etc. And if several comps are trying to do stuff at aonce there will be 'collisions'. As stated, in a small network it might not be noticeable...then again, if you are doing a big download on one comp I would tend to think you might notice some lag on the others.

But a switch takes in data and only sends it out on the SPECIFIC port it needs to go out on..cuz its a little smarter and knows which comp is on which port by the MAC address of the NICs in the comps. So you can dl kazaa on one comp and play CS online on another comp and they wont interfere with each other.

JP

[John Prophet]

Oh, and this whole conversation was more of a point a few years back because switches were wayyyyyyy more expensive than hubs....so the network people really had to weigh it all up to see if going to a switch was justified cost wise.

Now you just buy switches and dont think twice because they are dirt cheap anyway.

I dont think there are a lot of reasons to buy hubs anymore.