Hub and Switch devices are common among technicians who are dedicated to managing ethernet networks, as well as Routers are something common that you have heard about since today all internet services use it to distribute the service in your home.
These devices compete in the market offering similar conditions of use, but the big question is what is the difference between Switch, Router and Hub?
We know that Hubs and Switches are used to set up local networks, while Routers are capable of doing that and much more. But don’t worry! Next, we will show you which is the best, naming its advantages and disadvantages.
What is a hub?
The function of the Hub is to interconnect computers within a local network , transmitting data to the rest of the computers that are within said local network. Allowing to create local networks in which computers are only connected to said network and not to others.
The internet connection in the Hub devices is not allowed as well as sending data to other computers or devices, it only makes a copy of what a computer receives and sends it to the rest of the network.
Advantage
- Relatively inexpensive price.
- This device does not add any delay in network connections or internal messages.
- It is a simple device that allows computers to be easily interconnected.
Disadvantages
- The device allows us to send information to computers that are not interested since there is only one recipient of the information, but this device sends this information to all computers that are connected at the same time.
- The traffic generated by this device increases the chances of a collision. A collision is called the process that a computer performs when sending information to a computer simultaneously that is performing the same task.
- When the messages collide, a loss is made and the information needs to be resent in the hope that another collision does not take place , this is very likely when we add many computers to a single local network.
What is a switch?
The switch are devices that are also used for creating local networks, but the most striking difference makes Switch better than Hub is that the data sent by the computer is sent directly to a target computer without distributed, ie no send the same information to other computers that are connected to the same local network, so its most common use is to configure it to share the Internet with more computers and establish an ethernet network.
Advantage
- Possibility of working in a network with a greater number of connected computers.
- Smoother experience that reduces errors in local networks.
- It works through MAC addresses and thus allows us to identify each computer.
Disadvantages
- You get more users a high latency that becomes annoying if you use real-time services, such as Voice over IP or video conferencing.
What is a router?
This device handles the task of forwarding packets of data between several networks, which may be local or external with lan and WAN port used to connect to a network optical fiber or ADSL and there provide internet.
Routers fulfill the functions offered by Switch and Hub that allow us to carry out the same activities, but with the difference that it has no limits in local networks and that it also allows us to connect to external networks and configure it as a repeater to improve your Wi-Fi.
Advantage
- Configurable and easy to maintain such configuration.
- Effective against the presence of intruders.
- It is not topologically limited.
Disadvantages
- It takes a great deal of time to install and configure, always depending on the topology of our network and the protocols used.
- They have a higher cost and are more complex.
- They have a slowness in the process of packets than in the rest of the devices.
