There are several network devices used in your installation, switches, modem, splitter, bridges and something else. Maybe you are familiar with some of them. How do they differ from each other, do you really know what they differ? This paper will shed light on what they are and how they differ. A network switch is a hardware network device that enables networked devices to communicate with each other efficiently. When a switch receives a packet of data, it determines where the packet will go so that data will be only sent to the computer or devices that it is intended for.
Figure 2: Ethernet modem. Generally, a modem just connects to your ISP so that you can connect Internet. When you sign up for the services of ISP, you will be provided with a modem. The type of modem you need depends on the type of internet service you receive from your ISP. If you want to buy your own modem, make sure the models are recommended or approved by your ISP.
A splitter is a small gizmo with three Ethernet ports on it — two on one side and one on the other. Network devices like switch, modem , splitter, and bridge are often used daily life. Since some of them have been introduced in our previous articles, the point turns to splitter in this post. What is Ethernet splitter? MiniTool provides you with a full introduction here. Ethernet splitter is a device that has three Ethernet ports — two on one side and one on the other.
As implied by its name, Ethernet splitter can divide a single Internet connection into two. With Ethernet splitter, other devices can share the Ethernet signal. In fact, other devices like Ethernet hub and switch can also help you split Ethernet connection.
These devices do that in different ways. You can use less Cat5 cables when connecting two networks. Ethernet splitters are cheap and appear to offer a good solution to network splitting. However, Ethernet cable splitters are not perfect in fact.
They can cause a slower speed for network traffic. Well, as we stated earlier, an ethernet switch is a device in a particular computer network that connects a wide range of devices. Usually, multiple data cables are often plugged into a network switch to allow communication between devices of different networks. Typically , these switches manage the flow of data across the home, office, or building network by transmitting a received network packet to a single or more device for which the network packet is intended.
Every single networked device that is connected to a network switch can be easily identified by its network address. This allows the switch to easily direct traffic flow, thus enhancing network security and increasing its efficiency.
An ethernet switch is said to be more intelligent compared to an ethernet hub discussed below. This prevents an ethernet hub from distinguishing different data recipients, thus providing a much lower network efficiency.
A network switch plays a crucial role in modern ethernet local area networks LANs. Usually, medium to large-sized local area networks consists of several linked managed network switches.
Typically, applications in small or home office settings use just one network switch or a multi-purpose device like a residential gateway to gain access to broadband services like cable or DSL internet. An example of how a network switch works;. One computer is streaming a movie while the other is checking your emails. Both computers are deriving their internet signals from a similar source but generally, only one computer is connected to the internet.
An ethernet switch typically goes back and forth between these two computers, thus giving them internet access at different intervals. However, this usually happens at blazing fast speeds as multiple signal switches occur in seconds. However, as usual, the more devices you connect to a single network switch, the slower the internet connection. You may end up experiencing buffering and lagging especially while streaming movies.
However, a group of devices streaming movies at the same time will most likely slow down your connection. Also referred to as a network hub, an active hub, multiport hub, repeater hub, or simply a hub, an Ethernet hub is typically a network hardware device that is commonly used to connect multiple Ethernet devices while making them act like a single network segment. An ethernet hub typically has several different ports that are used to connect segments of the local area network LAN.
As soon as a networked data packet reaches one port, it is then copied to other ports so that all the network packets can be seen by all the segments of the local area network. Only older or specialized applications still use these kinds of devices.
Like we stated earlier, each one of these devices performs different tasks. However, these hubs are still important in various applications and circumstances. So in this section, we are going to discuss whether you should choose an ethernet switch or a hub. If you have a small network that has a small number of devices or users, then you might want to consider using an ethernet hub as it can easily deal with network traffic. If you have a home network that constantly experiences a significant amount of traffic due to multiple computers, you might want to consider a network switch as its suitable for busy networks.
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