Hubs and Switches

Both devices (hubs and switches) are used to connect computers/network devices together or a home/local area network.

Here is a picture of a 5 port Ethernet switch but by looking  at it you can’t actually tell the difference between a hub and a  switch.

To understand the subtle difference between the two then you need to understand a little about the Ethernet protocol.

Ethernet is a shared media protocol which originally used coax cable as the connection media, but now UTP (unshielded twisted pair) is the more common.

What this means is that if you have 20 computers connected to  the network only one can use (send to) the network at any one  time. while the one computer is sending the other computers have  to wait.

They effectively listen for the computer to stop sending, and  if they have something to send then they try to send it, if  another computer tries at the same time then you have a collision.

The real world analogy is a group of people talking.

If the computers are connected with a hub then the rule of -one  computer sending at any one time holds.

However a switch is more intelligent than a hub and will allow more than one device/computer to send at the same time under certain circumstances.

 See Video:

Because of this a network comprised of switches instead of  hubs is usually faster but a lot depends on the network configuration and use.