Suggestions for a switching hub

[RagnaroK]

Hi,
I want to buy a switching hub (heard it was better than a normal hub) for a LAN party, but I don't know what to buy. Any suggestions (brand names, models, etc) ?

Thanks,
RaG

P.S. Mods feel free to move this if this is in the wrong area.

 

[Iceman]

any switch will do the job fine, don't worry about brand and model, just buy the cheapest one u can get, there isn't really any difference unless u move up to smart switches and stuff.

 

[Zedric]

Yup, any switch will do.

I hate to confuse people, but I will anyway. There are afaik hubs, switched hubs and switches (maybe more distictions).

Hubs send all data to all ports. Bandwidth is shared.
Switches only send data to the correct port. Bandwidth is dedicated per port. Switched hubs are hubs with a swtiching feature, normally the uplink port is switched or the 10Mbit and 100Mbit "layers" of the hub are switched.

So what you want is a switch.

I may be somewhat wrong.

 

[Iceman]

no your right, but I didn't want to confuse him

 

[RagnaroK]

:huh:
I knew that there were two types... a hub and a switching hub. I just assumed that a switch was the same as a switching hub. So I guess I'm wrong .
I know that normal hubs are quite slow when it comes to heavy traffic (eg. during LAN games), so I was recommended to buy a switch. So... what I want is a switch not a switching hub huh? Okay thanks for that. Any more info would be appreciated.

Cheers,
RaG

P.S. What's "afaik" stand for?

 

[Taurus]

afaik = as far as i know

yeah, you want a switch when it comes to multiple computers communicating at the same time (eg. gaming on a lan). if you just wanted to, say, split an internet connection, a cheapo 10-base hub would do.

any 10/100 switch will be good. i don't think there are any brands that cause problems.

 

[RagnaroK]

Thanks taurus . I'll be finding any old switch then! Thanks again all.

 

[Zedric]

np