Switches, Hubs, Routers?????

[contender]

What is the difference between them and what are they needed for and benefits of having them for a home network and to make it more secure?

 

[Glaanieboy]

In short:
Hub: A box if you want, that receives networkdata and send them out to all computer connected to it.
Switch: The same as hub, except it looks at the networkdata to see what's their destination and send it out. If you want a fast network with more than 2 computer working on the network at once, you must use this.
Router: Same as switch, but it can send out networkdata to other networks as well. For example, if you have a network based on 192.168.1.x addresses, you can't send out data to a 10.x.x.x based network with a hub/switch. A router is able to do this.

Hope this clears up.

 

[blinden]

Originally posted by Glaanieboy
In short:
Hub: A box if you want, that receives networkdata and send them out to all computer connected to it.
Switch: The same as hub, except it looks at the networkdata to see what's their destination and send it out. If you want a fast network with more than 2 computer working on the network at once, you must use this.
Router: Same as switch, but it can send out networkdata to other networks as well. For example, if you have a network based on 192.168.1.x addresses, you can't send out data to a 10.x.x.x based network with a hub/switch. A router is able to do this.

Hope this clears up.

just to clear it up, you don't NEED to use a switch if you have more than 2 computers, it makes it faster, but isn't physically or logically neccessary, you'll just have more collisions.

as far as security goes, that comes in the form of a firewall.

you don't need a router for what you are doing, since the price difference between swtiches and hubs is so low noadays, I would get a switch if you are buying something, unless someone gave you a free hub, then you could probably use that.

 

[contender]

does the combination of either of these hardware devices make for a more secure network?

i use a linksys router w/built in NAT firewall and kerio personal firewall at the moment. by a firewall do you mean software or hardware?

 

[NetRyder]

Routers don't filter outgoing packets. So you will be protected from hackers (incoming traffic) but trojans will still be able to send information out.

That's when software firewalls come in. They will also filter outbound packets, so you know exactly what applications are accessing the internet and what ports they're using.

So a NAT router and a software firewall make up the best combination for security.

 

[Zedric]

My router filters both outgoing and incomming packets on port level... D-Link DI-704P

Several others do to.