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Network hub vs network switch

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

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Back in the day ... if I had a single ethernet port (outlet) in the wall, I'd run the ethernet line from there to a "hub". The hub would let me share the ethernet with several devices (printer, desktop, etc.).

Now I can't find "hubs" - only "switches".

I tried two switches, but there was no place for ethernet input. Only ethernet output to share devices.

If I can't find a hub any longer, how do I give a printer and a desktop internet access via a single ethernet wall port, with a switch?

Thanks.
Tom M.
 
they are pretty much the same thing,
the main difference is that a hub will transmit data from one input to all the outputs on the hub, regardless if only one device will need that data
a switch transmits data from one port to a device that the data is intended for, and is therefore more efficient.
 
Thanks Mezy. On the hubs, there was always an R-45 connection labeled "Ethernet input from router". The other R-45s were marked "Device 1", Device 2, etc.

But switches have nothing marked input.

When I put an ethernet cable and a desktop into a switch, the desktop says "no internet". If I do the same with a hub, the desktop finds the internet immediately.

What am I missing?
 
NutmegCT said:
Thanks Mezy. On the hubs, there was always an R-45 connection labeled "Ethernet input from router". The other R-45s were marked "Device 1", Device 2, etc.

But switches have nothing marked input.

When I put an ethernet cable and a desktop into a switch, the desktop says "no internet". If I do the same with a hub, the desktop finds the internet immediately.

What am I missing?
Click to expand...
On the switches I have any experience with (Netgear unmanaged), there isn't a designated up link port. You can use any port.
 
Thanks Bob. I was worried that was the case. I tried all the switch's ports, and still got "no internet" from the devices. Then tried a different switch, and had the same results.

It was so easy with a hub!
 
NutmegCT said:
Thanks Bob. I was worried that was the case. I tried all the switch's ports, and still got "no internet" from the devices. Then tried a different switch, and had the same results.

It was so easy with a hub!
Click to expand...
And if you plug a device directly into the wall plug, it works, right? The patch cables are good? Are you using static IP addresses or DHCP?
 
I don't think anyone even makes a true "hub" anymore - they are all switches because as previously noted they establish a pathway from one device to another rather than blindly sending all data to all devices (think of it like a individual phone lines vs. a party line).

I still see an "uplink" port on most of mine which is what you seem to be looking for. Newer switches are auto-sensing which means they can tell if they have been connected to an end-point device or another upstream unit and adjust accordingly. The "uplink" port was basically a pin-swapped eithernet port. If your switches don't have a dedicated uplink port and are not auto-sensing, then the other way to accomplish the result you need is an ethernet crossover cable which has the pins swapped to make a "normal" port act like an "uplink" port.
 
BobHaskell said:
And if you plug a device directly into the wall plug, it works, right? The patch cables are good? Are you using static IP addresses or DHCP?
Click to expand...
Yep - all devices work fine when plugged directly into the wall plug. DHCP. Back in the day hubs would connect w/o problem, and had a clearly marked uplink port, usually a different color

I wonder if there's some sort of switch "setup" needed, altho' the two manufacturers (Linksys and Netgear) don't mention it..
 
NutmegCT said:
Yep - all devices work fine when plugged directly into the wall plug. DHCP. Back in the day hubs would connect w/o problem, and had a clearly marked uplink port, usually a different color

I wonder if there's some sort of switch "setup" needed, altho' the two manufacturers (Linksys and Netgear) don't mention it..
Click to expand...

OK now I start to get a little more confused on this. The normal setup for a multi-device configuration normally involves a router that connects to the internet directly (typically referred to as the WAN side of the router), and then all the end devices communicate with the internet through that router (typically referred to as the LAN side).

Connecting multiple devices to the direct internet (WAN) port rarely works because most providers only allow one address to be assigned. When you use a switch (or hub even), it generally connects to the LAN side of the router, and the router can assign as many local-side addresses as needed to the end devices (and the router allows them to share the connection through the single WAN side address).

When you do connect a single device and it works, what address does it get assigned?
 
YakkoWarner said:
When you do connect a single device and it works, what address does it get assigned?
Click to expand...

Won't be back to the office until next Tuesday, so will check the address then.

Glad you mentioned a router. All the setups instruction (diagrams) assume you're using a router - not a direct line. So maybe that's the problem.

Man do I miss hubs!
 
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