Some technicians have a tendency to use the terms routers, hubs and switches interchangeably. One minute they're talking about a switch. Two minutes later they're discussing router settings. Throughout all of this, though, they're still looking at only the one box. Ever wonder what the difference is among these boxes? The functions of the three devices are all quite different from one another, even if at times they are all integrated into a single device. Which one do you use when? Let's take a look...
Hub, Switches, and Routers: Getting Started with Definitions
Hub is common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.
Switch networks, a device that filters and forwards packets between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) and sometimes the network layer (layer 3) of the OSI Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs.
Router device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP.s network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect. Routers use headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path for forwarding the packets, and they use protocols such as ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.
Switch Vs Hub
Here is a tabular representation of the differences between a switch and a hub.
Router Vs Switch
Here are some points of comparison which highlight the differences between a router and a switch.
Hub, Switches, and Routers: Getting Started with Definitions
Hub is common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.
Switch networks, a device that filters and forwards packets between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) and sometimes the network layer (layer 3) of the OSI Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs.
Router device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP.s network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect. Routers use headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path for forwarding the packets, and they use protocols such as ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.
Switch Vs Hub
Here is a tabular representation of the differences between a switch and a hub.
| Switch | Hub |
| As per the OSI model, network switches are classified as Data Link Layer devices, i.e. they operate at Layer 2. However, certain multi-layer switches can operate at higher layers as well. | As per the OSI model, a hub is a Physical Layer device, i.e. it operates at Layer 1. |
| A switch is a more sophisticated network device and is more expensive than a hub. | A hub is a very primitive device and is comparatively much cheaper. |
| A switch is an intelligent device, it transmits the data packets from the source computer to only those network computers to which the data packets are originally intended. | A hub is a 'dumb' device to say the least. It broadcasts the data packets to each and every networked computer, and not just the target computer or set of computers to which the data packets were originally intended to be sent. |
| There is optimum utilization of network bandwidth in case of switches, and bandwidth wastage is minimal. | Due to their broadcast mechanism of data transmission, there is unnecessary wastage of network bandwidth which results in slow operation and data transfer speeds. |
| Switches are full-duplex devices, i.e. both, data transmission and reception can take place simultaneously. | Hubs are half-duplex devices, i.e. both, data transmission and reception cannot take place simultaneously. |
| Network security is much better with the use of a switch, as compared to a hub. | Thanks to its broadcast mechanism, network security becomes a big issue and a loophole in the case of a hub. |
Router Vs Switch
Here are some points of comparison which highlight the differences between a router and a switch.
| Router | Switch |
| Basically, a router is used to connect computers belonging to one network with those belonging to another or other networks. Thus, a router connects two or more different networks. | A switch on the other hand, connects different computers within one network. |
| As per the OSI model, a router is a Network Layer device, i.e. it operates at Layer 3. | Unless it is a multi-layer switch, a network switch operates at Layer 2 (Data Link Layer). |
| Routers are much more sophisticated and intelligent network devices, as compared to switches. | In comparison with routers, switches are less sophisticated and less intelligent. |
| A router works on the principle of IP addresses. | A switch works on the basis of MAC addresses. |
| A router's inbuilt hardware makes use of routing algorithms to compute the best possible path for routing data packets across different computer networks. | A switch does not perform any such activities. |
| Routers have their own inbuilt operating systems and they need to be configured before use. | Most switches do not require any prior configuration and are usually 'ready-to-use'. |
