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Switch VS Router
In simple terms, what is the difference between a switch and a router.
What does one do that the other does not? Thanks -GECKO |
#2
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Switch VS Router
"gecko" schreef in bericht ... In simple terms, what is the difference between a switch and a router. What does one do that the other does not? Thanks -GECKO Simply said: To be complete, I will also explain a hub: A hub is dumb, it transmits every incoming packet to every other output. All pc's connected to this hub will recieve the packet and the pc's themself have to decide if it should process the packet or just drop it (and that is a waste of network capacity). A switch knows which port is connected to which pc so incoming packets are send to the correct output instead of all outputs so there is no need for the other pc's to check (and discard) the packet. A router is a much more complicated device. It channels incoming packets just like a switch but it can also change its destination according to the protocol and/or tcp/udp port numbers. If you simply want to connect several network devices like pc's and printers: a switch will suffice. Every device has a known ip address and communication is fairly simple. If you need to send incoming data to one or more pc's, for instance when you have one ore more web and/or ftp servers sharing one internet connection, you need a router. Data from the outside (internet) is coming in on your router's external IP address (WAN) and the router needs to decide which pc on the local network (LAN) should get the data. hope this helps. regards, Marcel |
#3
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Switch VS Router
"gecko" wrote in message ... In simple terms, what is the difference between a switch and a router. What does one do that the other does not? HUB: Data in one port goes out to all other ports. No smarts here. Best for LAN gaming. These are getting harder to find since switches do a great job of handling traffic. SWITCH: Data goes in one port, checks what PC it's going to, finds what port that PC is on, sends data out only that port. Best when data is going from only one PC to another, like file access or media streaming. ROUTER: Data goes in. Router applies rules on the packets, acting on info such as port number (Web is port 80, sending email is port 125, etc.). It figures out which PC the data is headed for and sends it to that PC. If it can't find that PC, the data is just dropped. FIREWALL: Similar to a router, where data goes in, and gets processed. Data is dropped according to rules in the firewall. Most consumer devices are a combination of a router and a switch (some devices only have one LAN port, meaning no switch). Because of the functionality of the router, they also act as firewalls. Two other terms you'll need to know with routers... LAN port and WAN port. LAN port (Local Area Network) is the port where YOUR network plugs in. If your device has a switch built in, this could be for or more ports. The WAN port (Wide Area Network) is where your internet (the world) plugs in. Usually only one WAN port on consumer devices. .... Hows that? |
#4
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Switch VS Router
On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 15:04:46 +0200, "Marcel Overweel"
wrote: To be complete, I will also explain a hub: A hub is dumb, it transmits every incoming packet to every other output. All pc's connected to this hub will recieve the packet and the pc's themself have to decide if it should process the packet or just drop it (and that is a waste of network capacity). A switch knows which port is connected to which pc so incoming packets are send to the correct output instead of all outputs so there is no need for the other pc's to check (and discard) the packet. A router is a much more complicated device. It channels incoming packets just like a switch but it can also change its destination according to the protocol and/or tcp/udp port numbers. If you simply want to connect several network devices like pc's and printers: a switch will suffice. Every device has a known ip address and communication is fairly simple. If you need to send incoming data to one or more pc's, for instance when you have one ore more web and/or ftp servers sharing one internet connection, you need a router. Data from the outside (internet) is coming in on your router's external IP address (WAN) and the router needs to decide which pc on the local network (LAN) should get the data. hope this helps. regards, Marcel I have a simple LAN with 4 computers, any and all of which need to access weblinks and webmails whenever the user decides to do so. Each computer also needs access to the files/folders on all other computers on the LAN using 'file sharing'. One computer has a USB printer connected to it which might be printed to from any of the other 3 computers, using 'printer sharing'. I have a new network printer (HP 7280 AIO) which will printed to from any of the 4 computers. I have been told to get a router. From what I read, including your reply, I think a switch will do. Is that so? I really don't care which one I get, a switch or a router, unless one is cheaper than the other, but I want to get it right. Thanks -GECKO |
#5
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Switch VS Router
gecko wrote:
On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 15:04:46 +0200, "Marcel Overweel" wrote: To be complete, I will also explain a hub: A hub is dumb, it transmits every incoming packet to every other output. All pc's connected to this hub will recieve the packet and the pc's themself have to decide if it should process the packet or just drop it (and that is a waste of network capacity). A switch knows which port is connected to which pc so incoming packets are send to the correct output instead of all outputs so there is no need for the other pc's to check (and discard) the packet. A router is a much more complicated device. It channels incoming packets just like a switch but it can also change its destination according to the protocol and/or tcp/udp port numbers. If you simply want to connect several network devices like pc's and printers: a switch will suffice. Every device has a known ip address and communication is fairly simple. If you need to send incoming data to one or more pc's, for instance when you have one ore more web and/or ftp servers sharing one internet connection, you need a router. Data from the outside (internet) is coming in on your router's external IP address (WAN) and the router needs to decide which pc on the local network (LAN) should get the data. hope this helps. regards, Marcel I have a simple LAN with 4 computers, any and all of which need to access weblinks and webmails whenever the user decides to do so. Each computer also needs access to the files/folders on all other computers on the LAN using 'file sharing'. One computer has a USB printer connected to it which might be printed to from any of the other 3 computers, using 'printer sharing'. I have a new network printer (HP 7280 AIO) which will printed to from any of the 4 computers. I have been told to get a router. From what I read, including your reply, I think a switch will do. Is that so? I really don't care which one I get, a switch or a router, unless one is cheaper than the other, but I want to get it right. Thanks -GECKO If accessing weblinks means you need internet access, then you absolutely need a router. |
#6
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Switch VS Router
gecko wrote:
On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 15:04:46 +0200, "Marcel Overweel" wrote: To be complete, I will also explain a hub: A hub is dumb, it transmits every incoming packet to every other output. All pc's connected to this hub will recieve the packet and the pc's themself have to decide if it should process the packet or just drop it (and that is a waste of network capacity). A switch knows which port is connected to which pc so incoming packets are send to the correct output instead of all outputs so there is no need for the other pc's to check (and discard) the packet. A router is a much more complicated device. It channels incoming packets just like a switch but it can also change its destination according to the protocol and/or tcp/udp port numbers. If you simply want to connect several network devices like pc's and printers: a switch will suffice. Every device has a known ip address and communication is fairly simple. If you need to send incoming data to one or more pc's, for instance when you have one ore more web and/or ftp servers sharing one internet connection, you need a router. Data from the outside (internet) is coming in on your router's external IP address (WAN) and the router needs to decide which pc on the local network (LAN) should get the data. hope this helps. regards, Marcel I have a simple LAN with 4 computers, any and all of which need to access weblinks and webmails whenever the user decides to do so. Each computer also needs access to the files/folders on all other computers on the LAN using 'file sharing'. One computer has a USB printer connected to it which might be printed to from any of the other 3 computers, using 'printer sharing'. I have a new network printer (HP 7280 AIO) which will printed to from any of the 4 computers. I have been told to get a router. From what I read, including your reply, I think a switch will do. Is that so? I really don't care which one I get, a switch or a router, unless one is cheaper than the other, but I want to get it right. Thanks -GECKO Incidentally why are you repeating your questions from January? You throughly hashed this all out then. |
#7
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Switch VS Router
On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:23:51 -0400, Pen wrote:
Incidentally why are you repeating your questions from January? You throughly hashed this all out then. Senior moment Sorry -GECKO |
#8
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Switch VS Router
On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:26:12 GMT, gecko
wrote: In simple terms, what is the difference between a switch and a router. What does one do that the other does not? Thanks -GECKO In practical terms, a router is desired to connect systems to the internet because it acts as the "computer" host for the modem used to connect to the internet and as a gateway for the other systems to all use the same internet account. It is further desirable because it adds an addt'l layer of security over having one "PC" running windows as the host for the modem which would make that PC's ports directly accessible to anyone on the internet. A typical consumer grade router also has a switch built in, you can see this is true if it has more than one LAN port in addition to the WAN port. Some modems now have a router, some even a switch built in. Some routers now have wifi built in, which is a good value but if you don't use wifi then disable that feature if present to improve security. |
#9
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Switch VS Router
"gecko" schreef in bericht ... On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 15:04:46 +0200, "Marcel Overweel" wrote: To be complete, I will also explain a hub: A hub is dumb, it transmits every incoming packet to every other output. All pc's connected to this hub will recieve the packet and the pc's themself have to decide if it should process the packet or just drop it (and that is a waste of network capacity). A switch knows which port is connected to which pc so incoming packets are send to the correct output instead of all outputs so there is no need for the other pc's to check (and discard) the packet. A router is a much more complicated device. It channels incoming packets just like a switch but it can also change its destination according to the protocol and/or tcp/udp port numbers. If you simply want to connect several network devices like pc's and printers: a switch will suffice. Every device has a known ip address and communication is fairly simple. If you need to send incoming data to one or more pc's, for instance when you have one ore more web and/or ftp servers sharing one internet connection, you need a router. Data from the outside (internet) is coming in on your router's external IP address (WAN) and the router needs to decide which pc on the local network (LAN) should get the data. hope this helps. regards, Marcel I have a simple LAN with 4 computers, any and all of which need to access weblinks and webmails whenever the user decides to do so. Each computer also needs access to the files/folders on all other computers on the LAN using 'file sharing'. One computer has a USB printer connected to it which might be printed to from any of the other 3 computers, using 'printer sharing'. I have a new network printer (HP 7280 AIO) which will printed to from any of the 4 computers. I have been told to get a router. From what I read, including your reply, I think a switch will do. Is that so? I really don't care which one I get, a switch or a router, unless one is cheaper than the other, but I want to get it right. Thanks -GECKO If you want to connect your internet modem directly to ONE of your pc's and you don't mind turning that pc on whenever one of the other pc's needs to access the internet, a switch will do the job. That pc needs to have two network cards and internet sharing enabled, but from what I've heared, this isn't a perfect solution. It is more practical if you have an modem/router or a seperate modem and router. The router needs to have four ports (so as kony said, a router with a build-in four port switch). In that case, you can plug all pc's in your router and let that do the switching and the routing. If you don't have any servers running (like web, ftp or game SERVERS), you don't need to worry much about the configuration of the router. regards, Marcel |
#10
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Switch VS Router
kony wrote: On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:26:12 GMT, gecko wrote: In simple terms, what is the difference between a switch and a router. What does one do that the other does not? Thanks -GECKO In practical terms, a router is desired to connect systems to the internet because it acts as the "computer" host for the modem used to connect to the internet and as a gateway for the other systems to all use the same internet account. It is further desirable because it adds an addt'l layer of security over having one "PC" running windows as the host for the modem which would make that PC's ports directly accessible to anyone on the internet. A typical consumer grade router also has a switch built in, you can see this is true if it has more than one LAN port in addition to the WAN port. Some modems now have a router, some even a switch built in. Some routers now have wifi built in, which is a good value but if you don't use wifi then disable that feature if present to improve security. Most routers have a built-in firewall. Some modems also have a firewall and do Network Address Translation. -- Mike Walsh |
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