Ethernet Switch or Hub?

An Ethernet hub or concentrator is a device for connecting multiple twisted pair or fibre optic Ethernet devices together, making them act as a single segment

A network switch (or just switch for short) is a networking device that performs transparent bridging (connection of multiple network segments with forwarding based on MAC addresses) at full wire speed in hardware.

I copied those definitions from wikipedia, cause I figured they'd be easier to understand. A hub is sort of like a multi-lane highway, with lots of traffic going to the same place whereas a switch routes traffic like traffic lights at an intersection. Soo.. you want a switch or a router (which is just a switch that has a WAN port).

We've done something similar in our current house. Maybe describing my situation will make it easier for you to decide what works best for you.
We ran Cat5 cables to each room from a central location in the basement. We decided that even though we had 6 ethernet cables in the basement, we didn't need all of them at once and decided on using a simple 4-port router. When the phone company came out to install our DSL connection (we use fiber - no modem), we just asked them to bring it from the phone grid to our router (all of 2 feet away )...

Anyway, that takes care of connecting all the computers via wires. To add wireless access we decided on a central location that we had run wires to. We ended up reusing an old wireless router, though only as a switch/access point. Connection goes from the wall to a LAN port with another computer connected to a second LAN port. This is a Linksys WRT-54G, so it has the ability through it's firmware to run as a router rather than a gateway (w/ WAN features).

So I would recommend buying the a 4-port router and a 4-port switch for the central location (keep in mind that's 6 connections, not 8, as 1 of each will be used to connect to the other), as well as an additional wireless access point or wireless router (routers are often less expensive).

I personally prefer Linksys for equipment. I also have a D-Link router which has been faithful but not as reliable as the Linksys router.

As far as Cat-5 vs. Cat-6, I think Cat-6 is "designated" as Gigabit, though it's possible to run gigabit through Cat-5e. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, I've never really dealt with Gigabit. Some searching on Wikipedia should bring out a clear answer though. If the cost isn't much more (I think it probably will be ), you might wish to invest in Cat-6 for future purposes. Keep in mind to run at Gigabit, the entire network would need to be Gigabit, including the router (which would be a decently costly upgrade)... It wouldn't come into much use except for filesharing, but when you're dealing with those speeds, the hard drive is more of a limiting factor. Just buy an external hard drive for file transfers and backups and you'll be good as gold


Hope this was decently helpful

edit: Wikipedia knowledge: Apparently Cat-5 is assumed to be Cat-5e these days... I didn't know that :/

Cat-6: The cable standard is suitable for 10BASE-T / 100BASE-TX and 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet) connections. Cat-6 features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise.
Cat-5(e): It was most commonly used for 100Mbit/s networks, such as 100BASE-TX Ethernet, although IEEE 802.3ab defined standards for 1000BASE-T - gigabit Ethernet over category 5 cable.

 

If that wasn't enough, a switch will allow each attached computer to work at its best-rated speed, as long as it's available on the switch. e.g., if you have a Gigabit switch, you can use Gigabit Ethernet along with 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps Ethernet and, for practical purposes you should see no slowdown.

Using a hub, all 3 would be running at the lowest speed, 10 Mbps, regardless of their fastest capabilities.

Category 6 cable, I believe, has less resistance and is better at handling higher speeds, though Category 5e cable will do the job and did, prior to having Category 6 cables available in mass quantities.

 

I wasn't even aware that anybody sold or manufactured hubs these days. There is no question here: buy a switch.

 

Hubs are easy money. Put an updated look on them and change the wording a bit, and a confused consumer will buy one for nearly as much as a switch.

 

A "switch with a WAN port" is a router.

A switch connects computers to form a Local Area Network.
A router connects a Local Area Network to a Wide Area Network, and almost always connects computers to form a Local Area Network as well.

Basically, wherever your source is for the internet, you need a router. The router in a way pretends to the modem that it's a computer. If Johnny is on the network and requests Google, the router then requests Google. When it comes back, it says "Hey, Google. Johnny wanted that". From the outside, it is impossible to know who requested Google. It appears as if there's only one computer on the network. The router connects the internet to the network.

Because 8-port routers are hard if not impossible to find, I recommended a 4-port router connected to an additional switch.

If you do some research, you may find it cheaper to buy a 500/1000ft spool of Cat5e from your local home improvement store. Then invest in a good solid crimper and punch-down tools to put the ends on your wires.

 

There's no need to have 1000 on the WAN port. Your internet connection is probably less than 10mbps, so even 100mbps is overkill.

So you won't have Gigabit speeds going to and from the internet (which isn't even possible in the home), but you will in your local network (where you probably won't get 1000mbps because your hard drives don't spin that fast).

I hadn't realized there weren't any gigabit routers on the market... hmm...

edit: This Linksys router is Gigabit, though it's probably not going to be cheap as it also supports VPN connections...

 

Gigabit ethernet switches/routers are ridiculously expensive compared to good-ol' 10/100. You're only going to see the difference in file transfers between computers.

I'd say home internet getting anywhere NEAR gigabit speeds is a good while off. Most cable modems run, at most, around 15mbps. Verizon's FiOS can hit 45-50mbps, I think, but that's still not enough to max out bandwidth on a 10/100 switch.

There are some gigabit or faster fiber optic direct connections out there, but mostly for university or scientific use. I know Peter Jackson used a one or two gigabit connection to have high definition dailies of the Lord of the Rings movies sent across the ocean for him for review when he was in Britain.

 

switch all the way, the only benefit of a hub is they dont need to be powered, i have an 8 port mini hub that i keep in my bag for spontaneous LAN gameing sessions at school with others that bring in laptops.

 

Whoa

Either you forgot the decimal in 1.5, or we're getting ripped off really badly

 

As I said, at most. They bumped ours locally to about 5mbps, but depending where you are it can go higher. You pay out the ass for it, of course.

 

we have 24Mbit in the UK.

over regular phone lines

 

Wow! I don't know what I have, but it's sloowwww here in the US.

 

However, a router requires a lot of extra software and setup.

 

Buy an old P3 machine, load linux on it, slap a few NIC cards in it, and you have a cheap Router/Switch.

 

in the UK we dont really have WAN ports on routers as our routers have a rj-11 port which connects the the pone line for ADSL from 128k to 24Mbit ADSL2, so the linux box router does not tend to work too well unless your ISP has given you a modem with one ethernet port out, which they rarely do, also some of us run gigabit networks and 8x gigabit NICs tend to add up.

 

If you can afford it, get a Gigabit switch. I have one from Netgear and it has been working flawlessly.