An 10Mbps Ethernet hub is a small box into which Ethernet cables are
plugged. Using an Ethernet hub allows two or more computers to talk
to each other at 10Mbps. A 10 Mbps hub is hard to come by these days
because faster, more versatile 10/100 hubs are so inexpensive.
If an Ethernet hub is not marked 10/100, it is a basic 10Mbps hub.
A
10/100 mbps is a good choice these days for basic home networks. This
kind of hub will allow you to hook up 10Mbps and 100Mbps devices and network
cards on the same network. Furthermore, even if the devices communicate at
different speeds, the hub will allow them to talk. Now that the prices
have come down to under $50.00, the versatility and speed of these hubs can not
be beat.
10/100 Ethernet Hubs are only half duplex - each client can only send OR receive
data at a particular time. To take full advantage of your 10/100 Ethernet
cards, look into an Ethernet Switch. A switch can operate at full duplex allowing
your computers to send and receive at the same time.
Basic:
A 10/100 Ethernet switch can
be considered a faster version of a 10/100 Ethernet hub. Recently switches have come
down so far is price that they are readily accessible to consumers.
Ethernet switches allow your
Ethernet cards to operate in Full Duplex mode instead of Half
Duplex. Full Duplex means that you can be sending and receiving data
at the same time. Switches also route traffic directly between ports
instead of broadcasting trfaffic across all ports. This basicly
means that
each port on a switch
gets dedicated bandwidth instead of shared bandwidth. When transfering large files betwen multiple computers,
this can make a big difference in how well your lan
operates.
Consumer level switches now run only about 20% more than hubs making them a great deal for
the speed. Switches are also being incorporated into many of the popular
DSL / Cable modem routers being manufactured. I would not be surprised to see some
network gear manufacturers stop producing consumer level hubs in the next year
or so.
Manages hubs are usuialy not for the home. They have special networking computers
built into them that do all sorts of things you will probably never need in
your home or small office environment. They are also very expensive.
Unmanaged hubs and switches
are simple devices that let your Ethernet devices talk to each
other.
Hubs and Switches
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