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Some technicians have a tendency to use the terms router, switch and hub interchangeably, but have you ever wondered what the difference is?

Some technicians have a tendency to use the terms , and interchangeably. One minute they're talking about a switch and discussing router settings the next. Throughout the conversation, however, they're still looking at only one box. Have you ever wondered what the difference is among these devices?

Router vs Switch vs Hub: The Devices Defined

The functions of the three devices - the router, switch and hub - are all quite different from one another, even if at times they are all integrated into a single device. Which device do you use, and when do you use it?

What is a Router?

The router forwards data packets along networks. It 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 to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.

What is a Switch?

In networks the switch is the 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.

Finally, what is a Hub?

A hub is a common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs connect segments of a LAN. It contains multiple ports so 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.

The Differences Between These Devices on the Network

Today most routers have become something of a Swiss Army knife, combining the features and functionality of a router and switch/hub into a single unit. So conversations regarding these devices can be a bit misleading - especially to someone new to computer networking. The functions of a router, hub and a switch are all quite different from one another, even if at times they are all integrated into a single device.

Let's start with the hub and the switch since these two devices have similar roles on the network.

The Hub and Switch Have Similar Roles

Each serves as a central connection for all of your network equipment and handles a data type known as frames. Frames carry your data. When a frame is received, it is amplified and then transmitted on to the port of the destination PC. The big difference between these two devices is in the method in which frames are being delivered.

In a hub, a frame is passed along or "broadcast" to every one of its ports. It doesn't matter that the frame is only destined for one port. The hub has no way of distinguishing which port a frame should be sent to. Passing it along to every port ensures that it will reach its intended destination. This places a lot of traffic on the network and can lead to poor network response times.

Additionally, a 10/100Mbps hub must share its bandwidth with each and every one of its ports. So when only one PC is broadcasting, it will have access to the maximum available bandwidth. If, however, multiple PCs are broadcasting, then that bandwidth will need to be divided among all of those systems, which will degrade performance.

A switch, however, keeps a record of the MAC addresses of all the devices connected to it. With this information, a switch can identify which system is sitting on which port. So when a frame is received, it knows exactly which port to send it to, without significantly increasing network response times. And, unlike a hub, a 10/100Mbps switch will allocate a full 10/100Mbps to each of its ports. So regardless of the number of PCs transmitting, users will always have access to the maximum amount of bandwidth. It's for these reasons a switch is considered to be a much better choice than a hub.

Routers are Completely Different Devices

Routers are completely different devices. Where a hub or switch is concerned with transmitting frames, a router's job, as its name implies, is to route packets to other networks until that packet ultimately reaches its destination. One of the key features of a packet is that it not only contains data, but the destination address of where it's going.

A router is typically connected to at least two networks, commonly two Local Area Networks (LANs) or Wide Area Networks (WAN) or a LAN and its ISP's network -- for example, your PC and your service provider. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect. Using headers and forwarding tables, routers determine the best path for forwarding the packets. Router use protocols such as ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.

Standard Features of Integrated Routers

Today, a wide variety of services are integrated into most broadband routers. A router will typically include a 4 to 8 port Ethernet switch (or hub) and a Network Address Translator ( NAT). In addition, they usually include a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, Domain Name Service (DNS) proxy server and a hardware firewall to protect the LAN from malicious intrusion from the Internet.

All routers have a WAN Port that connects to a DSL or cable modem for broadband Internet service and the integrated switch allows users to easily create a LAN. This allows all the PCs on the LAN to have access to the Internet and Windows file and printer sharing services.

Routers might have a single WAN port and a single LAN port and are designed to connect an existing LAN hub or switch to a WAN. Ethernet switches and hubs can be connected to a router with multiple PC ports to expand a LAN. Depending on the capabilities (kinds of available ports) of the router and the switches or hubs, the connection between the router and switches/hubs may require either straight-thru or crossover (null-modem) cables. Some routers even have USB ports, and more commonly, wireless access points built into them.

Some of the more high-end or business class routers will also incorporate a serial port that can be connected to an external dial-up modem, which is useful as a backup in the event that the primary broadband connection goes down, as well as a built in LAN printer server and printer port.

Besides the inherent protection features provided by the NAT, many routers will also have a built-in, configurable, hardware-based firewall. Firewall capabilities can range from the very basic to quite sophisticated devices. Among the capabilities found on leading routers are those that permit configuring TCP/UDP ports for games, chat services, and the like, on the LAN behind the firewall.

So, in short, a hub glues together an Ethernet network segment, a switch can connect multiple Ethernet segments more efficiently and a router can do those functions plus route TCP/IP packets between multiple LANs and/or WANs; and much more of course.

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Router vs Switch vs Hub: What's the Difference? Webopedia

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Some technicians have a tendency to use the terms router, switch and hub interchangeably, but have you ever wondered what the difference is? Some technicians have a tendency to use the terms , and interchangeably. One minute they're talking about a switch and discussing router settings the next.

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What's the Difference Between Routers, Hubs, and Switches?

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Are you confused about the differences between a hub, a switch, and a router? Don't worry. The answer is actually quite simple. In this article, we break it down for you.

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Getting into more detail

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Today we're taking a look at the home networking hardware: what the individual pieces do, when you need them, and how best to deploy them. Read on to get a clearer picture of what you need to optimize your home network.

When do you need a switch? A hub? What exactly does a router do? Do you need a router if you have a single computer? Network technology can be quite an arcane area of study but armed with the right terms and a general overview of how devices function on your home network you can deploy your network with confidence.

Understanding Home Networking Through Network Diagrams

Rather than start off with a glossary of networking terms-and in the process slam you with a technical terms with no easy point of reference-let's dive right into looking at network diagrams. Here is the simplest network configuration available: a computer linked directly to a modem which is in turn linked through a phone line/cable/fiber optic uplink to the individual's internet service provider.

It doesn't get less complicated than this arrangement but there is a price to pay for the ultra-simplicity of the setup. This user cannot access the internet with a Wi-Fi device (thus no access for smart phones, tablets, or other wireless devices) and they lose out on the benefits of having a router between their computer and the greater internet. Let's introduce a router and highlight the benefits of using one. In the diagram below we've introduced two elements to the network: a wireless router and a laptop connecting to the network via that wireless connection.

When should you use a router? Given the low cost of home routers and the benefits gained from installing one on your network you should always use a router (which almost always includes a firewall feature).

Home routers are actually a a combination of three networking components: a router, a firewall, and a switch. In a commercial setting the three pieces of hardware are kept separate but consumer routers are almost always a combination of both the routing and switching components with a firewall added in for good measure. First let's look at what the router function does.

At the most basic level a router links two networks together, the network within your home (however big or small) and the network outside your home (in this case, the Internet). The broadband modem provided to you by your ISP is only suited to linking a single computer to the internet and usually does not include any sort of routing or switch functionality. A router performs the following functions:

IP sharing: Your ISP assigns you one IP address. If you have a desktop, a laptop, a media box on your TV, and an iPad, that one IP address clearly isn't going to cut it. A router manages those multiple connections and ensures that the right packets of information go to the right places. Without this function there would be no way for a person on the desktop and a person on the laptop to both browse the web as there would be no distinguishing between which computer was requesting what.

Network Address Translation (NAT): Related to the IP sharing function, NAT modifies the headers in packets of information coming into and out of your network so that they get routed to the proper device. Think of NAT like a very helpful receptionist inside your router that knows exactly where every incoming/outgoing package should go and stamps the department on them accordingly.

Dynamic Host Configuration: Without DHCP you would have to manually configure and add all the hosts to your network. This means every time a new computer entered the network you would have to manually assign it an address on the network. DHCP does that for you automatically so that when you plug your XBOX into your router, your friend gets on your wireless network, or you add a new computer, an address is assigned with no human interaction required.

Firewall: Routers act as basic firewalls in a variety of ways including automatically rejecting incoming data that is not part of an ongoing exchange between a computer within your network and the outside world. If you request a music stream from Pandora, for example, your router says, "We're expecting you, come on in" and that stream of data is directed to the device that made the request. On the other hand, if a sudden burst of port probing comes in from an unknown address your router acts as a bouncer and rejects the requests, effectively cloaking your computers. Even for a user with a single computer a simple $50 router is worth it for the firewall functionality alone.

In addition to the inside-to-outside network functionality outlined above, home routers also act as a network switch. A network switch is a piece of hardware that facilitates communication between computers on an internal network. Without the switching function the devices could talk through the router to the greater internet but not to each other-something as simple as copying an MP3 from your laptop to your desktop over the network would be impossible.

Most routers have four Ethernet ports which allow you to plug in four devices and have them communicate via the switch function. If you need more than four Ethernet connections you'll need to upgrade to a router with a larger port bank (a rather expensive proposition that will usually only boost you up to eight ports) or you can pick up a dedicated switch. Note: You only need to upgrade if you're running out of physical ports for hard line connections. If you only have one computer and one networked printer plugged into your four-port router (and everything else on your network is Wi-Fi based) there is no need to upgrade to gain physical ports. That said, let's take a look at a network with a dedicated switch.

Although the four-port limit on the super majority of home routers was more than enough for most home users, the last 10 years have brought a significant increase in the number of networkable devices within the home. It isn't uncommon to have multiple computers, multiple game consoles, media centers, printers, file servers, and more that all connect to the Ethernet LAN (while you may get away with putting your Wii on the Wi-Fi network for things like dedicated video streaming and media server access it is much preferable to have a hard line connection). Once you've reached that level of device saturation it's necessary to add in a switch with eight, 16, or more ports to properly support your growing home network.

As a side note, historically people often relied on hubs because they were so much cheaper than pricey switches. A hub is a a simple network device that does not examine or manage any of the traffic that comes through it-it's a "dumb" network device-by contrast switches actually interact with the data packets and actively direct them. Because hubs have no management component there are frequent collisions between packets which leads to an overall decrease in performance. Hubs suffer from a number of technical shortcomings which you can read about here. Consumer grade networks switches have fallen in price so steeply over the last 10 years that very few hubs are even manufactured anymore (Netgear, one of the largest manufacturers of consumer hubs, no longer even makes them). Because of the shortcomings of network hubs and the low prices of quality consumer-grade network switches we cannot recommend using a hub. When you can pick up a perfectly good high-speed 8-port switch for $25 there's no good reason to use an outdated hub on a home network-if you're curious why a network admin would ever deploy a hub you can read about it here.

Returning to the topic of switches: switches are an excellent and inexpensive way to increase the size of your home network. If you outgrow the bank of four ports on the back of your router the simplest thing you can do to expand your network is to purchase a switch with an appropriate number of ports. Unplug the devices from your router, plug all the devices into the switch, and then plug the switch into the router. Note: switches have absolutely no routing functionality and cannot take the place of a router. Your router likely has a four-port switch built into it but that does not mean your new eight-port dedicated switch can replace your router-you still need the router to mediate between your modem and switch.

Decoding Network Speed Designations

Now that you've got a clear picture of how exactly your network should be physically configured let's talk about network speeds. There are two primary designations we are interested in: Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Let's take a look at Ethernet first.

Ethernet connection speeds are designated in 10BASE. The original Ethernet protocol, now 30 years old, operated as a max speed of 10 Mbit/s. Fast Ethernet, introduced in 1995, upped the speed to 100 Mbit/s. Gigabit Ethernet was introduced shortly after that in 1998 but didn't gain much traction in the consumer market until recently. As its name suggests, Gigabit Ethernet is capable of 1000 Mbit/s. You will commonly see these designations noted on networking gear and its packaging as 10/100 or 10/100/1000 indicating which Ethernet version the device is compatible with.

In order to take full advantage of the maximum speeds all the devices in the transfer chain need to be at or above the speed rating you want. For example, let's say you have a media server in your basement with a Gigabit Ethernet card installed and a media console in your living room with a Gigabit Ethernet card but you are connecting the two together with a 10/100 switch. Both devices will be limited by the 100 Mbit/s ceiling on the switch. In this situation upgrading the switch would boost your network performance considerably.

Outside of transferring large files and streaming HD video content across your home network there is little need to go out and upgrade all your equipment to Gigabit. If your primary computer network usage involves browsing the web and light file transfers 10/100 is more than satisfactory.

Understanding Wi-Fi Speeds

Wi-Fi speeds are designated by letter, not by number. Unlike the easy to translate number-as-network-speed designation we find with Ethernet the Wi-Fi designations actually refer to the draft versions of the IEEE 802.11 networking standard that dictates the parameters of the Wi-Fi protocol.

802.11b was the first version widely adopted by consumers. 802.11b devices operate at a maximum transmission of 11 Mbit/s but the speed is highly dependent on signal strength and quality-realistically users should expect 1-5 Mbit/s. Devices using 802.11b suffer from interference from baby monitors, bluetooth devices, cordless phones, and other 2.4GHz band devices.

802.11g was the next major consumer upgrade and boosted the max transmission to 54 Mbit/s (realistically about 22 Mbit/s accounting for error correction and signal strength). 802.11g suffers from the same kind of 2.4GHz band interference that 802.11b does.

802.11n is a significant upgrade to the Wi-Fi standards-devices use multiple-input multiple-output antennas (MIMO) to operate on both the 2.4GHz and relatively empty 5GHz bands. 802.11n has a theoretical maximum of 300 Mbit/s but accounting for error correction and less than ideal conditions you can expect speeds in 100-150 Mbit/s range.

802.11ac is a huge upgrade that brings wider channels (80 or 160 MHz versus 40 MHz), more spatial streams (up to eight) and things like beamforming, which sorta send the waves directly to your device instead of bouncing all around, making things much faster. How much faster? There are some models that can do one gigabit per second. It's extremely fast.

Like Ethernet, Wi-Fi speeds are limited by the weakest link in the direct network. If you have an 802.11n capable Wi-Fi router but your netbook only has an 802.11g capable Wi-Fi module you will max out at the 802.11g speeds. In addition to the speed limitations there is a very pressing reason for abandoning the oldest popular Wi-Fi protocol 802.11b. You must use the same level of encryption on every device in your network and the encryption schemes available to 802.11b devices are weak and have been compromised (WEP encryption, for example, can be compromised in a matter of minutes by a moderately skilled child). Upgrading your Wi-Fi router and wireless equipment allows you to upgrade your wireless encryption as well as enjoy faster speeds. If you haven't done anything to secure your router now would be a good time to read our guide to locking down your Wi-Fi network against intrusion.

Also like Ethernet, upgrading to the maximum speed-in this case 802.11n-is best suited for people moving large files and streaming HD video. Upgrading to 802.11n will have a negligible impact on your web browsing speed but will have an enormous impact on your ability to wirelessly stream HD content around your home.

At this point you've got a handle on how your home network needs to be laid out and you have an understanding of what the network speed designations mean and how they impact you and your network. It's time to upgrade your switch, roll out some new Wi-Fi bandwidth, and enjoy a better optimized home network.

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Understanding Routers, Switches, and Network Hardware

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Today we're taking a look at the home networking hardware: what the individual pieces do, when you need them, and how best to deploy them. Read on to get a clearer picture of what you need to optimize your home network.

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If you are used to working with home networking gear you are used to an integrated device that "does it all". On a home network, you may have one box that is a cable/DSL modem, router, firewall, switch, and wireless access point all in one. It is amazing all the functions they can fit into one box today.

If you are studying Cisco networking and learning about how businesses use these devices, you may be wondering why there is so much importance on the differences between a switch, router, firewall, and other devices. If the home user can have all these devices combined into one, why doesn't the business user do this as well? This article will attempt to answer that question AND cover the differences between theses devices.

Integrated devices

Just like home devices, business devices have become more and more consolidated over time but not to the extent that the home devices have. Network administrators in a business network are more comfortable having separate devices and even like the idea. This is because network administrators like to be able to isolate problems down to a certain device and they like to be able to know the performance capabilities of every device. If you use an integrated router, switch, and firewall all into one device, troubleshooting, managing, and understanding the performance capabilities of that device gets complicated. I'm not saying that this isn't done. You can buy a big & expensive, chassis-based, Cisco 6500 series switch and have almost all these functions on different blades of the switch. This may be fine for a larger business with a group of administrators but to a medium size business and a single network administrator, many times, this is a scary thought.

Keep in mind that for a medium or large size business, these integrated home devices won't work because they don't offer all the features required. The standalone routers, switches, and firewalls have many more features than these integrated devices do.

But what is the difference between these devices anyway? Let's cover the three most popular devices.

Router

A router is a hardware device and has the function of routing packets between networks. A router works at Layer 3 of the OSI model - the Network Layer. This is the layer that the IP protocol works at. Most routers today are IP routers that examine the source and destination IP addresses of each packet, look up the destination of the packet in the router's IP routing table, and route that packet on its way. In the event that the destination is not listed in the routing table, the router will either send the packet to a default router (if it has one) or drop the packet. Routers are usually used to connect a local area network to a wide-area network (a LAN to a WAN) but can also be used to segment large local area networks (LAN's).

Routers prevent broadcasts. Another way of saying this is that routers form a broadcast domain. So, if your network is being deluged by IP broadcasts, you need to subnet your network into two or more smaller networks. Those networks would be connected by a router and that router wouldn't allow broadcast traffic to flow between subnets.

Routers use routing dynamic protocols like OSPF, RIP, or BGP to learn routes from other routers. Router can also use static routes that are entered by the administrator.

Routers replace the Ethernet MAC address of the source device with their own MAC address when they send a packet out an interface. When the response to that packet comes back, the new source of the packet is sending the response to the destination of the router. The router receives this, replaces the source address, changes the destination address to the original address, and sends the packet back to the original sender. This is a complex topic that we could spend a whole article covering so this is only meant to provide the most basic understanding of how this works.

To show the routing table on the router, use the show ip route command. Here is an example of what a routing table looks like on a router:

Switch

A switch is a hardware device that works at Layer 2 of the OSI model - data link. The data link layer is where the Ethernet protocol works.

A switch switches Ethernet frames by keeping a table of what MAC addresses have been seen on what switch port. The switch uses this table to determine where to send all future frames that it receives. In Cisco terminology, this table is called the CAM table (content addressable memory). In general, the proper term for this table is the bridge forwarding table. If a switch receives a frame with a destination MAC address that it does not have in its table, it floods that frame to all switch ports. When it receives a response, it puts that MAC address in the table so that it won't have to flood next time.

A switch is a high-speed multiport bridge. This is why bridges are no longer needed or manufactured. Switches do what bridges did faster and cheaper. Most routers can also function as bridges.

You might be asking how a hub fits into this mix of devices. A hub is a multiport repeater. In other words, anything that comes in one port of a hub is duplicated and sent out all other ports of the hub that have devices attached. There is no intelligence to how a hub functions. A switch is a vast improvement over a hub in terms of intelligence, for many reasons. The most important of those reasons is how the bridge forwarding table works. Intelligent (smart) switches have made hubs obsolete because they can do more at the same cost of a dumb hub. For this reason, hubs are rarely used or sold any longer.

To see this bridge forwarding table (CAM table) on a Cisco switch just type: show mac-address-table

Here is an example:

Firewall

A firewall is used to protect more secure network from a less secure network. Generally, firewalls are used to protect your internal/private LAN from the Internet.

A firewall generally works at layer 3 and 4 of the OSI model. Layer 3 is the Network Layer where IP works and Layer 4 is the Transport Layer, where TCP and UDP function. Many firewalls today have advanced up the OSI layers and can even understand Layer 7 - the Application Layer.

There are a variety of different types of firewalls and we won't go into that in this article so let's just talk about the most popular type of firewall - a stateful packet inspection (SPI) hardware firewall. An example of a SPI hardware firewall is a Cisco PIX firewall. This is a dedicated appliance and it looks a lot like a Cisco router.

A SPI firewall is stateful because it understands the different states of the TCP (transmission control protocol) protocol. It knows what is coming and what it going and keeps track of it all. Thus, if a packet tried to come in but it wasn't requested, the firewall knows that and drops it.

Article Summary

Here is what we have learned:

Routers work at Layer 3 and route IP packets between networks.

Routers are used to connect a LAN to a WAN (such as your small network to the Internet) but they can also be used to connect segments of a large LAN that has been subnetted into smaller segments.

Routers route packets based on information in the IP routing table. You can see this table with the show ip route command on a Cisco router.

Switches work at Layer 2 and switch Ethernet frames. Switches connect multiple devices on a local area network (LAN).

Switches keep a table of Ethernet MAC addresses called a CAM Table or a Bridge forwarding table. You can see this table with the show mac-address-table command on a Cisco switch.

Firewalls work at Layers 3 and 4 but some can also work at higher layers.

Most firewalls can keep track of the states of TCP to prevent unwanted traffic from the Internet from entering your private LAN.

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Routers, Switches & Firewalls - Learn how they are different - Petri

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If you are used to working with home networking gear you are used to an integrated device that "does it all". On a home network, you may have one box that is a cable/DSL modem, router, firewall, switch, and wireless access point all in one.

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Using hubs, switches, routers, and modems

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Join Martin Guidry for an in-depth discussion in this video Using hubs, switches, routers, and modems, part of Setting Up a Small-Office Network

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Ethernet is the traditional technology for connecting wired local area networks (LANs), enabling devices to communicate with each other via a protocol -- a set of rules or common network language.

As a data-link layer protocol in the TCP/IP stack, Ethernet describes how network devices can format and transmit data packets so other devices on the same local or campus area network segment can recognize, receive and process them. An Ethernet cable is the physical, encased wiring over which the data travels.

Any device accessing a geographically localized network using a cable -- i.e., with a wired rather than wireless connection -- likely uses Ethernet -- whether in a home, school or office setting. From businesses to gamers, diverse end users depend on the benefits of Ethernet connectivity, including reliability and security.

Compared to wireless LAN technology, Ethernet is typically less vulnerable to disruptions -- whether from radio wave interference, physical barriers or bandwidth hogs. It can also offer a greater degree of network security and control than wireless technology, as devices must connect using physical cabling -- making it difficult for outsiders to access network data or hijack bandwidth for unsanctioned devices.

How Ethernet works

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) specifies in the family of standards called IEEE 802.3 that the Ethernet protocol touches both Layer 1 -- the physical layer -- and Layer 2 -- the data link layer -- on the OSI network protocol model. Ethernet defines two units of transmission: packet and frame. The frame includes not just the payload of data being transmitted, but also:

the physical media access control (MAC) addresses of both the sender and receiver;

VLAN tagging and quality of service information; and

error correction information to detect transmission problems.

Each frame is wrapped in a packet that contains several bytes of information to establish the connection and mark where the frame starts.

Engineers at Xerox first developed Ethernet in the 1970s. Ethernet initially ran over coaxial cables, while a typical Ethernet LAN today uses special grades of twisted pair cables or fiber optic cabling. Early Ethernet connected multiple devices into network segments through hubs -- Layer 1 devices responsible for transporting network data -- using either a daisy chain or star topology.

Evolution of Ethernet

If two devices that share a hub try to transmit data at the same time, however, the packets can collide and create connectivity problems. To alleviate these digital traffic jams, the IEEE developed the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection ( CSMA/CD) protocol, which allows devices to check whether a given line is in use before initiating new transmissions.

Later, Ethernet hubs largely gave way to network switches, their more sophisticated and modern counterparts. Because a hub cannot discriminate between points on a network segment, it can't send data directly from point A to point B. Instead, whenever a network device sends a transmission via an input port, the hub copies the data and distributes it to all the available output ports.

In contrast, a switch intelligently sends any given port only the traffic intended for its devices rather than copies of any and all the transmissions on the network segment -- improving security and efficiency.

Types of Ethernet cables

The IEEE 802.3 working group approved the first Ethernet standard in 1983. Since then, the technology has continued to evolve and embrace new media, higher transmission speeds and changes in frame content -- e.g., 802.3ac to accommodate VLAN and priority tagging -- and functional requirements -- e.g., 802.3af to define Power over Ethernet (POE), which is crucial to most Wi-Fi and IP telephony deployments. Wi-Fi standards -- IEEE 802.11a, b, g, n, ac and ax -- define the equivalent of Ethernet for Wireless LANs.

Ethernet standard IEEE 802.3u ushered in 100BASE-T -- also known as Fast Ethernet -- with data transmission speeds of up to 100 megabits per second ( Mbps). The term BASE-T indicates the use of twisted-pair cabling.

Gigabit Ethernet boasts speeds of 1,000 Mbps -- 1 gigabit or 1 billion bits per second -- 10-Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), up to 10 Gbps, and so on. Network engineers use 100BASE-T largely to connect end-user computers, printers and other devices; to manage servers and storage; and to achieve higher speeds for network backbone segments. Over time, the typical speed of each connection tends to increase.

Ethernet cables connect network devices to the appropriate routers or modems, with different cables working with different standards and speeds. The Category 5 (CAT5) cable supports traditional and 100BASE-T Ethernet, for example, while Category 5e (CAT5e) can handle Gigabit Ethernet and Category 6 (CAT6) works with 10 GbE.

Continue Reading About Ethernet

Dig Deeper on Network Infrastructure

Margaret Rouse asks:

How do you think the role of Ethernet in networking will evolve?

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What is Ethernet? - Definition from WhatIs.com

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This definition explains the meaning of Ethernet and how it is used to connect wired local area networks (LANs). The Ethernet protocol, a set of rules or digital language, describes how a device should package and send information so other devices on the LAN can recognize and process it correctly.

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Network topology is the topological structure of a network and may be depicted physically or logically. It is an application of graph theory wherein communicating devices are modeled as nodes and the connections between the devices are modeled as links or lines between the nodes.

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Listen to my dulce tones...

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Support creating a network diagram using Visio

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Second video added - where to draw the cables. Clue: You can be very general AS LONG AS YOU EXPLAIN IT CLEARLY IN THE NEXT PART

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Second video added - where to draw the cables. Clue: You can be very general AS LONG AS YOU EXPLAIN IT CLEARLY IN THE NEXT PART

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See the examples below. The cables don't have to be perfect representations

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While there are definitely some wrong answers, there are many right ways to do this. See the examples to the left ...

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http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/local_area_network-gigabit_ethernet-networking-nics-scott_mueller,2-263-4.html

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https://cs.nyu.edu/artg/telecom/fall99/lecture_notes/chap09/all.html

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Search through products

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HPE Networking UK offers | Just Right IT Promotions | Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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Small and midsize business networking from HPE and Aruba. Switches, wireless, and transceivers that are agile and cost less to operate, from Just Right IT.

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Cisco Switches & Routers | Buy & Sell | ICP Networks

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Buy & sell Cisco Routers, Switches, UCS Servers and IP Phones. ICP Networks are an ISO9001 & ISO14001 company, for all your used Cisco and networking needs.

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Cat 5.e and Cat 6 Ethernet Network Cables

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High quality cable: Network Cables, network and ethernet cables. Audi, video, splitters, hubs, adaptors and switches. Cables made to order. 30 day guaranteed low prices