Advantages of Switches in regard to Hubs

A hub can only communicate with one computer at the same time. If multiple computers want to send data, each computer has to wait for its time. All data is sent to all computers in the network, although the data is only intended for 1 computer.


In the above picture, the first computer sends a document to the printer. All other computers receive this print message as well (and neglect it.)


A switch can process multiple connections at the same time. While the first computer is communicating with the printer, the fourth computer can send data to the fifth computer at the same time, for example. Both the print job and the file transfer utilize the full bandwith of 100Mbps (or 200Mbs Full Duplex.)


Conclusion:

  • A switch has a bandwidth of 100Mps (actually even 200Mbps) for each port, an 8 port switch has a total bandwidth of 800Mbps. A hub shares the bandwidth of 100Mbps among all ports.
  • A hub is most often half-duplex 100Mbps, a switch is 200Mbps full-duplex. Thanks to full-duplex, no colissions and related delays will occur.
  • A switch has extra buffer memory for even higher transfer rates.
  • A network can be unlimitedly extended with switches, while the number of hubs in a network is limited.
  • The price of a switch is often higher than a hub, still a switch is recommended thanks to its much higher performance.