Date   : Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:13:07 +0100
From   : darren.grant@... (Darren Grant)
Subject: Master Ethernet upgrade

On 18/07/2009 14:41, "Alex Taylor" <zeem.uk@...> wrote:

> 
> That also sounds rather a lot like a switch, which does the same thing
> as a hub but with more intelligence.
> 
> I've done most of a Cisco CCNA but seem to have forgotten how to
> describe what I'm thinking, so correct me if this is wrong. A router
> involves two or more interfaces and routes packets between them - such
> as linking a LAN with a WAN. It operates as Layer 3 of the OSI model,
> in other words an IP router knows about IP and routes packets between
> the interfaces according to IP addresses and destination networks. The
> extra ports on the kind of router found at home will be a switch
> attached to one of the interfaces. So that'll be a WAN interface to
> connect to the cable modem or ADSL line, and a LAN interface with an
> integrated 4-port switch.
> 
> A switch operates at Layer 2 so all it knows about is MAC addresses.
> It learns which MACs are attached to which ports so it can send
> Ethernet packets to the correct machine, increasing network throughput
> and security.
> 
> As described already, a hub just retransmits what comes in on one port
> out of all the others. Also described as a "multi-port repeater".
> 

Yes that is correct.

Darren