Switch VS Router

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gecko

In simple terms, what is the difference between a switch and a router.
What does one do that the other does not?

Thanks
-GECKO
 
gecko said:
In simple terms, what is the difference between a switch and a router.
What does one do that the other does not?

Thanks
-GECKO
Click to expand...

Simply said:

To be complete, I will also explain a hub:
A hub is dumb, it transmits every incoming packet to every other
output. All pc's connected to this hub will recieve the packet and
the pc's themself have to decide if it should process the packet or
just drop it (and that is a waste of network capacity).

A switch knows which port is connected to which pc so incoming
packets are send to the correct output instead of all outputs so
there is no need for the other pc's to check (and discard) the
packet.

A router is a much more complicated device. It channels incoming
packets just like a switch but it can also change its destination
according to the protocol and/or tcp/udp port numbers.

If you simply want to connect several network devices like pc's
and printers: a switch will suffice. Every device has a known ip
address and communication is fairly simple.

If you need to send incoming data to one or more pc's, for instance
when you have one ore more web and/or ftp servers sharing one
internet connection, you need a router. Data from the outside
(internet) is coming in on your router's external IP address (WAN)
and the router needs to decide which pc on the local network (LAN)
should get the data.


hope this helps.

regards,
Marcel
 
gecko said:
In simple terms, what is the difference between a switch and a router.
What does one do that the other does not?
Click to expand...


HUB: Data in one port goes out to all other ports. No smarts here. Best for
LAN gaming. These are getting harder to find since switches do a great job
of handling traffic.

SWITCH: Data goes in one port, checks what PC it's going to, finds what port
that PC is on, sends data out only that port. Best when data is going from
only one PC to another, like file access or media streaming.

ROUTER: Data goes in. Router applies rules on the packets, acting on info
such as port number (Web is port 80, sending email is port 125, etc.). It
figures out which PC the data is headed for and sends it to that PC. If it
can't find that PC, the data is just dropped.

FIREWALL: Similar to a router, where data goes in, and gets processed. Data
is dropped according to rules in the firewall.

Most consumer devices are a combination of a router and a switch (some
devices only have one LAN port, meaning no switch). Because of the
functionality of the router, they also act as firewalls.

Two other terms you'll need to know with routers... LAN port and WAN port.

LAN port (Local Area Network) is the port where YOUR network plugs in. If
your device has a switch built in, this could be for or more ports.

The WAN port (Wide Area Network) is where your internet (the world) plugs
in. Usually only one WAN port on consumer devices.


.... Hows that?
 
To be complete, I will also explain a hub:
A hub is dumb, it transmits every incoming packet to every other
output. All pc's connected to this hub will recieve the packet and
the pc's themself have to decide if it should process the packet or
just drop it (and that is a waste of network capacity).

A switch knows which port is connected to which pc so incoming
packets are send to the correct output instead of all outputs so
there is no need for the other pc's to check (and discard) the
packet.

A router is a much more complicated device. It channels incoming
packets just like a switch but it can also change its destination
according to the protocol and/or tcp/udp port numbers.

If you simply want to connect several network devices like pc's
and printers: a switch will suffice. Every device has a known ip
address and communication is fairly simple.

If you need to send incoming data to one or more pc's, for instance
when you have one ore more web and/or ftp servers sharing one
internet connection, you need a router. Data from the outside
(internet) is coming in on your router's external IP address (WAN)
and the router needs to decide which pc on the local network (LAN)
should get the data.


hope this helps.

regards,
Marcel
Click to expand...


I have a simple LAN with 4 computers, any and all of which need to
access weblinks and webmails whenever the user decides to do so.
Each computer also needs access to the files/folders on all other
computers on the LAN using 'file sharing'. One computer has a USB
printer connected to it which might be printed to from any of the
other 3 computers, using 'printer sharing'. I have a new network
printer (HP 7280 AIO) which will printed to from any of the 4
computers.

I have been told to get a router. From what I read, including your
reply, I think a switch will do. Is that so? I really don't care
which one I get, a switch or a router, unless one is cheaper than the
other, but I want to get it right.

Thanks
-GECKO
 
gecko said:
I have a simple LAN with 4 computers, any and all of which need to
access weblinks and webmails whenever the user decides to do so.
Each computer also needs access to the files/folders on all other
computers on the LAN using 'file sharing'. One computer has a USB
printer connected to it which might be printed to from any of the
other 3 computers, using 'printer sharing'. I have a new network
printer (HP 7280 AIO) which will printed to from any of the 4
computers.

I have been told to get a router. From what I read, including your
reply, I think a switch will do. Is that so? I really don't care
which one I get, a switch or a router, unless one is cheaper than the
other, but I want to get it right.

Thanks
-GECKO
Click to expand...

If you want to connect your internet modem directly to ONE of
your pc's and you don't mind turning that pc on whenever one of
the other pc's needs to access the internet, a switch will do the job.
That pc needs to have two network cards and internet sharing
enabled, but from what I've heared, this isn't a perfect solution.

It is more practical if you have an modem/router or a seperate
modem and router.

The router needs to have four ports (so as kony said, a router
with a build-in four port switch).
In that case, you can plug all pc's in your router and let that
do the switching and the routing.

If you don't have any servers running
(like web, ftp or game SERVERS), you don't need to worry
much about the configuration of the router.


regards,
Marcel
 
kony said:
In practical terms, a router is desired to connect systems
to the internet because it acts as the "computer" host for
the modem used to connect to the internet and as a gateway
for the other systems to all use the same internet account.
It is further desirable because it adds an addt'l layer of
security over having one "PC" running windows as the host
for the modem which would make that PC's ports directly
accessible to anyone on the internet.

A typical consumer grade router also has a switch built in,
you can see this is true if it has more than one LAN port in
addition to the WAN port.

Some modems now have a router, some even a switch built in.
Some routers now have wifi built in, which is a good value
but if you don't use wifi then disable that feature if
present to improve security.
Click to expand...

Most routers have a built-in firewall. Some modems also have a firewall and do Network Address Translation.
 
Only the modems with a router integral have (at least a minimal level
of) firewall and NAT, AFAIK.
Click to expand...

The simple answer is switches "switch" traffic on internal networks and
routers "route" traffic between external networks.

Original intent early phone switchboards in an office. Operator would
physically switch calls among connected offices but had to call another
operator to switch a call outside the office. likewise switches handle
all traffic in the same network but the router handles all traffic going
to other networks.
 
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