What's the Difference between a Hub and a Switch?

Hubs and switches are two common devices. Although the two devices are similar, they are not exactly the same. In short, a switch is an upgrade to a hub. Both are used to connect multiple computers or other devices in a network through the armored fiber patch cable or fiber optic patch cord. The difference is how the hub or switch handles communication between devices on the network. 

Ethernet Hub

Hubs are an old technology, and some electronics manufacturers don't even make them anymore. They are cheaper than switches, but they are also less efficient. A hub is an "unintelligent" or "stupid" electronic device. It does not have any components to direct electrical signals to specific ports. Once a signal is received at one port, it is sent from all other ports. This sends data to any and all computers or other electronic devices connected to the hub.

When sending data in this way, there are some problems. The hub continuously sends data to each machine connected to it, so a hub uses a lot of bandwidth compared to a switch. The more devices that are connected, the more the network is flooded with all this data. Such a large amount of data will inevitably slow down the speed of hub in processing data.

Another key issue is security. When data is sent from one machine to another, only the target machine should process the data. But every machine on the network is receiving this data. Anyone with access to the network can intercept and steal the data. When the budget is low, you can choose the hub, but you have to face these problems.

Ethernet Switch

Switches are essentially upgraded products of hubs. The switch uses more advanced technology, which means it can control where the received signal is sent instead of sending it in every direction like a hub. Managing data in this way eliminates two of the main hub issues: bandwidth and security. 

Since data is only sent to a particular machine when it is signaled, rather than to the entire network, switches use much less bandwidth than hubs. With the same Ethernet single mode fiber patch cable or multimode patch cord, the switch can support a larger network, even if it has the same maximum bandwidth as the hub. So you can choose cheaper outdoor fiber patch cable or fiber optic adaptor to build the network, which can save costs. Although a basic hub might have 8 to 12 ports, an equivalent switch can often support 24 to 48 ports.

The switch can also well protect the data security. Because when using the switch, the data will not be sent to every networked machine. Even if someone has unauthorized administrative access to the network running on the switch, no network data is automatically sent to him. This does not make security breaches impossible, but it is more difficult for a person to enter the network through a switch than through a hub. 

To connect different devices using switches or hubs, you also need to use fiber optic terminal boxes,  2 port fiber termination boxes or mode conditioning fiber cable. MELONTEL is a professional network cable manufacturer. Our network fiber optic patch cables are of high quality and are the best choice for building a network.