Routers, hubs and switches

Routers

• Device which forwards data packets between computer networks (OSI Layer 3)
• Reads the address information and determines its ultimate destination
• Contains routing table with all the information about the addresses of connected networks

Hubs

• Device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network segment
• Includes multiple I/O ports, in which a signal introduced at the input of any port appears at the output of every port except the original incoming
• Works at physical layer (layer 1) of the OSI model

Switches

• Device that is used to connect devices together on a computer network by performing a form of packet switching (Layer 2)
• A switch will only send a message to a device that needs or requests it, rather than broadcasting the same message out of each of its ports