thank you. this is the clearest explanation of the differences between a switch and a hub that I have ever seen.

Absolutely stellar video. I very rarely see such clear and concise tutorial videos for networking features. And the fact that it used a PLC and an HMI, as opposed to just a router and a PC like most videos on this make it excellent.

You made a better video than what 99.99% of the other people have made! Thank you!

10 years later and this helped me with my cyber security course I am currently taking for a certification! Never heard of a hub before and didn't even realize this feature of switches I've been using forever! I've always viewed switches the way I now know hubs work, thank you sir!

The only reason for the delay when switching the PLC to a new port is the fact that it almost never transmits on its own (possibly once every 5 minutes). If it was reconfigured to transmit a frame every few seconds, this wouldn't be an issue. (For example, if you had two full-fledged computers connected to the switch, those networking stacks are going to talk so frequently that there would be almost no delay when changing ports under pretty much any circumstances)

Thank you! You are an amazing teacher. That was so clear, it was a pleasure to watch!

that power cycle tip when moving a port is gold!!! as always a brilliant explanation /lesson,thanks for recording uploading.

At last someone who has made a straight forwards video and explained in simple terms ... I THANK YOU

I didn't know any of this. This is very helpful information. Thank You

Excellent!. "Show and Tell" proves its worth once again. How or why did we ever get away from it in teaching?. Thanks!

If you aren't a teacher/professor, you would be great. You made this so clear and easy to understand. Thank you so much.

Bravo! I was asked this exact question last week by my boss at work and I didn't know. Funny how it's little understandings like this that stump even the best of us.

Excellent video and explanation. Your explanation, along with the physical demonstration, was extremely helpful. Thanks!

Studied information science and had to stumble upon this to finally get enlightened! Thanks!!!

BTCInstrumentation Your video was succinct, clear and very helpful to a person who likes to tinker with literally, a room full of acquired stuff. I happened to see your thumbnail while actually looking for something else. This is now one of my bookmarks/favorites. Thank you much.

Ethernet originated as a "bus" architecture, multiple nodes on a single shared cable. Over time it evolved to use hubs, repeaters, and bridges to expand and extend the maximum distances between nodes. It later became more of a star configuration, as we have today, where you almost invariably have an active network device interconnecting things, acting as a sort of traffic cop for the data packets. I worked with Ethernet back in the early days, even fixed a major throughput problem by understanding the difference between Ethernet 2.0 and IEEE 802.3 standards ("heartbeat" vs. SQE). We've come a long way, but understanding how things work at the lower levels, as this video shows, can really help when fighting problems or preventing them in the first place.

Wonderful Explanation! I figure that unless a *Ethernet* *Switch* is way faster than a *Ethernet* *Hub,* I'll go with a Hub. A Hub definetly sounds like it's a _"set & forget it"_ situation.

This has to be the clearest explanation of hubs/switches on the net :) Thank you :D

Thank you, really well explained. I'm getting ready for final, and learning this really helps. I prefer visual over textbook. thank you again.

Explained very well. you should be an instructor....I always wondered what the difference was ..

Hubs are pretty rare. Rule of thumb, if you find one, disconnect it and throw it away.

What a clear and well explained video. I learn't switch behaviours I didn't know, thank you

I hope this guys a teacher. Natural delivery.

Nice job on this video. I'm using it for our tech support people so they can get the impact of the data switch's behavior on troubleshooting matters. Really glad I found this one.

Okay, this be an old schooling video from 2013 but exactly this is all correct! Thanks for make it. Anno 2016 no one use more an extra hub now, only for diagnostic service we like. This "calling in the room" of a hub is it what we service technicans love to use. But many modern managed switches do you can use as hub for the ports how you likes.

Wow. nicely explained. This little piece of info will serve me well ;-) I just watched a video by Eli the Computer Guy, where he mentioned a bad point about a Buffalo Switch's loop detection. When the loop detection is switched on it had to be power cycled before the feature worked. He didn't mention why that would be the case. After watching this video I'm guessing it has something to do with what you just explained...detection of specific MAC address to specific port...nice

Best explanation 100% in a practical situation ! 161 dislike at the time of this comment i guess they do not understand English.

The way you just explained this, made sooo much better sense. i currently own a hub off of a router. i was looking for a reason to get a switch. thanks for the tutorial.

I appreciate the “plain English” explanation!

best video i've ever seen about the differences , thank you

Gosh this is so enlightening! I've had this explained to me many times, but now I understand! Thank you!

Very good and didatic explanation. Now I know the difference between HUB and SWITCH. Thanks for sharing!

Just love the so called experts (X being an unknown quantity and spert being a drip under pressure ) who just want to can this excellent demonstration on the differences between a switch and a hub. Ipreams is a good example of a know it all.

Great explanation and demonstration of the benefits and disadvantages, thanks!

The best video I've ever seen. Well explained.

Thanks. but now that you explained the difference. it made a world of a difference. because I could NOT figure out why my brand new Linksys 8 port switch was all of a sudden slower than my older switch. as they in New England. "if you don't like the weather. wait 5 min " thanks

wow, thanks for the vid, i wasn't sure what the difference was but have always used switches anyway. Well explained :)

It would have helped to show that a hub "talks" to all ports, and the switch doesn't bother other active hosts. There were no other active hosts to make that comparison. This vid makes it seem that a hub is a much better choice on a small network. I would like to know when the hubs' blind broadcasts becomes a detriment, and the switch becomes beneficial. Thanks for the vid.

Wait, so for the switch, what if you want to plug in multiple devices? I am plugging in my wifi router and my ps4, and it is only recognizing which ever one I plug in first. The other port is blinking, but there is no actual connection being made.

Wow! Great explanation and demo...I never knew we had to reboot the switch! Thanks so much!

And now this is one hell of a good explanation. Thanks

great explanation....it helps to explain in pratice

This is a great video. I was having trouble with a LAN party playing the game Halo on the Xbox 360. This video provided a good explanation on why some of my problems occurred.

Most simple explanation !! Thank you

Awesome demonstration and explanation

There should be dead-timers within the switch CAM table to flush old MAC Address entries. But you'll have to wait. Otherwise, you can always power cycle switch to clear CAM table. Nice video.

Very cool video, I always wondered what were the differences between the two!

amazing! finally I understood the diference! very thanks man!

Great video. Thank you! Explained exactly what I was wanting to know!

Thanks man for making this video. I learned a great deal by seen this.

excellent, I've learned something today. Always a good thing.

A switch can pick up is new connection (almost) as fast as a hub. It all depends of device configuration The only real difference between a hub and a (unmanaged) switch is collision avoidance.

That was an incredibly good explanation. Thanks!

Good Demonstration I learn something something today

I wish I had you as a teacher in school. All your videos have very clear and thorough explanations.

Excellent! Very useful. Thanks for posting.

In my network of computers even when i move any plug the switch work right away for some reason

Very clear and concise explanation. Thanks

Thank you. I couldnt figure out why my new switch wouldn't work. all I had to do was reset it.

nice video presentation thank you.

I actually learned something. thank you a lot!

One reason I use managed switches. I can tag ports or create VLANS...

Excellent video! Thanks for sharing.

Informative... Curious about this before but never enough to follow up and get informed. came across your vid so watched it. Thank you! and btw... I duno who you sound like, and this prob makes me sound weird, but you have a very pleasant speaking (or at least teaching) voice! So Good Job on that as well! lol

Hub: ALL communications from ALL ports are broadcast to ALL ports - major flaw is data collision (explain what this means) Switch: passes data from source port only to port associated with destination MAC address, ignoring all other ports You might wish to give brief explanation regarding OSI model and what 'MAC address' means. Especially since your video is aimed at people who might experience issues because they don't understand the difference between a hub and a switch.

Great, simple explanation, thank you very much!

Looks like hubs are poised to make a comeback, at least for A/V production over IP, where synchronous operation is desired and store-and-forward is a liability.

Interesting video! I never saw a switch taking 5 minutes to update it's mac table. Is this a cheap netgear issue? Usually when a switch inidicates a port up, it refreshes the mac table.

Hi, I have a question. I have a Netgear gs108 Ethernet Switch (8-port) on my existing home network with a Comcast/ Xfinity cable modem. There are 2 Netgear Power XE104 line devices connected separately from the modem by ethernet cable through the circuit breaker to an outlet by the other Netgear Powerline XE104 device in the kitchen. It has no ethernet switches in the area. Only a 300 Amped Wireless Router on the kitchen table as a repeater. I need to replace it with a different model of the repeater. It only supports 2.4ghz. I need a dual-band repeater for the kitchen. One connection for the 50 inch Samsung tv, one connection for the Netgear Powerline Connection and one connection for my gaming systems. I need a larger amount of ethernet switch ports then what I have. Plus what is the best wireless/ethernet cable router currently available? I'm a gamer.

great video thank you so much for clearing up my question. i had a question i have a cable modem with 4 outlets one for the cable and 3 for your use. now i have 5 computers all wired not wifi. i also have vonage internet phone that needs connected too. i have have twc fastest internet connection they offer for the home. it is 50 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. so i could get a gigabit switch plug everything into it then one cable from the switch to the cable modem, correct? right now i have 2 computers and phone wired and 3 computers on wifi but i want all wired. so will the switch help me with connection and speed over using just the modem only? the switch i am looking at is TRENDnet TEGS16DG Gigabit GREENnet Switch. is this a good switch to buy? or what do you suggest? again thanks for your help.

Again to all the odinary persons her - technically works a switch same a hub. Both be same a multiple (switched) socket-outlet for your cables. The difference is that the hub call into all rooms in a hotel and a switch call only the correct room in a hotel. Exactly this demostration do you see live in this old schooling video from 2013!

I'm trying to connect my gaming pc and my steam link that I use to stream the pc to my router which would be best switch or hub?

Thank you. Very clear explanation.

Thank you this is a wonderful video. HUB\SWITCH I'll be damned! I was about to loose my S*%$ so bad until I found this video. I just wanted to try a SRX200 HUB and made it more complicated by bridging two Ethernet cards.

great explanation and easy to understand

thank you for this....thanks a lot

Very well explained in simple terms

That hub would not be broadcasting to all 8 ports. It would broadcast to the other 7 and not the one the data comes in on. Also, your delay is an unusual situation. Normally, as soon as you plug into another port the DHCP sequence will run, letting the switch know where that MAC address is located. BTW, who uses hubs these days. I have a 10 Mb, 8 port hub I bought around 25 years ago, but haven't used in years. Even then, hubs were on the way out, with switches becoming more common. The only reason I went with a hub then was switches were still a lot more expensive. These days, an 8 port Gb switch can be had for about 1/4 what I paid for that hub.

Thank you very much for the clear explanation.i am wondering if I can use two Ethernet switches at the same time. I have one switch plugged into the router directly upstairs and run a 100 feet Ethernet cable from that switch to a desktop computer in the basement. Can I split this cable by plug the end (in the basement) into the 2ND Ethernet switch and hook up 2 computers into that switch? will it work?

The switch probably doesn’t see the PLC on the other port right away, because the PLC doesn’t transmit anything until it gets a request to do so. If you got a network device that’s a bit more talky, like a PC or laptop, it should start working again within seconds.

Another major difference between a Hub and a Switch is that a Hub is a layer 1 device which makes it as intelligent as an ethernet cable and a Switch is already on layer 2.

thank you, i needed to know the difference and this explained what i needed to know

Do you know where I could buy an actual HUB and not a switch nowadays?

Hubs are generally not used anymore because they tend to replicate packets. That replication of packets can use up the bandwith on your ethernet and cause broadcast storms. Switches solve this problem by only sending packets to specific ports (instead of broadcasting packets). But that feature that they replicate packets can be used in order to "listen" to an ethernet conversation with say a laptop running a protocol analyzer such as WireShark. I keep a small hub in my toolbox for this purpose.

Correct me if I'm wrong but when you moved the PLC blue cable from port 3 to port 4 and it don't communicate is because the switch will look at the source MAC address on it's MAC address table for that known source MAC address. If that source MAC address is on the switch MAC address table but was on port 3, the switch needs to wait 300 seconds (5 minutes) for the switch MAC address table to expire before it can log that same source MAC address to port 4.

Soo i have a computer and xbox that id like to run my gig speed internet into. Which would be the one to use in my case? I just have one ethernet cable coming from my modem, and would like to get both my devices hardwired.

Unfortunately this does not work. If you move the master (HMI) cable to another port, the problem remains. Ethernet frames sent to the PLC still get sent to the old PLC port, until the timer times out or the switch is reset.

That's my point. The one IP address on the hub gets sent out to more than one device plugged into it.

hi. I have 6 ethernet devices. I want them to reach full speed, what should I choose?switch or hub.thanks

thanks. didint' realize this was a problem. have had it to me before in my small office

Thanks for the very clear explanation!

Hi just a question. I have two pc that needs to communicate internally and If I use a hub will it bypass my router modem configuration?(firewall etc) Right now my router is managed by my isp and I cant configure the ports to allow that my two pcs needs example port 5353. Im thinking if i use a hub it will by bypass my router config but atill be able to connecto to internet and also internally(without firewall blocking)

Forgot the most important difference.... Switches make Full-Duplex connections, and Hubs make Half-Duplex connections. That means a device cannot receive while transmitting on a Hub, so there's at least twice as much bandwidth with a Switch.

That was a great video.

Nice and simple. great video!

Moving the master also does a reset and is probably a better reset than recycling the power.

If I connect to this desktop switch from my broadband connection and use router and other things from this switch, but will it be the internet connection to the router?

very clear but what is the point of all of this hub and switches and all of the ports???

This is great info. Thank you

Thanks! That was a very informative.