To understand the advantage of having a switch over having a hub, we must first go through and compare the basic concepts of each of these pieces of equipment.

Let's say we have a 5-port hub, and there are 5 computers plugged into it. When computer A wants to send data to computer B, it sends a packet through its network interface card, through the cabling to the hub. The hub then simply takes that signal, repeats it and sends it through all of its ports until one of the computers receives the data, in this case, computer B. This, in effect, means that the hub is sending a lot of unnecessary signals and taking up valuable port space for other computers to send data.

The problem gets worse when there are more computers trying to send data at the same time. If the signal from computer A to B is taking up all of the remaining ports of the hub, then what happens if computer C needs to send data to computer D? It must wait for the line to be clear, then it send the signal again; therefore, reducing overall bandwidth. If both try to send at the same time, we get what we call a collision, and both have to try again after a small random amount of time until they both get through one after the other.

In other words, a hub is an example of a shared network. Having a 5-port hub is still efficient enough for most needs, but what happens if we have a 24-port hub? The number of collisions and signals that are going through all those ports increase almost 5 fold; therefore, reducing the overall performance of the network many times as well.

Now, let's assume we replace that 5-port hub with a 5-port switch, which is what is included in this kit. A switch is just like a hub, but with a "brain" to help it guide the data to the correct port. When computers are plugged into the ports of a switch, the switch will monitor the data that goes through those ports and remember which computers are plugged into which port. Then, when data is going through a switch, it will direct the signal to the appropriate port only and not to every other port. This way, if computer A is sending data to computer B, the signal is sent directly to computer B, and not also sent through the other ports to the other computers. Now, if we add computer C and D into the bunch, they won't have to wait for the transfer of computer A and B to finish before they can send data because they now have a dedicated, undisturbed connection to each other.

In other words, a switch allows multiple connections from different computers on the network to each other simultaneously while a hub can only allow one transfer at a time. As you can see, having a switch can reduce both collisions and increase bandwidth to every computer in the network considerably.

So, why doesn't everyone just get a switch instead of a hub? The first problem is that switches are usually multiple times more expensive than their hub counterparts. The kit that we're reviewing today includes a switch, but Linksys also has a kit with a hub included instead. The amazing thing, though, is that the difference between the 2 kits is only a measly $10! That's right, they've managed to include a switch into their kit for only $10 more than including a hub. That, in itself, is simply incredible!

Unfortunately, not everyone actually needs to spend that extra money on a switch, even if it is only $10. First of all, a 5 computer network will not really be hampered when using a hub. With 100Mbps overall bandwidth, sharing that between 5 computers will still give you a theoretical 20Mbps, and that's only under full load when all 5 computers need to be sending data at the same time. If only 2 computers are always sending data between each other, you still can manage a full, theoretical 100Mbps between them. Now, having 20Mbps bandwidth should be plenty for setting up a network at home. Playing Quake 3 will still be very smooth and data transfers will also be plentifully fast.

So then, who would need a switch? Businesses who run applications directly from a Windows NT/2000 server or enthusiasts like me and maybe you who just have to have the best of the best (especially since the difference is only $10!). It also gives you the assurance that all your computers are transferring as fast as they can without having a hub to hinder their bandwidth. Plus, it gives you the benefit of having extremely low pings in Quake 3! Woohoo!

On to: The Switch