- Thread starterCADdie
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I want a switch since everyone says they are so much better than a hub, and since I will start sharing folders on my "server".<P>But I get a little confused. When I spoke with a dude today about a corporate network, it sounded as he was making a difference between a switch and a repeater.<P>So I look on a retailer I wish to purchase from, and I find this:<P><BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>100BASE-T <B>Repeaters</B><P>Micro Fast Ethernet Switch, 5 x 10/100BASE-_T (RJ45), storeand-forward, MDI/MDI-X option, total 1000 addresses storable, full duplex, external power supply<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I get a little uncertain. Is this what everyone calls a switch or is it something weird I know nothing of, a "repeater"?<P>I don't want to stand there with a non-working network scratching my head and asking around and someone will tell me "Oh, but that's not a regular switch, that's a <I>repeater</I>! Hahaha!"<P>Thanks for your input!
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generally a repeater is used to "repeat" a signal. Usually used in instances where the distance needed to travel is much longer than what regular ethernet will allow.<P>A switch doesn't do this. It makes virtual channels from one network device to another.<P>As for the device mentioned below I'm not sure, I have no actual experience working with repeaters, just the theory behind them.
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I dont know why they said its a repeater, a repeater just recieves a signal, amplifies it and then retransmits it.<P>A switch forwards stuff by looking at a physical device address, unless they somehow combined a repeater with a switch into some kind of nightmare broadcast storm machine.<P>Although one could say a switch port is a bridge and a hub is a repeater.<P>[This message was edited by Dr Quincy on March 22, 2001 at 10:38.]
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Oh, I found the brand name after some poking around.<P>Allied Telesyn AT-FS705E<BR>5 port unmanaged 10/100TX switch with 1K MAC addresses and external power supply <P>Looks kind of a regular switch to me.<P>Now for the next issue: what is an "unmanaged" switch? View image: /infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif<P>And according to DaLanTechs homepage, "store-and-forward" is slow. Will this affect my UT ping times noticeably?<P>[This message was edited by CADdie on March 22, 2001 at 10:54.]
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"Managed" switches are switches that have a built in operating system (e.g. Cisco IOS) that allow you to make changes to switch operations (such as choosing cut-through or store-and-forward). Don't forget stuff like the creation of VLAN's too (on some, not all). <P>An unmanaged switch is a basic switch with no managable options.
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Chucky Chesthair
Ars Tribunus Militum
an unmanaged switch is simply a switch that will not allow you to change its settings. It will just get mac adresses from the traffic it sees and switch accordingly, but it doesn't have the fancy stuff, like spanning tree, filtering and more, because that would require configuration, or managing.<P>Basically, an unmanaged switch is the simplest kind, all the managed switches are way more 1337.<P><B>CC</B><P>[edit]store and forward does add a little latency, but nothing to worry about. If you have quite a bit of traffic, a switch will eliminate most collisions, so it will be faster anyway [/edit]<P>[This message was edited by Chucky Chesthair on March 22, 2001 at 11:02.]
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A repeater is an old term now and the way technology terminology gets used these days contributes to the confusion.<BR>You can still buy repeaters , but these usually refer to devices that extend a networks reach , best summed up by the following.<BR>The definition of a repeater , in the realm of networking , is a device that repeats a signal from one cable to the next , thereby increasing the reach of a LAN. <BR>The term gets confused because a hub can be used , to a certain extent , to do the same thing. Therefore it is generally taken that repeater = hub & hub = repeater. Which is not strictly true.<BR>It gets even more confusing because a switch can do the job of a hub and therefore a repeater as well!
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