HUB

An Ethernet hub is  a device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network segment. It has multiple input and output ports, a hub works at the physical layer of the OSI model.  When a signal is input into any port, it is transmitted through all output ports except for the port that it was input into.

Hubs are now mainly obsolete as they have been replaced by network switches, although they are still sometimes used in very old installations or specialised applications.

A hub is normally seen in the centre of a network, as seen above. It is directly connected to every device within the network, creating a network link between them. Hub’s are limited by the amount of devices connected, because they don’t prioritise or organise traffic. This causes problems and packet collisions.

The hub is becoming more and more redundant over time, as they are being replaced by switches. The switches are basically a better version of a hub, the only thing keeping people using hubs was the price, although now switches are much cheaper and have become a more viable option.