Difference between hub,switch&router

What is a Router?

The router forwards data packets along networks. It is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP's network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect. Routers use headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path for forwarding the packets, and they use protocols to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.

What is a Switch?

In networks the switch is the device that filters and forwards packets between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) and sometimes the network layer (layer 3) of the OSI Reference Modeland therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs.

Finally, what is a Hub?

A hub is a common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs connect segments of a LAN. It contains multiple ports so when a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.

Hub Vs. Switch

A hub works on the physical layer (Layer 1) of OSI model while Switch works on the data link layer (Layer 2). Switch is more efficient than the hub. A switch can join multiple computers within one LAN, and a hub just connects multiple Ethernet devices together as a single segment. Switch is smarter than hub to determine the target of the forwarding data. Since switch has a higher performance, its cost will also become more expensive.

Switch Vs. Router

In the OSI model, router is working on a higher level of network layer (Layer 3) than switch. Router is very different from the switch because it is for routing packet to other networks. It is also more intelligent and sophisticated to serve as an intermediate destination to connect multiple area networks together. A switch is only used for wired network, yet a router can also link with the wireless network. With much more functions, a router definitely costs higher than a switch.

Hub Vs. Router

As mentioned above, a hub only contains the basic function of a switch. Hence, differences between hub and router are even bigger. For instance, hub is a passive device without software while router is a networking device, and data transmission form in hub is in electrical signal or bits while in router it is in form of packet.

References:

https://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/router_switch_hub.asp

https://medium.com/@fiberstoreorenda/do-you-know-the-difference-between-hub-switch-router-b74c2e8a8143