Switches and hubs

[oberon1]

When i first started i used 10baseT hub which worked great but i wanted 10/100. Then I went out and got a linksys etherfast 10/100 hub. Needless to say I couldnt pull data. Then I got a network eveywhere 10/100 etherfast (found out also linksys after i opened it) and still nothing. Is there such a thing as a real 10/100 hub that works for this? Any suggestions on makes and models that i can get at a retail store?

[Cryonic]

Not anymore. I have an Intel InBusiness 8-port 10/100 switching hub that works, but can't be found in retail stores anymore.

P.S. don't know why you started a new thread with this information. Would have been better to add it to your already existing thread since it shows where the problem of your setup truly lies.

[oberon1]

these were to different issues. Thats why I started a second thread. This is for info on workable hubs.

[Tor K'tal]

... it's true.

Why do folks even want these devices? With how inexpensive SOHO (small office, home office) networking equipment has become I don't see how this device in and of itself is a great deal, when you are looking for something that can function as a true hub.

10/100 hub explination:
In order for data on a network to change speeds it has to be buffered, 10/100 hubs accomidate the buffering of the data to change it's speed and then still try and function at maximum possible speed it must perform some form of switching. The current standard is to basicly switch everything and just put the name hub on it for marketing purposes (or so I have noticed). In the past there have been logical planes constructed inside the inner working of the device that puts same speed ports in a hub environment: so all 100 base ports would be a hub, and all 10 base ports would be a hub, and data crossing between the 10 and 100 planes would be switched from port to port. Complicated but fairly fast. Before that there was port location determined hub or switched in 10/100 hub type devices: if you had all the 100's plugged in side by side with each other that area would be hub'ed same for the 10's but again the cross speed traffic would be switched. If you alternated where the 10's and 100's were it would force the device into a full switch capasity, basicly. Then before that were Dual Speed Hubs (original dual speeds anyway) where a section was labeled 100 and another section labeled 10 and those would only run at that speed in those ports. These devices would then have enough buffering in them to actually hub all data going across them.

Obviously production costs and consumer damand have abolished some of these devices and made others more previlant.

But my original question remains, why do you really need a 10/100 hub and not just a 100 hub?

For my money, I went with an 8 port 100Mb hub and a Linksys 5 port switch that connects to my router (DSL). I can then use the 3 other ports on the switch to tie into any other hub or switch or computer I need to at the time if I need to get more ports and what not. But because I knew that 10/100 hubs worked in exactly that same function at the time of my purchase I didn't see the point in paying more for less scalability (I beleive that is the right word) in my network.

If money is not an problem for you, you might want to find a fully- or semi- managed switch that allows you to set a monitor port (atleast that is the name I have seen them called before) or has an always on monitor port. A monitor port is the port of the switch that all data that goes across the device gets dumped out to in addition to it's intended distination, thus allowing a network admin type to sniff the data going across the device. Atleast that is how a really good/great managed switch's monitor port works, and will allow a port like that to be set. I think I saw once or twice where the monitor port was also called a management port. But you would have to be very sure that a hub with management port wasn't a seriel connection on the back instead of a monitor port by a different name.

So now that I have wasted a bunch of space with mindless drivil, keep in mind... what are your needs? and what is the cost you are willing to exped to meet those needs? Maybe a 100Mb hub and then replacing the 10Mb NIC's on your network with 10/100Mb NIC's might be the way to go. If you have a device that flat out can not be upgraded to 100Mb, maybe a more creative solution like a switch and multiple hubs hanging off of it is the way to go for you, like it was for me.

But I see, that finding a straight up 100Mb hub could be difficult as I was writing this and deside to see if they even existed. Which they may not, so e-Bay might be your friend for finding one. And to answer my very first question of why do folks even want them? they most likely don't even have a choice anymore, doesn't change the fact that those devices are the devil.


~ TK

P.S. I'm sorry I can't spell and that I have horrid grammer.

[Dedpoet]

I use a D-Link DSH-5. It's a 5-port true 10/100 hub. It's also not made anymore, but you can find them online if you look. I bought mine from a small network supply company I found from Google searches.