What are hubs, switches, routers, repeaters, bridges, gateways and wireless devices?
Hubs get signal from computer and broadcast out all ports. Switches get signal from source, send data to another source. Routers get signal from source, send to another source on a more complex level. Repeaters get signal and repeat it (think passing a ball down a line of people) to prevent data loss from attenuation. Bridges separate broadcast domains to cut down on traffic in a hub based network or used to translate between two transfer media (think of it like a filter). “Gateway” usually means DSL box that you get from your ISP and plug your comp or router into. Wireless devices are anything that sends or receives information via a wireless signal such as radio wave or infrared. Examples of this would be a wireless router, a wireless network card, or even the remote control for your TV if you want to be more broad about it.
