What statement correctly differentiates a hub and a switch?

What statement correctly differentiates a hub and a switch?

• A. A hub broadcasts incoming data to all ports, while a switch directs data to the port(s) that lead to the destination within the local network.
• B. A hub routes data to specific MAC addresses and a switch broadcasts to all ports.
• C. A hub and a switch both broadcast to all ports.
• D. A hub forwards data based on IP addresses while a switch uses MAC addresses.

Answer: (A)

The essential idea is how forwarding works at the data-link layer: a hub simply repeats incoming signals to all ports, creating a shared collision domain, while a switch learns which devices are reachable off which port and forwards frames only to the appropriate port that leads to the destination MAC address. This MAC-based learning lets the switch keep traffic localized to the correct segment, reducing unnecessary traffic and collisions. Hubs do not route by MAC addresses; they don’t inspect addresses at all, just rebroadcast. Switches do not constantly broadcast to all ports for unicast traffic; they forward to a specific port once they know the destination, flooding only when the destination MAC isn’t yet in their table. IP addresses are used by higher-layer routing, not by hubs for forwarding, so relying on IP would be incorrect for a hub.

The essential idea is how forwarding works at the data-link layer: a hub simply repeats incoming signals to all ports, creating a shared collision domain, while a switch learns which devices are reachable off which port and forwards frames only to the appropriate port that leads to the destination MAC address. This MAC-based learning lets the switch keep traffic localized to the correct segment, reducing unnecessary traffic and collisions. Hubs do not route by MAC addresses; they don’t inspect addresses at all, just rebroadcast. Switches do not constantly broadcast to all ports for unicast traffic; they forward to a specific port once they know the destination, flooding only when the destination MAC isn’t yet in their table. IP addresses are used by higher-layer routing, not by hubs for forwarding, so relying on IP would be incorrect for a hub.