Do Hubs Slow Down DL Speed?

[terryZ]

I have 4 PCs at work all running XP HOME. The all connect to the net (and each other) via a commercial cable modem/router/firewall provided by Comcast. All 4 have a download speed of over 9MB.

I have a old (probably over 6 years old now) hub that we used to use when we used ICS and dial-up. It is a Netgear EN104. It has 4 ethernet ports - one of which can be used as an uplink so that it can be used in a cascade.

If I setup the Netgear hub between my PC and the cable modem/router in a cascade configuration, my dl speed drops from 9MB to less than 5MB. I assume that the drop in speed is a function of the hub even though there is only 1 PC attached in to it.

I am asking about this because there is some talk about adding a couple of PCs to out network and, because the cable modem only had 4 ports, we will be looking at adding the new PCs in a cascade configuration.

Is the drop in speed for a PC connected to a cable modem through a hub normal? Are newer hubs any different in this regard? That is, would I get a better speed in a more modern hub?

Thanks in advance.

[Tuttle]

If it's that old, it's probably only running at 10 Mbps, and being a hub it's only half-duplex.

If you buy a new switch it'll be 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps and full-duplex, and you shouldn't see any decrease in performance.

[terryZ]

Thanks, Tuttle.

I managed to locate it's specs this morning. Yup, the data rate is 10Mbps.

So, I'll look for a new one if we decide to do this cascade configuration.

[jstanek7]

You should get a switch not a hub. A witch is faster than a hub.

[jmwills]

True, that your hub may only be 10mbps, but that is still faster than your posted ISP download speed. So the hub or switch could be a mute point.
Gigabit siwtches are so cheap now, there is almost no reason not to go with them, so at least the speed of your internal LAN can be at its maximum.

[init2650]

switches arn't any faster then hubs when you only have a handfull of home devices hooked up.

[init2650]

True, that your hub may only be 10mbps, but I'll bet that is still faster than your posted ISP download speed. So the hub or switch is still a mute point.

True 10Mbps is faster then any residential ISP connection.

[jmwills]

Switches are only "smarter" than hubs in that they know where to send the requested packets back to rather than broadcasting to all open connections.

[Tuttle]

Keep in mind that hubs are typically only half-duplex. That's a huge performance hit right there compared to a switch.

The days when 10 Mbps kit was "good enough" for residential purposes are long gone. ADSL connections are up to 24 Mbps nowadays, and even interpreting zeszut's post to mean a 9 Mbps cable connection, a 10 Mbps device is going to be tight.