Hub

A hub, also known as a network hub, is a piece of equipment that is used to connect multiple Ethernet devices together so that they may behave like a single network segment. In network architecture, a hub operates on the physical layer, or layer 1. Historically, hubs were purchased instead of switches because of the price point (Ethernet switches were relatively expensive to purchase and maintain). The main drawback of hubs was the network running speed required when multiple devices were connected, but this was solved by the development of a dual-speed hub. A hub does not examine or manage any of the traffic that comes through it, instead rebroadcasting any other entering packet on other ports. Hubs typically operate on raw bits of data, and the main consequence of this is that packet collisions are more frequent in networks connected using hubs as opposed to networks using more sophisticated devices.