Repeater vs switch

[stevesemple]

Im thinking about some changes to the network. In some locations the distance from once connection to another may be be longer than 300 feet. This means that it goes farther than the specs for the maximum distance for a signal to travel on cat5e cable. I always thought that if you added a swtich say in the middle of the 300 feet eg 150 or where ever in that strand, it would re start the distance back to 300 feet again from that point, if you know what I mean. But I read something recently that talked about the need for repeaters.

Can anyone clarify this. Do I need repeaters or do switches do the same thing or at least replace the need for the repeaters.

Thanks.

[SmirnOFF]

Hey there...!
Many are confused about the same issue whereever i see...! The better option is always a switch because :

• Repeaters don't exist now a day
• If you feel the need to expand in future, buy one again
• Switch are one time investment
• Switch supports 100mbps Full Duplex [repeaters 10 full only]

[Milton.J]

As with hubs, Ethernet implementations of network switches support either 10/100 Mbit/s or 10/100/1000 Mbit/s ports Ethernet standards. Large switches may have 10 Gbit/s ports. Switches differ from hubs in that they can have ports of different speed.

The network switch, packet switch (or just switch) plays an integral part in most Ethernet local area networks or LANs. Mid-to-large sized LANs contain a number of linked managed switches. Small office, home office (SOHO) applications typically use a single switch, or an all-purpose converged device such as gateway access to small office/home office broadband services such as DSL router or cable, Wi-Fi router. In most of these cases, the end user device contains a router and components that interface to the particular physical broadband technology, as in the Linksys 8-port and 48-port devices. User devices may also include a telephone interface to VoIP.

In the context of a standard 10/100 Ethernet switch, a switch operates at the data-link layer of the OSI model to create a different collision domain per switch port. If you have 4 computers A/B/C/D on 4 switch ports, then A and B can transfer data between them as well as C and D at the same time, and they will never interfere with each others' conversations. In the case of a "hub" then they would all have to share the bandwidth, run in half-duplex and there would be collisions and retransmissions. Using a switch is called micro-segmentation. It allows you to have dedicated bandwidth on point to point connections with every computer and to therefore run in full duplex with no collisions.

[Zachary]

hi,
Cat5e cables are made from solid, not stranded cable of course you're probably going to have to repeat it 3 times.Technically it should be able to go 300ft, but thats a hard limit to reach.
Repeaters should work fine...but i think they are generally really expensive, and are only rated for 100-150 feet.. not sure how much better your average switch is rated for though. No matter which you use, you will need power of course.

[unlimitedtech]

Repeater: A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level and/or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation.

Switch: A switch is a computer networking device that connects network segments. The term commonly refers to a Network bridge that processes and routes data at the Data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. The term switch does not generally encompass unintelligent or passive network devices such as hubs and repeaters.

Do I need repeaters or do switches do the same thing or at least replace the need for the repeaters.

For this I would say, it completely depends on your need and/or preferences. Basically a repeater is a wireless device and a switch is a wired device. If you want 100% security or maximum speed, you can go with switch. But if you want mobility (wifi), you can go with repeaters. For repeater, you can buy two repeaters (for 300ft) which might serve your need. However, I do not provide 100% surety if my solution is best suited for you.

[Shen]

The repeater is used to extend the signal if the distance is too long.
A switch does the similar job for multiple users. In other words, it is a multiport repeater.

Well cost-wise, switches are costlier than repeaters. You analyze which one is a real need to you. I think it would a repeater.

[stevesemple]

Thanks all I think the answer is that you dont need a repeater that part of the switches fuctions really does the same thing.

Im not talking about wireless as one person mentioned. The question was if you want to go a longer distance, will a switch move the signal along the line in the same way that that a repeater will. And while I'm sure there is a difference in how they work and some technical specs like that, I think the answer that I have gleaned from your comments is that a switch can do the job. For example If you put say 4 swtiches into a 500 foot line at exactly 166 feet eg Switch--166--Switch--166-Switch--166--Switch then the there should be no problems.

Regards