Switches and hubs in wireless networking

If we want to have a LAN (for example a home network) connected to the Internet through a
wireless router, do we still need a hub/switch? Or the wireless router does this job
automatically, because it is wireless?

If the wireless router can do this job by its own, how can it manage to "talk" with 200
local PCs concurrently, for example?

If we still need a hub/switch, are there wireless hubs/switches?




Mike

"Mike" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:dspees$1r6$(E-Mail Removed)
> If we want to have a LAN (for example a home network) connected to the Internet through a
> wireless router, do we still need a hub/switch? Or the wireless router does this job
> automatically, because it is wireless?

No, you don't need any switch.

> If the wireless router can do this job by its own, how can it manage to "talk" with 200
> local PCs concurrently, for example?

As long as the waves can be received by all the machines around an
antena, any broadcast frmae will be received.

> If we still need a hub/switch, are there wireless hubs/switches?

No need. Waves act like a hub.




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On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 10:02:36 +0200, Mike wrote:

> If we want to have a LAN (for example a home network) connected to the
> Internet through a wireless router, do we still need a hub/switch? Or the
> wireless router does this job automatically, because it is wireless?

An accesspoints acts like a hub.

> If the wireless router can do this job by its own, how can it manage to
> "talk" with 200 local PCs concurrently, for example?

Well, it will be able to talk to 200 clients at a time but remember that
the bandwidth on a Wireless link is shared. This means that when you
actually connect 200 clients to one accesspoint at the same time, everyone
will have 54Mbit / 200 = very little bandwidth to work width.

> If we still need a hub/switch, are there wireless hubs/switches?

You have Accesspoints that act like a repeater, one I know that does this
is the Cisco AIR-AP1231-AG series.

Jan Hugo