Contact Support. Select a product or category below for specific instructions. N Routers. Nighthawk Routers. Powerline and Wall Plug Extenders. Wireless Access Points. Get a call from Sales. Unmanaged switches An unmanaged network switch is designed so that you can simply plug them in and they work, no configuration required. Managed switches Managed switches give you greater security and more features and flexibility because you can configure them to custom-fit your network.
Get started with a free trial of Cisco Meraki cloud networking. You may also like: What is a switch vs. Network hubs and switches A network hub is a central connection point for devices in a local area network, or LAN.
What is a router and how does it work in a network? How to setup a network switch with a router? Want to learn more? Security Our resources are here to help you understand the security landscape and choose technologies to help safeguard your business. Collaboration These tools and articles will help you make important communications decisions to help your business scale and stay connected. Some switches can also process data at the network layer layer 3 by combining routing functions. Such switches are often referred to as layer 3 switches or multilayer switches.
You may have a blurry understanding about the function of switch in networking simply from its definition. Then, what is the purpose of a switch on earth? Listed below are main purposes or functions of switches:. Switches are sometimes confused with routers , which also offer forwarding and routing of network traffic, hence their name.
But they do this with a different purpose and location. Devices connect locally through switches, and networks are connected to other networks through routers. Of course, there are cases where switching functionality is built into a router hardware, and the router performs as the switch as well.
The easiest case here is to think of your home wireless router. It routes to a broadband connection through its WAN port, but it usually also has additional ethernet ports that you can use to connect an ethernet cable for a computer, television, printer or even a gaming console.
While other devices on the network, such as other notebooks and phones, connect through the Wi-Fi router, it still offers switching functions through the LAN. So the router, in effect, is also a switch. And you can even connect a separate switch to the router to provide both internet and LAN access for additional devices.
In a small office or home office, a four- or eight-port switch usually suffices, but for larger deployments you generally see switches up to ports. The form factor of a smaller switch is an appliance that you can fit on a desktop, but switches are also rack-mountable for placement in a wiring closet or data center or server farm.
Sizes of rack-mountable switches range from 1U to 4U, but larger ones area also available. Which speed to choose depends on the throughput needed for the tasks being supported.
Unmanaged switches are the most basic, offering fixed configuration. They are generally plug-and-play, which means they have few if any options for the user to choose from. They may have default settings for features such as quality of service, but they cannot be changed.
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