question about routers

[duffyr83]

hey someone recently asked me question about routers but i'm not sure but anyways the question was 'can routers act the same as a hub in the sense that you can share files with the computers logged on to the router?'

i'd appreciate any responses, i'm thinking no am i right or is there something i dont know anyways thanks in advance

[rallynavvie]

Routers are essentially hubs that also act as switches. The advantage to the router is when it is used in conjunction with a high-speed line (or a regular modem for that matter) the data packets don't run into each other like they do on a hub so you get better performance from a router/switch. But yes, you can use a router pretty much like a hub.

[stiltman]

hey someone recently asked me question about routers but i'm not sure but anyways the question was 'can routers act the same as a hub in the sense that you can share files with the computers logged on to the router?'

i'd appreciate any responses, i'm thinking no am i right or is there something i dont know anyways thanks in advance

Very simple terms

A router, routes traffic.
example. Your IP address is 192.168.1.100/24 and you want to get to a file on a computer where the IP address is 192.168.2.100/24
Your router will route you to the other computer.

A switch is like a smart hub. It doesn't care what your IP address is, but it looks at what your MAC address is. A switch can not route traffic based on IP addresses, so it wouldn't be able to connect you to the example above. It can however connect you to any computer within your subnet (group of IPs)
example your IP is 192.168.1.100/24 (/24 = 255.255.255.0)
Through a switch, you can connect to any IP that is 192.168.1.xxx /24

A hub is very similar to a switch, but it doesnt look at the MAC address, it just broadcasts your information until someone responds back.

:edit:
Now if you are refering to a DSL router with a built-in 4 port switch, that is different. These (linksys and others) have combined the router and a switch into the same box, you can refer to these as a layer 3 switch...I'll leave it at that so you don't have to read a whole disertation on what I mean by Layers
Basic Networking guides

[duffyr83]

thanks for the info i guess i was wrong but thats cool anyways thanks again i learned something new

thanks