Networking Device and Protocols

4. Limitations of Hubs

Single Collision Domain:

All devices share the same bandwidth, leading to collisions when multiple devices transmit simultaneously, reducing efficiency.

No Intelligence:

Hubs lack the ability to filter or direct traffic to specific devices, unlike switches (which use MAC addresses).

Half-Duplex Only:

Cannot support full-duplex communication (simultaneous send/receive), limiting performance.

Scalability Issues:

Performance degrades as more devices are added due to increased collisions and bandwidth sharing.

Obsolete in Modern Networks:

Largely replaced by switches, which operate at the Data Link layer (Layer 2) and provide dedicated bandwidth per device, eliminating collisions.