An Ethernet hub, active hub, network hub, repeater hub or electrical signal, and broadcasts these packets out
s these packets out to all other the central node as one of these special
hub is a device for connecting multiple twisted pair or fibre optic
Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network
segment. Hubs work at the physical layer (layer 1) of the OSI
model. The device is a form of multiport repeater. Repeater hubs
also participate in collision detection, forwarding a jam signal to
all ports if it detects a collision.
Hubs also often come with a BNC and/or Attachment Unit
Interface (AUI) connector to allow connection to legacy 10BASE2
or 10BASE5 network segments. The availability of low-priced
network switches has largely rendered hubs obsolete but they are
still seen in older installations and more specialized applications.
Technical information
A network hub is a fairly unsophisticated broadcast device. Hubs
do not manage any of the traffic that comes through them, and any
packet entering any port is regenerated and broadcast out on all
other ports. Since every packet is being sent out through all other
ports, packet collisions result—which greatly impedes the smooth
flow of traffic.
The need for hosts to be able to detect collisions limits the number
of hubs and the total size of a network built using hubs (a network
built using switches does not have these limitations). For 10 Mbit/s
networks built using repeater hubs, the 5-4-3 rule must be
followed: up to 5 segments (4 hubs) are allowed between any two
end stations. For 100 Mbit/s networks, the limit is reduced to 3
segments (2 hubs) between any two end stations, and even that is
only allowed if the hubs are of the a delay variety.[citation needed] Some
hubs have manufacturer specific stack ports allowing them to be
combined in a way that allows more hubs than simple chaining
through Ethernet cables, but even so, a large fast Ethernet network
is likely to require switches to avoid the chaining limits of hubs.
Most hubs detect typical problems, such as excessive collisions
and jabbering on individual ports, and partition the port,
disconnecting it from the shared medium. Thus, hub-based
Ethernet is generally more robust than coaxial cable-based
Ethernet (e.g. 10BASE2), where a misbehaving device can
adversely affect the entire collision domain. Even if not partitioned
automatically, a hub simplifies troubleshooting because they
remove the need to troubleshoot faults on a long cable with
multiple taps; status lights on the hub can indicate the possible
problem source or, as a last resort, devices can be disconnected
from a hub one at a time much more easily than from a coaxial
cable.
Hubs are classified as Layer 1 (physical layer) devices in the OSI
model. At the physical layer, hubs support little in the way of
sophisticated networking. Hubs do not read any of the data passing
through them and are not aware of their source or destination. A
hub simply receives incoming Ethernet frames, regenerates the
devices on the network.
Star
Main article: Star network
Star network topology
In local area networks with a star topology, each
network host is connected to a central hub. In contrast
to the bus topology, the star topology connects each
node to the hub with a point-to-point connection. All
traffic that traverses the network passes through the
central hub. The hub acts as a signal booster or
repeater. The star topology is considered the easiest
topology to design and implement. An advantage of
the star topology is the simplicity of adding additional
nodes. The primary disadvantage of the star topology
is that the hub represents a single point of failure.
Notes
 A point-to-point link (described above) is
sometimes categorized as a special instance
of the physical star topology – therefore,
the simplest type of network that is based
upon the physical star topology would
consist of one node with a single point-to-
point link to a second node, the choice of
which node is the 'hub' and which node is
the 'spoke' being arbitrary[1].
 After the special case of the point-to-point
link, as in note 1.) above, the next simplest
type of network that is based upon the
physical star topology would consist of one
central node – the 'hub' – with two
separate point-to-point links to two
peripheral nodes – the 'spokes'.
 Although most networks that are based
upon the physical star topology are
commonly implemented using a special
device such as a hub or switch as the
central node (i.e., the 'hub' of the star), it is
also possible to implement a network that is
based upon the physical star topology using
a computer or even a simple common
connection point as the 'hub' or central
node – however, since many illustrations of
the physical star network topology depict
devices, some confusion is possible, since
this practice may lead to the misconception
that a physical star network requires the
central node to be one of these special
devices, which is not true because a simple
network consisting of three computers
connected as in note 2.) above also has the
topology of the physical star.
 Star networks may also be described as
either broadcast multi-access or
nonbroadcast multi-access (NBMA),
depending on whether the technology of
the network either automatically
propagates a signal at the hub to all spokes,
or only addresses individual spokes with
each communication.
Extended star
A type of network topology in which a network that is
based upon the physical star topology has one or more
repeaters between the central node (the 'hub' of the
star) and the peripheral or 'spoke' nodes, the repeaters
being used to extend the maximum transmission
distance of the point-to-point links between the
central node and the peripheral nodes beyond that
which is supported by the transmitter power of the
central node or beyond that which is supported by the
standard upon which the physical layer of the physical
star network is based.
If the repeaters in a network that is based upon the
physical extended star topology are replaced with hubs
or switches, then a hybrid network topology is created
that is referred to as a physical hierarchical star
topology, although some texts make no distinction
between the two topologies.
Distributed Star
A type of network topology that is composed of
individual networks that are based upon the physical
star topology connected together in a linear fashion –
i.e., 'daisy-chained' – with no central or top level
connection point (e.g., two or more 'stacked' hubs,
along with their associated star connected nodes or
'spokes').