A hub is a networking device that connects multiple computers together through the use of network cabling. That is the only benefit of a hub, and its draw backs are severe. Lets say you have a 5 port 10/100 hub. The hub divides the bandwidth between the 5 ports, so the 10/100 is shared between all of the ports. Also a hub multi casts the data that is being sent between devices on all ports. A hub is a "blind" device, it doesn't know who or what is plugged into it.\

Now a switch is like a hub in purpose. It connects multiple computers so they can share data. The benefit of a switch is that each port gets a full 10/100 dedicated bandwidth. Also a switch will store the computers MAC address, so it knows where to route the data instead of flooding the network with unnecessary packets. A switch can also extend your networks length beyond the 300ft limitation by repowering the data signal.

A router is even more advanced than a switch. A router is a gateway device between a public and private network. A router provides machines on the private side an IP address so they can communicate with each other and the router. When a client makes a request for something on the public network, the router will establish that connection in a routing table and make a seamless connection that is transparent to the user, such as loading a web page. This allows us to have many computers using the same internet connection. The ISP only sees the router connected.

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