Just stumbling and have gotten a handle on the differences between a router, a bridge, a switch and a hub but I'm wondering:

1.) I'm under the impression that having just a router (which now usually performs the same functions as the above) is sufficient for most home networkers. Given that, why would someone want/need all the other gear? What are the benefits of my adding a switch or hub to my home network of three wired desktops and one wireless laptop?

2.) Why and how is this used in business? I mean, it seems counter productive to have hundreds of hosts waiting for each other to shut up so they can speak and or having to "shout" above the din of everyone else to get heard - and then have to be heard by everyone in the room (and possibly down the hall) to use the analogy used early in this thread.

Maybe I've got this all wrong. I admit, this is an old thread and I'm afraid no one is going to even see this, but I'm just trying to find out what circumstances dictate the use of hubs and switches, especially in wired situations. Is it cost??

And I'm afraid that you are one of the confused ones. Routers dont nativly have more then 2 eathernet connections? Who told you that?

A router is a L3 packet forwarding device. It can be implemented in Software, e.g. a linux pc or a cheapo router, or it can be hardware assisted, e.g. a Cisco router. A l3 switch is simply a router with lots of ports.

The confusion arises when a small router has a switch built into it, e.g. Cisco 837, the router is connected to the switch internaly, only switchports are externaly accessible.

Most L3 switches are able to run their ports as L3 router interfaces or in L2 switch ports grouped into vlans, a virtual router port can be assigned to a vlan to make the vlan routable, even though the physical ports are running as switch ports.

In no case are the number of ports on a router limited to two.