Routers, Hubs & Switches

You can't simply connect all the computers in the world to the Internet; the electronics would be overwhelmed by the amount of data and there'd be no security. Networks break up the Internet into usable, private segments. Routers, hubs and switches are some of the computer hardware that makes networks possible, and Overstock.com is the computer store that makes them affordable with up to 70 percent off retail pricing.

Routers are like traffic cops, directing messages and data from computer system to computer system. A router is an electronic device that reads packets of data traveling the network. Each packet has identifying marks which tell the router to keep the data in-house or send it somewhere else. Along the way, other routers can switch the packet along various