What is the difference between a hub and a switch?

Solution 1:

Hubs are dumb.

But seriously, Read this.

Solution 2:

A hub uses no logic to determine what to do with an incoming packet, it is simply blasted out all other ports once it is received. Conversely a switch uses layer 2 routing to determine the correct logical path by keeping a record of what hosts have communicated in the past (ARP tables).

Hubs are known for causing network congestion due to the increased overhead and Ethernet collisions.

Friends don't let friends buy hubs.

Solution 3:

Old style passive hubs broadcasted all packets to all ports. These are no longer used and no longer available. They were later replaced by fasthubs and whatnot. The word Hub vs Switch is only a marketing choice.

Expensive switches have layer3 (IP) filtering, VLANs and HTTP interfaces. No need to get one though if $20 gigabit hub is enough.