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Can an Ethernet switch be made to work like a hub?

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SherpaDoug

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Is there anything like a modem type command set that will allow me to tell an Ethernet switch to just work like a dumb hub? Mostly I want a hub so I can evesdrop from one port onto traffic between two others for troubleshooting purposes. But secondly I am trying to minimize delays, and it seems a switch won't start relaying a packet until it has recieved the whole packet and checksum so you get a whole packet length delay in the switch.
 

If it's a managed switch (not a cheap-as-possible consumer switch) then it probably has a command or setting on the GUI that mirrors all traffic through a specified port to another port. That allows traffic monitoring like you ask. I've used that method often.

There's no way to completely turn any switch I've worked on into a hub though. Store-and-forward is just how they work.

I keep an old hub in my 'toolkit' for easy monitoring if I need to watch traffic from several ports at once.
 
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