Aspies For Freedom

What exactly is the difference between a hub and a switch?

I've actually got one of each.  I'm currently using the hub, and the switch is in a box not being used.

I've got a weird setup for turning off the high-speed internet connection when I'm not actually using it.  Starting with a Motorola cable modem, the signal then goes into an old Belkin router (supposedly adding a layer of hardware-based firewall and also some extra ports that I might have a use for later on), and then into an old Belkin hub.  I've got the hub's power supply plugged into an extension cord with a built-in foot switch (of the type designed for use with Christmas lights), which is in turn plugged into the same power strip as most of the other small peripherals.  The hub is just there so I can have something to turn off to cut the connection, without making the cable modem re-establish the connection all over again or making the router lose its firewall settings.  Otherwise, the hub would be redundant.

One issue I've been having with the internet connection is that unless I have at least two streams of data moving, the data flow can get very slow.  The best example is when I'm downloading a podcast.  As long as I'm downloading both the MP3 and OGG versions, or two episodes simultaneously, it moves along fine.  But, as soon as one of the files is completely downloaded, the other slows to a crawl and would take forever to finish unless I start downloading something else to keep it moving.  The cable modem itself gets turned off during the day when I'm away at work, and I reset the router regularly.  Still, the data flow gets very slow unless there are at least two data flows going on.

Could this be because I'm using a hub, or just too many devices?  Does anyone else here have the issue with one versus multiple simultaneous downloads?

A hub won't cause any issues at all if you only have one machine connected at a time. I would also advise if you're on DSL that you leave the router on as much as possible and check up on this with your ISP.
Basic difference between hub and a switch: a hub rebroadcasts an ethernet frame (i.e packet) that comes in one port out of all other ports, a switch only sends frames out the port where the destination machine is. "too many devices" would not be an issue unless they were all hitting your cable connection at once. Here I have tons of devices plugged into my network without issues - unless i suck up all the bandwidth. To fix this I use some simple QoS management on my LAN, got a fancy cisco catalyst from ebay and can assign priorities to individual ports

think about it this way:

A hub: only one computer can talk to another computer at once, all the other have to wait.
Its like a 4 way stop. Everyone has to wait their turn.

A switch: Computer A can talk to computer B, and computer C can talk to computer D, and thats ok, but if 3 computers all want to talk to computer A, they have to take turns. Its like a whole lot of bridges.

I would pick the switch, they're generally better.

I was going through some old papers today and found the manual for the device that I thought was a hub.  Turns out it's actually a switch.

Also, it seems I just wasn't resetting the router often enough.