What makes a wireless hub different from a wired hub?

Hi! You know, I can't believe hubs are still being made. In the UK they have a BT smart hub, it is a wireless hub.

I assume since its a hub, it has no real brains and will repeat the Wi-Fi signal to every computer connected to it, but Wi-Fi can be detected by anyone though. So what makes a wireless hub different from say Wi-Fi that is built into a router?

I would never buy anything that says hub on it, I am just interested in knowing more about this.

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Comments

amcnow

Are you referring to this device? https://www.productsandservices.bt.com/products/smart-hub

Given their marketing, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this is actually a wireless gateway router (which just happens to have a misnomered name).

cyberguypr

Correct, it's awful marketing. The device is just a common router: BT Smart Hub review - Review - PC Advisor

Raymond Mason

Ahh ok, now I understand. Not sure why they market it as a hub though.

thomas_

They probably don't mean it in the technical sense, but with the other definition where hub is used such as "activity hub", "city hub", etc.

OctalDump

Yes, not a hub in the true sense, as the others say.

However, wireless signals are broadcast (like radio or TV broadcasts), so all clients can receive all broadcasts - from the wireless access point and from other clients. Some of the newer 802.11 standards (or additions to the standard) kind of don't work exactly that way (they can direct broadcasts), but WAPs still have more in common with an ethernet hub than a switch in many ways - both being Multiple Access. In fact, WiFi uses a thing call CSMA/CA which is analogous to CSMA/CD used in old ethernet networks.