Network setup instructions For wired connections only
Network setup instructions For wired connections only
Usually in a single L2 home network this behavior occurs, though many configurations exist. The switch forwards the packet to the port linked with the MAC address. If no port matches that MAC, it sends the traffic to the gateway (router). You can check port usage statistics on your switch and notice the data isn’t reaching the router during a LAN transfer. These devices usually contain all LAN ports on an internal L2 switch, which prevents direct routing of the traffic through the actual device.
Observe how common switches support five ports and routers typically have four LAN connections. This happens because routers use identical 5-port switch chips, with one port dedicated to the network interface. Local data flows are rerouted, and the only additional interaction when not connected to the internet is DHCP.
A switch handles traffic that doesn’t need to go through the firewall—anything inside the same subnet—by sending it directly using its MAC address. For instance, if a router is connected to a switch and data from one device on your local network attempts to reach another, this traffic bypasses the router entirely. The switch receives it and forwards it to the appropriate port without the router being aware of the action.
I often questioned how it functioned—I might have seen it in a networking guide—but it doesn’t appear to have software on a switch itself. It seems there’s something reading all the data. I believed switches broadcast everything to every port, and only the correct destination would capture it while others dropped it. Is that how hubs differ from switches? And does an unmanaged switch still process MAC addresses and route traffic?