> > A switch acts like a cross point switch, being smart enough
> > to recognize which
> > packets are targeted to which computers connected to it. It
> > does this by
> > learning the ethernet address of each connected system, and
> > decoding the
> > ethernet address of the destination of each packet. It routes
> > that packet ONLY
>
> Okay, so what's the difference between a switch and a router?

     From what I remember, a switch only looks at the Ethernet address (MAC)
software layer, a router looks one logical layer above that, at the TCP/IP
software layer. Aside from just routing packets, a router can reject invalid
packets, and packets from specific (or a range) of IPs. Also a router is not
as hardware dependant, changing your network card would result in a switch
not knowing you anymore (temporarily), a router only cares about your IP
address. Finally, a router usually knows about other routers, and can route
packets more efficiently than a switch. TTYL

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