this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
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How would I configure a "dumb" switch to broadcast all packets? (self.networking)
submitted 1 year ago by MigratingtoLemmy to c/[email protected]
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Hi, I'm looking at the dumb switches from TPLink, Netgear, Cisco etc - is there any way I could make them broadcast all packets that they are receiving?

The use case is that I want to mirror my WAN traffic without port-mirroring on the router. I was thinking that if I could just plug the incoming WAN connection into a switch, and then (if the switch could broadcast all traffic), take one port to the firewall, and the other port to a dedicated device for analysis.

Can this be done without having to change settings on my router/WAN connection?

Thanks!

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[–] 09874444 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That usually is one use case for port-mirroring. If you don't want to use it, you can buy a hub somewhere for cheap.

[–] MigratingtoLemmy 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hi, I would definitely like to purchase a hub: but they don't seem to be readily available online? I can't seem to find a "hub" on Amazon, all of them are dumb switches

[–] 09874444 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Indeed, vendors stopped using the word Ethernet Hub. Keep in mind that Hubs were mostly 10Mbit, 100Mbit were rare. Would that be enough for you? I don't have a Hub model to suggest you, sorry. If speed is an issue, I would suggest reviews for some smart/unmanaged switches (<$25) might show options to convert it to Hub. Let's see if others use one and reply ;)

[–] MigratingtoLemmy 1 points 1 year ago

Thank you, I have not received any comments yet. Pity that I cannot convert the small 5-port TPLink/Netgear switches into hubs, would have been great. Thanks for your help