what is repeater?

by ashu4261 Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:57 pm

Repeaters are Internetworking devices which operate at the physical layer. It deals with signal reproduction and retransmission of data. A simple amplifier will amplify not only the signal but also any noise accompanying the signal. But a repeater strips the digital data & saves it. It then reconstructs and retransmits the signal. The new signal is an exact duplicate of the original transmitted signal, able to travel over the new network segment. A repeater does not incorporate any changes to, or even analysis of, the addressing or structure of the data associated with other layers (higher). It simply reconditions received data & passes it on.

Advantages:

1.Simple to connect
2.Cost effective
3.Ability to strengthen signal

Disadvantages:

1.Repeaters provide no method for isolating traffic generated on one cable segment from traffic generated by the other cable segment.
2.When network uses a repeater to connect cable segment A to segment B whether or not there is a station in segment B that is the destination of the signal.