When [googling “ethernet splitter”](https://www.google.com/search?q=ethernet+splitter&tbm=isch) intuition immediately tells that you can have one input (where the cable coming from the router enters) which can be split to 2 computers at the other end.
However, this is not how it works:
>To use splitters, you’ll need two: one to connect your two devices, and another at the other end to “unsplit” the connection. This means you’ll still be using the same number of Ethernet ports on your router as if you were using two separate cables. You don’t add any Ethernet ports by using a splitter, you simply share a single cable.
(source [https://www.howtogeek.com/797864/ethernet-splitter-vs.-switch-whats-the-difference/](https://www.howtogeek.com/797864/ethernet-splitter-vs.-switch-whats-the-difference/))
**QUESTION**: why isn’t the signal simply **split** ? What is it that a switch does differently ?
In: 1
It may be helpful to remember that Ethernet is both sending and receiving data.
Now picture a splitter in the shape of a Y with a single port on the bottom and 2 at the top. You could argue that taking data from the bottom and sending it up could work as it would just be sending the same information to 2 places.
Where this all falls apart is going the other direction. Anytime you send data from the top of the Y down, it just turns into a jumbled mess when it hits the base of the Y.
A ‘switch’ for all intents and purposes is essentially a smart splitter, it takes the information that it gets from each of the Ethernet ports, repackages it slightly and sends it down the line to avoid the jumble.
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