A single switch can connect multiple devices, but the number of devices it can support varies greatly depending on the switch's specifications. It is responsible for filtering and forwarding the packets between LAN segments based on MAC address. Switches have many ports, and when data arrives at any port, the. A network switch (also called switching hub, bridging hub, Ethernet switch, and—by the IEEE — MAC bridge) is networking hardware that connects devices on a computer network by using packet switching to receive and forward data to the destination device. Unlike a router, a switch only sends data to the single device it is intended for (which may be another switch, a router, or a user's computer), not to. How many devices can connect to a network switch? The network switch may include ports for 5, 8, 12, 16, 24 or 28 devices, whereas corporate ethernet switches may commonly offer between 32 and 128 connections. Packet switching allows the network to receive, forward and process that data before.