At this point, there are very few situations in which you'll want to use a splitter. Have you ever found yourself needing to connect two or more devices to the internet off a single Ethernet cable? Chances are that you've considered an Ethernet splitter or switch, especially if you're far from your router and cannot run a second line. With so many options on the market, however, picking the best option can get confusing.

Passive Ethernet splitters are incredibly simple devices and don't have any hardware capable of distributing network traffic between devices connected to them. This limits the maximum speed and has a tangible real-world impact on usability. Passive splitters can only carry 10/100Mbps Ethernet connections and require two splitters for the setup to work. Active or powered Ethernet splitters contain networking hardware that can logically manage traffic between multiple RJ45 ports. These devices offer the ability to take advantage of the full bandwidth of the Ethernet connection, including Gigabit speeds and beyond.

Network switches provide the most versatile Ethernet splitting solution. While active Ethernet splitters make sense when you simply need one or two additional RJ45 ports, they're often limited to just that. If you need multiple ports from a single cable run, a conventional Ethernet switch is the better choice. Switches offer dedicated processing hardware, full bandwidth utilization, and the ability to expand your network without the limitations of passive splitters or the constraints of active splitter port counts.