1

Absolute newbie here guys,

I was reading the compTIA Network+ guide by Mike Meyers, and a section reads: "The frame propagates down the wire into the central box. The switch sends unicast frames to the destination address and sends broadcast frames to every system on the network." I understand the meaning of both unicast and broadcast frames, but why are broadcast frames being sent to every system on the network after the unicast frames? He does not give reasons as to why this happened in this particular instance and I would love some clarity!

Thanks everyone!

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

A switch will forward frames as they are received, regardless of broadcast, multicast, or unicast. The switch does not reorder the frames. I think you are reading something that doesn't exist into that.

Unicast frames are sent to the interface indicated by the MAC address table, and if there is no entry in the MAC address table, a unicast frame will be sent to all the other interfaces.

Broadcast frames are sent to every other interface.

Multicast frames are sent to every other interface (except in the case of IGMP snooping).

Improve this answer
1
  • You're right, I think I read the statement wrong as I thought he was giving a scenario in which unicast and broadcast frames would be sent at the same time. I now think that he simply meant to define unicast and broadcast frames and their functionality.
    – Josias G.
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 0:05

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.