Repeaters

A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances
require a small amount of time to regenerate the signal.
cause a propagation delay which can affect network communication when there are several repeaters in a row.
Many network architectures limit the number of repeaters that can be used in a row.
work only at the physical layer of the OSI network model.

Advantages of using repeaters

• Extend network physical distance
• Do not seriously affect network performance
• Special repeaters connect different media. e.g. copper to fiber

Disadvantages of using repeaters

• Cannot connect different network architectures. e.g. token ring and ethernet
• Cannot reduce network traffic
• Repeaters are part of a collision domain