What device makes traffic switching decisions based on the MAC addresses of connected devices?

The device that makes traffic switching decisions based on the MAC addresses of connected devices is a switch. Switches operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model and are designed to connect devices on a local area network (LAN). When a switch receives a data frame, it reads the source and destination MAC addresses to determine where to forward the frame. It maintains a MAC address table that maps each MAC address to the corresponding port on the switch. This allows the switch to intelligently direct traffic only to the intended recipient device, increasing efficiency and reducing unnecessary traffic on the network.

In contrast, routers operate at the network layer (Layer 3) and work with IP addresses rather than MAC addresses, facilitating communication between different networks. Hubs are basic networking devices that broadcast incoming data packets to all connected devices without filtering or directing traffic based on MAC addresses. Gateways serve as a bridge between different protocols or networks, often translating data formats, but they do not focus specifically on MAC address analysis for traffic management.