Switch is better than a Hub. Switches provide each port with dedicated bandwidth to every other port on the swtich, whereas Hubs share the entire bus with each port. The end result is if you're transferring large files to another machine locally over the network, every other machine on a hub will be slowed down or anyone who uses the network will slow down the transfer, where on a Switch, no one else is affected. There's more to it than that but that's the basics.
Hubs vs Switches were a bigger issue 8+ years ago when they were still expensive, but now Switches have become so cheap that I don't think you can buy just a hub anymore, and the vast majority of Home Networking Routers come with at least a 4 port 10/100 switch built in.
If you're building a new home network, I recommend going for a Gigabit switch or a Router with a Gigabit switch built in, and at least Cat 5e cables. They're all backwards compatible with 10Base-T and 100Base-TX.
I still have a 5 Port 3com 10Base-T Hub, it was my first Hub and part of my first network. Now I use it on my Retro workdesk.
= Phenom II X6 1090T(HD4850) =
= K7-550(V3-3000) =
= K6-2+ 500(V3-2000) =
= Pentium 75 Gold(Voodoo1) =
= Am486DX4-120(3DXpression+) =
= TI486DLC-40(T8900D) =
= i386sx-16+i387(T8900D) =