into a format that can be transmitted over the Internet infrastructure used by your Internet service provider (ISP). Now that we’ve seen what a router does, what about modems - what do they do? A modem is a networking hardware device that converts digital data used by your computer, smartphone, tablet, etc. This is done using network address translation (NAT) mechanisms. At the same time, the router knows exactly where to transfer data within the internal network, even though multiple devices on your local network have the same public IP address. When you’re using a router, it isolates the local IP addresses of your computer, smartphone, TV, etc. In the case of home Internet / residential gateways, the IP address assigned to you by your ISP is public. įrom the security perspective, a router is an important defense mechanism for the devices you connect to the Internet. That’s why modern routers include functions that protect the local users connecting to the Internet from cyber attacks like distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) or various vulnerability exploits. You can imagine that not all network packets are safe - some originate from hackers. The router decides where to route the packet based on the information in its routing tables, which often specify a default route that the router uses whenever it fails to find a better forwarding option for a given packet. This is where the router comes in - it reads the network packet header and transfers each one according to the instructions in the header. Each network packet can take a different route as long as it reaches the destination.Įach network packet has a header, which provides information about the packet’s contents, origin and destination. ![]() Data is being divided into packets at the origin and recombined at the destination. Multiple network packets make up the data being sent, whether it’s a file, an email message or a streaming video. What happens in your router when you’re watching the latest episode of your favorite TV series on Netflix? Let’s find out!Īs mentioned above, routers guide and direct network packets between networks, including the Internet, which is made up of multiple networks that are interconnected to each other.Ī network packet is a small segment of data being transmitted over a network. Want to find out more about how a router works, types of routers, the difference between a modem and a router, and how to get the fastest and most reliable Internet connection from a router? It’s all in this article - enjoy reading it! In case one of them drops, it will switch to the other(s) with minimal down time. You can be protected against Internet disconnects : Some more advanced routers can work with 2 or more different Internet connections.But we’ll talk more about this later in this article. Depending on the applied settings, a router can make it impossible for someone from outside the local area network to access internal resources. You have a higher degree of protection against online hackers: Given the way it works, a router can also be considered as the first line of defense against online threats.This way, you can connect all your devices to the Internet at home. You get more flexibility in terms of the type and number of devices you can connect to the Internet: A router takes the Internet signal and splits it up into several connections, including converting the signal to Wi-Fi.In the context of home usage, routers are also called residential gateways.Ī router / residential gateway has a few specific roles and comes with some benefits : Simply put, a router is a network hardware device that links two networks together - usually a local area network with the Internet. The official definition of a router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks, performing traffic directing functions and pushing data towards its destination. ![]() So what is a router and how does it work? We all have them in our homes, whether we refer to them as routers or residential gateways: that box with LEDs and antennas for Wi-Fi.
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