What Is a Router?
Talking in simple terms again, a router is a device that lets you split your Intrynet connection among several users. Although routers serve other functions, this is the main one for NWC. Routers are almost exclusively used with DSL/Cable/Satellite modems. The signal from the dial-up connection is too weak to split. The way a router works with a cable broadband service is: you plug the cable from your wall into the cable modem, you connect your cable modem to the router, you connect your computers to the router. You’re making a chain of connections. Most routers have 4 Ethernet ports. These look like oversized telephone cord connections. You can use an Ethernet cable to connect your computers to your router and you’re set to share your Intrynet connection.
From whatis.com A router is a device or, in some cases, software in a computer, that determines the next network point to which a packet should be forwarded toward its destination. The router is connected to at least two networks and decides which way to send each information packet based on its current understanding of the state of the networks it is connected to. A router is located at any gateway (where one network meets another), including each Internet point-of-presence. A router is often included as part of a network switch. A router may create or maintain a table of the available routes and their conditions and use this information along with distance and cost algorithms to determine the best route for a given packet. Typically, a packet may travel through a number of network points with routers before arriving at its destination. Routing is a function associated with the Network layer (layer 3) in the standard model of network programming, the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)
Related Questions
- When I have a static route and RIP configured on a router, why is it that the static route with an administrative distance of 1 is preferred over RIP routes with an administrative distance of 120?
- When an active router tracks serial 0 and the serial line goes down, how does the standby router know to become active?
- Is it possible to run HSRP and OSPF together on the backbone router?
