What is Router?


A router is an electronic device that connects two or more computer networks and forwards data packets between them. It is an essential component of any modern network infrastructure, from small home networks to large enterprise networks. It does so much customizable filtering when a message passes through the router. If the router admin wishes to block some domain names he can customize them. There are so many such customizations that can be made on the router level. In this article, we will explore what a router is, how it works, and its various types and applications.

Definition

Routers are networking devices, which make it possible for devices to connect to the internet and share data. If you connect to the internet at any place, you are using a router. A router passes the information between one more computer network. It has memory capability it stores the information and a routing table, in that all information about interfaces is stored, once a packet arrives it checks its destination and calculates the best hop-to-hop path to reach the destination. Router works at the network layer.

Working functionality of a router

A router receives an incoming packet, then it does some calculations on the header of the received packet, and the destination IP address is calculated for the same. Whoever network is connected to this router has IP addresses of that network, stored in the routing table at the router, now it matches the calculated destination IP address to the stored network IP addresses which are connected to it. And if any Network IP address matches successfully. Then simply forwards it to that network. This thing happens at every router until the packet reaches its destination. Another case can be if the calculated Destination IP address does not match any Connected network IP address in that case if any default route is configured in the router then, it forwards such packets to the default route, or one more case can be what if any default route is not configured, then router simply sends ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) to the originating sender that destination is unreachable.

Types of routers

There are many types of routers, each with its specific use and features. A few of the most common types of routers include −

Household routers

These routers are generally used in households and can be easily configured through the web interface provided by ISP providers. They are easy to use and have very intuitive web interfaces, when you want to buy a household router, it’s important to consider factors like the size of your home, the number of devices you need to connect, and what range of bandwidth you want. And you also make sure that the router supports the latest Wi-Fi standards and has strong security features to protect your home network from threats.

Wired routers

Wired routers typically have multiple Ethernet ports to connect various devices such as computers, mobile phones, printers, and game consoles via Ethernet cables. Wired routers provide more secure and stable connection compared to wireless routers, and these routers are tending to faster than wireless, they come with very basic security features like firewalls, port forwarding, and Quality of Service (QoS), which ISP providers use to provide a web interface and easy to use without much technical detail one can configure it. A wired router is generally used in a home or in small enterprises that have a separate Wi-Fi access point.

Wireless routers

These are routers that have built-in wireless capabilities and can connect wirelessly to the devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. They use Wi-Fi technology to transmit data packets wirelessly between devices.

Overall, edge routers and wireless routers are important for a medium-sized organization to ensure reliable and efficient connectivity for their employees and consumers they a critical role in enabling communication collaboration and cases to important resources, both within the organization and beyond the organization.

Edge routers

Edge Routers are high-performance routers that are placed on the boundary of a network that’s why they are called edge routers or boundary routers, they consist of advanced features such as load balancing, redundancy, and security features like VPNs and firewalls. These routers are often used by medium size organizations.

The edge routers play a very important role in securing the network, as they are responsible for filtering traffic to prevent unauthorized access or unknown activity.

Core routers

These routers are used to manage very high volumes of traffic in the core of a network. They are made for high speed data transmission and have advanced routing and switching capabilities. Core routers are crucial for the well transmission and quick. Without core routers, it would be much more difficult a time-consuming for a very high-volume stream of data to interchange. And the internet as we know it today would not be possible.

Conclusion

In this article, we studied the concept of routers and different types of routers are also explained. Inside the router, some sort of network programming is called routing. And routers are of different types according to usage more precisely how much bandwidth is needed according to what we purchase.

Updated on: 12-Apr-2023

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