THERE NOT ROUTERS, THEIR SWITCHES

[Samuel]

Anyone that has a wireless router, or any router you bought is most likely a SWITCH, NOT A ROUTER.


Routers are MUCH more expensive then your little switch. Sorry for this little rant, but i ahte when people use terms incorrectly.

[Illegalx17]

Heh, i think you may be mistaken. Switches just split the connection. Switches are usually used for big scale places. Like schools and offices. Usually switches have 16+ ports, whereas routers have 4. Idk, maybe i'm wrong, but this is my object, i think it's a router, maybe i'm wrong.

http://netgear.com/products/details/WGR614.php

[weasel]

No, your right, so is bigfatguy actually. A switch is a series of LAN ports (usually LAN) which split the signal form one incoming cable. A router is the same thing, but with security. This goes for both wireless and non-wireless. I, for example, DO have a router. It masks my IP and keeps out hackers.

[MetalSkin]

By default any wireless access point can be considered a switch, it's a special switch for wireless. Often an access point can be refered to as WiFi, any half decent one will be WiFi certified.

A router is designed to share one connection with many, thus is used as a door to external internet access. Normaly a router will use NAT (Network Address Translation) and DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). NAT allows the router to use one ip address externaly (the internet IP addy) and multiple internal ip addresses, handling requests internaly and passing them externaly. DHCP allows any client device on the inside to automaticaly request an IP address and be allocated one. Some routers come with firewalls, and then there are several types of firewalls. Often just being behind a NAT is enough though.

The ADSL or Cable modem is simply a device that allows a cat5 (ethernet) connection from inside and allows connection to an external service for internet enablement. This may be via copper wire (xDSL), fibre or similar (cable), satelite, or even wireless.

Now to confuse this issue, often a wireless access point will be a switch and an access point at teh same time. A lot of access points come with multiple ports and manage the gateway to the internet.

Some routers are modems as well, they can manage the connection to the internet as well as act as the modem. This is more common with xDSL, but I think you can get them for some cable based products.

And then there are the access points that are both a modem, a switch and a router.

So when you buy a device like this, you have to ask yourself what is it exactly you are trying to do, what are your short/mid term requirements (as in how can they change) and what existing hardware do you have.

[tacoX]

I have a switch in my room now. Back at home I had a router. They look totally different (size-wise, atleast)