In order to get access to the internet, the basic component that is required is a router. It is the device that assists you to access the internet on your different web–enabled devices like phones and laptops. Having a firsthand experience on it makes your online presence easy.
Routers: What they do?
Routers are basically the mediators that help your broadband or Ethernet connection route among different devices. This device would ease the communication among all the users by sharing a single internet connection.
Routers & their types
There is no such router that could be perfect but they build keeping in mind about their different users so that they could fulfill different purposes Some routers intend towards a longer radius of connectivity while others care about the number of users that could connect them as well as the quality of the bandwidth that is being routed.
The most common confusion most of the people around the world facesare the type of routers that they should be buying. So here, we are going to explain the different types of router that are available at your service. If you once get to know the types, it would be much easier to find the perfect router for you. So let us get started.
Broadly, there are 6 different types or categories of routers, as follows:
Wired Routers
Wireless Routers
Core Routers
Edge Routers
Virtual Router
Broadband Routers
Wired Router
This is the traditional type of routers. Wired routers are those that are connected to the computers using wires and cables to access the network. The wired router is like an intermediary between the ISP and the computers. Each router is provided with an IP address that you can find using router IP finder.
The wired router has one input port and several output ports. The input port of the router is connected through the wire to the modem, which receives the internet data. The output port of the router distributes the data to several computers that are connected through the wire. Hence, the user can access the internet. Since some telephones and the fax machines do not have their wireless mechanism to wireless data, hence the wired router is responsible to provide data to these devices. This router allows the user’s computers that are connected to the router to use a single IP address to make the connection. To install security in the router the Crateful Packet Inspection firewall is used to provide the communication channel between the computers in the network.
Wireless Router
This is the most popular type of router that is available in the market and is present in most homes and enterprises. This router is similar to the wired routers except that it usesa limited number of wires. The wireless router is connected to the modem through a cable that is located somewhere far away. The modem transfers the data to the router through the cable using the IP address that you can find using a router IP finder.
Once in the user side, the data packets are distributed with the help of the antenna and not with the wired connections to the computer. This becomes much handier as you can move around with the laptop or phone to access the internet. The data from the router are converted into binary code and packed into data packets. The data packets are sent to the requested user in the form of radio signals. At the computer’s end, the radio signals are received and the data packets are unpacked and converted into binary code.
The wireless router makes a network called WLANand in the case of the wired network, it is called Local Area Network (LAN). To make the wireless network secure the routers uses MAC address to locate the requested device. Every computer has a unique address called the MAC address. All the computers connected to the network shares the IP address that is assigned to the router. To make sure that the right computer receives the data requested, the MAC is used as identification.
Core router
The core router is any wireless router or wired router that are more interested to transfer data into its own LAN or WLAN network. They are not bounded to transfer data other thanthe specified network. This comes in use in an organization that has torestrictdata, which is allowed only to be accessed by the organization and not by the user other thanthe network, i.e. the public or some other organizations. This router transfers the data in a very fast and efficient way.
Edge router
The edge router is the one that is used to transfer data between different networks. The networks can be different WLAN or LAN network but cannot be used to transfer data into the same network. Thistype of router transfers data to the wide area network (WAN). This network is located at the end of the ISP and uses the Border gateway protocol to transfer the data between networks.
Virtual router
This is the most interesting router. Instead of using the hardware–based router, you can use the virtual router and make yourself safe the cost of the hardware. A virtual router is a software to routes data to other computers or devices over a LAN. The software has all the functionality that a hardware router has. The hardware router uses a layer3 IP routing and this same thing is installed in the software to facilitate the process of routing. All you have to do is install the software into the computer or any services and that device would serve as a router. Since the device is not a dedicated router and is only used as a router because of the software hence the name Virtual Router. This router has the advantages of lower cost since you don’t have to buy a dedicated router for the purpose.
Broadband routers
These are best suited to build up your home network. This is installed in your homes and has the potential to give you high-speed internet connection. This network can be used to connect several devices in your home as well. It enables the user to share files among the printers, fax machines,and several other devices. This device is a very good option for the home users.
The broadband router works on the protocol of the wired connections. There are varieties of this router available and works on a different standard. You can get this router in wired type or the wireless type. However, the prices of such differ a lot. The price is also calculated on the types of standard that the router is based. Since in the past, there have come up more standards with more features.
Conclusion
Choosing the perfect router is very important for your home or office. Depending on the requirement, you can choose the router that suits you the best. While buying the route make sure that you search for it on the internet.
