Friday, June 20, 2008

Key Things You Should Know About A Broadband Router

By Kevin Spelling

A broadband router is a computer device that receives or forwards data packets to and from the Internet towards a destination in the process called routing. A broadband router is the essential component of the computer networking that enables any sent data to arrive at the right destination.

A broadband router actually transfers data packets along networks. It requires at least two networks for a router to connect, commonly it connects two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP's network. As a connecter device, broadband routers are positioned at gateways, where two or more networks are connected.

A router (broadband router) is also a device that enables two or more computer to receive data packets from the Internet under one IP address at the same time. Remember that to be able to connect to the Internet, a computer must have an IP address unique from the rest of the computers. Therefore, every computer connected to the Internet has it own IP address. It is like having a fingerprint or ID as an access pass to be able to enter the web. With the presence of the router, this "fingerprint" or "ID" could be shared by two or more computer at the same time.

In simplest form, a broadband router makes two or more computer use the Internet at the same with one access pass. One more thing: a computer with cable modem could also be considered as a router. In this, the computer would do the process of routing like normal routers do. Other computers are then connected to the computer with Internet connection that would give it with the Internet connection. The computer with cable modem has the direct contact with the Internet and the ones connected to it are sharing the connection.

If broadband is classified into two types in major then the routers also has to be of two types. ADSL modem routers for ADSL broadband users and cable routers for cable broadband users are that two. Both type of broadband router perform the same function of being an interface between your network and the internet and enabling you to share your internet connection among other computers. The main dissimilarity between these two broadband routers is the way in which they connect to the internet.

Cable broadband users connect to the internet via cable modem that is plugged into the cable socket. Cable routers work by plugging it into the provided cable modem's in-built networking port. This is also known as Ethernet port or RJ-45 connection and you need this to share your cable internet with in your network. Once connected to the modem, which in turn is connected to the cable socket, the cable router shares the broadband internet with all the computers in your network.

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