[Wolves] Silly question but...

[Kevanf1]

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 17:38:23 +0000 (GMT), chris procter
<chris-procter at talk21.com> wrote:
> > Ok, this may seem like a silly question to most of
> > you, but I don't
> > know.  So, what is the difference between a router,
> > a broadband router
> > and router with an ADSL modem on board.
> 
> A router routes information sent to it across the
> network by IP address.
> 
> A router has several network interfaces each connected
> to a different network (one to your home LAN, and one
> to the phone companies network say). When it receives
> a packet of data it looks at the headers to determine
> which IP address its being sent to and then consults a
> table stored in memory as to which network interface
> to pass the packet on on (so if it sees the packet is
> destined for you desktop machines IP it passes it out
> on the LAN interface, if its for slashdot it passes it
> out on the external interface)
> 
> Routers are switches, but whereas an ethernet switch
> routes packets depending on their MAC address (which
> is hardwired into your network card), routers route by
> IP address which is not hardware dependant. This means
> that they can actually use a different protocols on
> different interfaces, so a broadband router will have
> one interface that speaks ethernet (a standard network
> connection) and one that speaks broadband of some sort
> (say ADSL or ISDN).
> 
> Many routers allow you to change their network
> interface hardware so you can take out an ethernet
> card and put in a ISDN card and turn it into an ISDN
> router. This has no effect on the router itself
> because its doing all its routing by IP.
> 
> Routers were explained to me once as being telephone
> exchanges for IP traffic. Its not really true but its
> not a bad idea to start from.
> 
> chris
> 
> Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
> 
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> 
Ok, cheers guys.  I'm not going to lie and say "ooh, yes I understand
that perfectly" because I'm still not 100%.  However, I am now a
little clearer and it will probably sink in deeper the more I ponder
it over the day.  It's just one of those subjects that people seem to
take for granted.  I'm a pain and want to know that bit more ;-)

-- 
Take care.
Kevan Farmer

34 Hill Street
Cheslyn Hay
Staffordshire
WS6 7HR