what is the router?

Answer 1

For several pc to share one internet connection.
It can also be used as home and office file sharing(",)

Answer 2

A device or setup that finds the best route between any two networks, even if there are several networks to traverse. Like bridges, remote sites can be connected using routers over dedicated or switched lines to create WANs

router is a multi-homed host that moves packets between two or more networks, based on configurable rules. The router looks at the contents of OSI layer 3 (eg the IP addresses in a packet), and then consults its rule set which tells it where the packet should go

A device that forwards data packets from one local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) to another

Answer 3

Proper Router = Your computer will determine if the remote system it is trying to reach is on its own network or not. If it isn't, your system will send its information to its default gateway (router) for it to determine the best path to send the information on its way in the shortest or quickest path possible. Routers allow different networks to communicate amoung eachother; without routers your system would only be able to communicate to other systems on your network and no where else.
Home Router = Same premise, but it operates (by default) in a number of ways to help the home user set up a local area network that doesn't require routable IPs. Meaning, when you set up your home network, typically most ppl use the 192.168.1.0 network to configure their home network with. This network is concidered a non-routable network . . . meaning routers will NOT send off the information from your computer using that IP scheme; it (the home router) will take your IP, strip it and assign its own routable IP to the information and send it along its merry way. It will also assign your systems MAC to the information so it will know who to route the returning information back to. In basic terms, I've just described NAT (Network Address Translation) to you. All routers can do this, but home routers are set up like this by default to make our lives at home a bit easier. Routers CAN also filter information that is passed through it. Email (port 25), ICMP packets, and more I really don't care to list because there are so many blocks/filters a router can do.
In a nutshell, there would be no internet without routers. If you really want to be more specific, without routers, there could only be 254 systems running on any stand alone network that couldn't talk to any other network.

Answer 4

A router is a piece of equipment that basically directs internet traffic to and from a specific place on a network. The main benefit of a router is that it allows several computers to share the same ip address on the internet while behind the router they have a different address for each computer.

Answer 5

according to an online dictionary, (row´ter) (n.) A device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP’s network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect.
Routers use headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path for forwarding the packets, and they use protocols such as ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.

Very little filtering of data is done through routers.

Answer 6

As you know the network has 7 layers : Physical , Data Link , Network , Transport , Session , Presentation , Application.

A router is a device that works in the Network and Transport layer it means it can understand the IP and TCP or IPX SPX header and can decide to where to put them , A router is the main guidence of everyone informations in the network these are the routers that provide high level and smart connectivity in internet.

Answer 7

the best way to tell you what is router is by comparing it to a mail-person, if you will...when you send mail out the mail-person looks at the address ie. street, street #, city, state, zip-code, etc.... same with a router, it looks at the ip address, finds the quickest path to the closest router and sends it to it...now, the next router, like the next post office sends it out to the quickest and closest post office or router...this happens till it gets to the final destination...and that's the most logical example i have for you..if you'd like it in computer/networking terminology i can do that too, but i figured since you're asking, i'd keep it as simple as possible...i saw some of the other answers and i'm sure you are confused as hell...you're asking what a router is and you're getting answers like the 7 layers of the osi model, different protocals that routers use and so on...so just stick to my example, it'll stay in your mind alot longer than icmp, tcp/ip, ipx,spx and so many other....or better yet look it up in the internet and get it from the experts; i'm only an senior computer technician with 16 years experience...

Answer 8

Simplest terms I can think of....
A router is the piece of equipment that determines if the information you are sending belongs on your network. If not, then the router determines where next to send your information to get it efficiently to the final destination. It has tables in memory (like a data roadmap) that tell it how to send your information from one network to the next.

Answer 9

It is used to set up communication between 2 dissimmilar networks (Internet and your personal one).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Router

Answer 10

Is a tool used for redirectioning your signal on the Internet when you go from one site to another. It begins to work as soon as you push the enter button or do a click on the mouse.

Answer 11

router is one device. which give data a path that from where to where this data will go. you can think an inteligent device who know how to send data so your data can moov faster and it save your time and data loss