 | What is a router? |
Long Answer:
A router is an external hardware component that connects several computers to each other and to a network. In home systems, the network is usually the internet. Routers can be wired or wireless, and can also connect directly to a printer or other device (such as a scanner) so that it can be shared between all the computers on the network. Routers can also perform security functions such as firewalling and virus/spam scanning. Firewall-enabled routers prevent hackers from ever getting to the computer behind it, thus adding to the security of the computer and keeping it's log files clean.
The router is assigned a public, routable, and globally-unique IP address by the ISP, and each computer on the home network receives it's own private IP address. The term public means that the IP address is known on the internet. Hackers (or anybody else) can randomly guess these numbers, much in the same way that you could randomly type in a phone number and get connected. The term routable means that you can exchange packets with any other computer connected to the internet. And globally-unique means, as the name implies, that no other computer on the internet has the same IP address that you have. The private IP address of each computer is unique to your home network: no two computers on the home network can have the same IP address, yet in different home networks the same name may be used. Think of each network as a family: no family will have two children named Mark, but two seperate families could each name their children Mark.
Because the IP address of the router is public, and not the IP address of the computer, hackers and other outside computers cannot 'see' the computer behind the router. However, the router allows the computer to 'see' the internet. The computer is now 'invisible' on the internet, much like Harry Potter is invisible under his cloak, but can still see out. This protects the computer from hackers try to infiltrate the computer. The subject of why hackers infiltrate computers, or what they do once they get in, is another story altogether. But suffice to say that it is unwanted.
Hiding the computer from the internet is not a router's only function, however. As routers can assign private IP addresses to a network of computers, the router can pass information between the computers, and between each computer and the internet. This is probably the most common use of the router in home networks. Some routers can even examine the contents of the packets passing through them, thus taking an active stance against spam and viruses, stopping them even before they get to the computers on the network.
Short Answer:
A router is a small box that connects several comp...
Technical Answer:
A router is a device that that forwards data packets between networks. Routers are placed at the int...