Notwithstanding the use of the terms router and modem interchangeably these days, they differ from one another in many ways. Though both the devices provide your computer with internet connectivity, they work in distinct ways to do so. Before developing an understanding of the differences between a modem and a router, it is important to understand and acknowledge that they are two separate devices. While a modem acts as a data transfer device to connect a computer to the internet through ethernet, a router transfers the electronic signal to two or more devices within a dedicated local network. The latter serves as the conduit to connect two or more devices within a given network. Differences Between A Router And A Modem A modem receives the electronic signals for a service provider and sends it to the computer of a user. Normally, this is done by means of a router. Some users connect the modem to their computer system straight away to connect to the internet directly without any interruption. However, it poses some security risks and so it is discouraged. In the past, people used modems extensively to encode and decode digital information along telephone lines. This trend has lost ground owing to the transmission of electronic signals via copper lines of traditional broadband or fibre lines of a high quality fibre broadband these days. On the other hand, you cannot connect a computer directly to a router to access the internet. This can only be done by means of a router. Basically, a router shares the internet signals that are relayed by a modem to multiple devices that are based on a particular IP address. It can be connected either wirelessly or by virtue of an ethernet cable. Regardless of the number of devices linked to a router, it considers the search queries received from all the devices as the ones received from a single source. To put it another way, all the devices from which a router receives the queries the same IP address.
How a Router Differs from a Modem
- by : Rachel Green
- Category : High Quality Fibre Broadband,
28
Aug
