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Switch -vs Router?

C

Carlosinfl

Loves the juice
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
6,633
I am confused about something...if you want to spread your DSL or cable connection to other nodes in the lan, they say to get a DSL or cable router.

Why do I need a router?

Doesn't a LAN switch or hub do the same thing?

What info do I need to route? I guess I am just confused about the difference between a router and a switch.

I though a router is only needed when to LANs merge or need to access each other :confused:
 
666 said:
I am confused about something...if you want to spread your DSL or cable connection to other nodes in the lan, they say to get a DSL or cable router.

Why do I need a router?

Doesn't a LAN switch or hub do the same thing?

What info do I need to route? I guess I am just confused about the difference between a router and a switch.

I though a router is only needed when to LANs merge or need to access each other :confused:
Click to expand...

You need a router to perform NAT, so that you don't need a public IP for each machine on your LAN to go out over the WAN. If you wanted to pay for a public IP for each machine, and have no protection at your gateway, you could connect a switch straight into your broadband modem (particularly for cable, which doesn't require a PPPoE login or the like).
However, since most people dont need multiple public IPs, and some service providers wont even give you the option, most people use a router. Public IPs tend to cost 5-10 bucks a month per IP over the cost of your basic connection if you need more than one.
 
Dark pretty much covered what I was going to say. Routers actually perform the duties of routing and hooking different networks together, yes that is their primary function. They also however provide private IP's to computers using NAT technology. This not only saves you the money of purchasing public IP's, but it also protects and hides you from internet hackers because you are hidden behind the NAT and the only IP that anyone can see is the live IP on the routers WAN interface.

The switch allows multiple computers to be hooked up and handed IP settings via DHCP again via a router to provide them internet access as well at network capabilities. Many routers also have built in switches so you don't need to purchase an additional switch unless you have more then 4 computers that need to be hooked up.

Routers also provide IP addresses via 802.11 or othewise known as wireless which has become all the rage these days.
 
666 said:
I though a router is only needed when to LANs merge or need to access each other :confused:
Click to expand...
Incidentally, you're dead-on with this. What you're doing, though, is merging your home LAN to the ISP network.
 
Merging your home LAN to the internet...the ISP usually hides their entire network.

666, switches are similar to hubs in what they do...simply connect computers into a local area network.

Routers connect networks to one another, such as several satellite offices being connected to a central office, using T-1's or something.

With the explosion of broadband over the past few years, the term "router" has become almost household...referring to these combo devices which really have 2 components...1) A router, and 2) Usually a built in 4 port switch for the LAN side.
 
Expanding on what was mentioned about Switches/hubs
Hubs operate at the Physical layer of the OSI. They are basicall a multi-port repeater and all hosts connected to it are on one big collision domain. (Means lots of packets bumping into each other) As a result a hub is not nearly as efficient as a switch. Everytime a collison occurs a jamming signal is issued and all transmissions stop for a brief (i.e miliseconds) amount of time while all hosts agree on who is going to transmit. With a switch each port is a seperate collision doman, so there are far fewer collisions and as a result a much more effieicent network.

I always have thought of home "routers" as more of a Gateway between your network and your ISP's. But its true that a router has become the "xerox" term of home networking and the line has become much more blurred.
 
Of course, a router could be considered a gateway and a gateway could be considered a router when you think about it.
 
Routers are not always gateways. In the average setup on broadband for the home users, yes they're usually gateways. But..."all routers" are not "always" gateways.

I'm not really comfortable saying all gateways are always routers also...as their are some scenarios were you'll have some sort of "appliance" running as a gateway in between two devices...and it's doing a job other than routing. Example, there are some software packages to filter e-mail for "bad stuff" which sit in front of (public side) a mail server, they are simple pass through servers, they are gateway devices for mail servers, but not routers.

Switches and hubs...think of hubs as a "has been" technology, extinct, dumb repeaters. Switches are similar in function, but think of them as having a "traffic cop" under the hood...to manage traffic better.
 
I with you on not all devices called gateways are routers. Gateway used to be a synonym for a router. Gateways can be alot of things. SNA gateway, proxy server etc.. Gateways are defined as a node on a network that serves as an entrance to another network. Perhaps you have a different definition for a gateway. The water has been muddied a bit with the contemporary terminology. At one time a gateway was a router. I'll stand by my statement however if you'd like to provide an example of a router that is not a gateway I'd be happy to entertain the idea. Using my logic a router is a gateway by definition. Granted routers, especially enterprise level routers are not my strength so if you know of a router funtion that does not join two networks then I can learn something.
 
ktwebb said:
Gateways are defined as a node on a network that serves as an entrance to another network. Perhaps you have a different definition for a gateway. The water has been muddied a bit with the contemporary terminology. At one time a gateway was a router. I'll stand by my statement however if you'd like to provide an example of a router that is not a gateway I'd be happy to entertain the idea. Using my logic a router is a gateway by definition. Granted routers, especially enterprise level routers are not my strength so if you know of a router funtion that does not join two networks then I can learn something.
Click to expand...

When talking about a device that connects networks at the network layer (layer 3)...yes, those types of gateways fill that "routing" role.

But...there are other types of gateways when talking about computers...application gateways (layer 7 on your OSI model), as I mentioned above, of which there are many types, are one example. And they aren't necesarily routing traffic from one network to another.
 
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