In the past, when you referred to a router you were speaking about a tool that was used to design and shape wood. The popularity of the Internet has changed that. Today, a router is more commonly known as a device that connects several networks together to the Internet. It is designed to determine the best route between several networks.

A router is the most important part of your computer network because it helps data from your computer users get to their destinations It uses a configuration table to determine the destination of each piece of data. A configuration table will consist of information such as which connections lead to certain blocks of addresses, priorities for connections, and the rules for handling any type of traffic. The size of this table will depend on the size of the networks.

The creation of the Internet is one of mankind's greatest achievements. Email can be sent to anyone in any part of the world and it will reach its destination in a matter of seconds. Today, it is very easy to download files and go from one web page to the next. All of these conveniences are due to routers.

Routers can make sending letters through the post office obsolete. Sending a letter to someone who lived in Australia might take several days or weeks with snail mail. On the internet, routers can act as mailmen and get that letter to your friend in seconds.

Routers are very versatile. For example, they can allow two computers to surf the Internet while sharing one IP address. This is important because a computer must have an IP address in order to connect to the Internet. If you have a computer network, a router will allow the computers in the network to share the same Internet connection.

In many of today's households, the router is a cable modem. You access the Internet through the cable modem that is directly connected to a computer. If you want to share the Internet connection with more than one computer, you will have to buy a router and connect it to the cable modem. The Internet connection passes through the router and is delivered to the computers either through a wired connection or, more commonly, through wireless technology.

Wireless routers allow you to connect PCs (personal computers), PDAs (personal desk assistants), portable computers, and printers without using any wires. Many people use wireless routers to connect their notebook computers to the Internet and networks.

You can expect your network to slow down if you add more computers to it. However, if you use a broadband router you will be able to access the Internet without experiencing much of a slowdown. You will probably not even notice a reduction in speed.

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