Routers

Routers are devices that connect two or more packet-switched networks or subnetworks together through a network interface card. Multiple devices can share a single Internet connection because of their ability to manage traffic between different networks by forwarding data packets to their intended IP addresses.

There are many different types of routers, but the majority of them are used to transfer data between LANs (local area networks) and wide area networks (WANs) (wide area networks). A local area network (LAN) is a collection of linked devices that are constrained to a specified geographical region. A LAN is typically comprised of a single router.

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A wide area network (WAN) on the other hand is a huge network that is spread out across a large geographic region. To link several locations throughout the country, large organizations and businesses would require individual LANs at each location that is subsequently connected to form a wide area network (WAN), as shown in Figure 1. Given that a WAN is dispersed across a vast region, it is common for it to require a significant number of routers and switches.