Re: router vs. gateway

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: Andy (universitycomputers_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 09/06/04 

Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 12:38:29 GMT

1. Router - This does exactly as its name says. It routes data between one
network and another. It is also capable of doing Nat too.
2. Switch - Just like a hub, but connections are direct from one machine to
the next via mac address rather than broadcast to everyone. This is good for
reducing excess network traffic and to prevent snooping on the network.
3. Hub - This simply routes data from one machine to another by mac address
but unlike the switch it does this data transfer via broadcast rather than
direct connect.
4. Bridge - A bridge again does exactly what its name implies. It joines two
networks together and creates a simple bridge between the two making them
one network, however, only data relavant to the opposing connected network
crosses the bridge. DHCP and other non-routable protocols are stopped at the
bridge. This is good if you need to control traffic and split a larger lan
into smaller sections.
5. Gateway - A gateway is simply a designated point on your network where
traffic not addressed to a machine or device on the local network is
forwarded to. An example of this would be your home network. Say you run a
192.168.0.0/24 subnetting scheme on your network. What this would mean in
regards to the gateway is, if the address you're trying to reach does not
reside in the 256 possible addresses in your subnet, the connection is
forwarded to the gateway which then talks to other routers connected to it
and tries to determine the best possible path to send the data on so that it
reaches its destination.

A gateway is a network point that acts as an entrance to another network.

Andy

"Peter Kaufman" <pmkdatabase@yahoo_dot_ca> wrote in message
news:k0loj0derrh2dbh4jodtat678ebrloufim@4ax.com...
> Hi,
>
> I would appreciate an explanation of the difference between a router
> and a gateway. Is the term 'gateway' more or less obsolete now?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Peter
>

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