Modem vs Router - What's the difference?

Modem vs Router - What's the difference?

Hello everyone. In this article we&; re going to talk about the difference between a modem and a router because a lot of people actually think that a modem and a router are the same thingBut they are not. They are different with two separate roles on a networkSo I&;m going to explain the difference between the twoNow if you want internet inside your homeor business, you have to have a modem. A modem is what brings the Internet into your home or business. A modem establishes and maintains a dedicated connection to your internet service provider to give you access to the internet. Now the reason why you have to have a modem is because of the two different types of signals that are used on a computer and on the internet.A computer only reads digital signals, while signals out on the internet or analog.As analog data comes in from the internet, the modem demodulates the incoming analog signalsinto a digital signal so that a computer can understand itand a modem alsomodulates outgoing digital signals from a computer into an analog signal as it goes out on the internet.And this is where we get the word &;modem&;. The word modem means modulator-demodulator which is exactly what a modem does. It modulates outgoing data from a computer anddemodulates incoming data from the internetNow a router comes in after the modem. Now there are different types of routers there are routers that are used in businesses and larger organizations there are smaller routers that are used in homes and small businesses but they basically do the same thing. But for this articlewe&; re going to use the small office/home office router that most of us are familiar with now a router is what routes or passes your internet connection to all of your devices in your home or business. It directs it to all of your computers, tablets, phones and so onso that those devices can access the internetA typical small office/home office router like this one here will have a built-in switch with multiple portsSo that you can connect multiple devicesusing an ethernet cable connectionAnd it also functions as a wireless access point so that wireless devicesSuch as tablets and laptops can have internet accessNow technically you really don&;t need a router if you only want one of your devices to access the internetYou can just plug that device&;s network cable directly into the modem, and then you&;ll be able to access the internethowever like most homes and businessesYou&;re going to have multiple devices that need access to the internet, and that&;s where you would need a routerThere are also different types of modems. Two of the most common types are cable and DSL modemsSo depending upon what type of internet you&;re going to use, you need to use the correct type of modemCable modems are connected to your homeusing a coaxial cableCable is typically provided by the same company that provides you with cable televisionsuch as Comcast, which is one of the largest providers in the United StatesAnd DSL modems are connected using a typical phone lineDSL is provided by companies such as AT&T, which is the largest provider in the U.S.Now a lot of times your internet service providerWhen they send you a modem, or if you were to buy one at the storeThe modem might be a modem/routercombination. So it will be a modem with a built-in wireless router in one physical deviceSuch as this one hereSo here is an example of several different networks on how they connect to the internetFor example this network here on the left is using a cable modemAnd it&;s using a small office/home office routerSo that it&;s computers and the tablet can have internet accessOn a bottom we have another network and this network is using a DSL modemand it&;s also using a small office/home office router so that it&;s computers, the laptop, and thetablet can access the internet..The network here on the right is an example of a business networkAnd it&;s using a cable modem, and it&;s using a business routerso it can connect its computers and its server andFinally we have the network here on top and this only has one device that needs internet accessSo it doesn&;t need to use a router. It can just directly connect to the modem because only one device needsinternet accessNow if you&;re wondering how hubs and switchesRelate to routers and modemsEspecially if you saw my other article where I explained the differences between hubs, switches, and routersWell keep in mind that most routers will have a built in switch inside of themSo there&;s no need to have a switch if you already have a router that has a switch built into itSo for example a router like this may have a four portIntegrated switch so that you can connect four Ethernet cables for your wired devicesSo the only timeBut you may need to add a switch to this network, is if you needed more wired connections for your devicesSo you can just connect a switch to your router and then add more connections to the switchSo just to clear things up even more, over here we have the internet with all of its routersThen as the internet is routed into this private networkIt first reaches the modem, then it goes from the modem to its router with its integrated switchAnd then it&;s passed to all of its computers