Perhaps one good way to understand routers better is to differentiate it from other similar devices. A router uses two or more subnets where information is sent to one or some of the other parts of the network, unlike the network hub which technically does not route any information because it automatically sends all its info to all network lines.

Routers are distinct for two levels, namely (1) control and (2) forwarding. The control plane is where the router receives outgoing information and applies the best interface it should use to deliver a particular bit of information to a certain destination. The forwarding plane is where the actual sending of such information takes place.

For even more advanced information about routers, you can check out Wikipedia.

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A Closer Look at Routers

Picking the right kind of router for your situation is an important task because you will have different needs from others who will also be using a router. While there’s no such thing as the best router, we can come up with the next best thing – the one you are most likely need.

There are two kinds of routers, namely the wired and wireless routers. The wired ones are less expensive and more stable because of its direct cable connection, but these are less capable of setting up networks if many servers are involved. The wireless ones, however, promise mobility, making them great for laptops. With wireless routers, while a tad more expensive, you can literally bring your laptop everywhere within the router’s range and connect to the network – but this is more likely subject to wireless connectivity problems.

So it’s a matter of answering the question: Would you rather have a cheaper and more stable on the ground network connection or a mobile and wide scoped but more expensive connection?

But if you still can’t make a decision and you have a little extra money in your hands, you can always buy a wireless router that can also work with a cable connection at a much higher price. It’s all about priority and practicality.

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What Router Should I Get?

A hub allows multiple devices to connect to the network, but each device maintains it’s own specific MAC address for the network. A hub can extend the range of a network, and allows connecting many computers and other peripherals, but its scope is limited to a single network, and it does not provide basic DNS/DHCP services, merely a method of making the connections.

A Router remembers the MAC address of each machine, and manages connections not only between machines on the network, but allows the network to access the Internet or other networks through a single IP and MAC address. The outbound connection(s) from a router generally lead away from the home or office network, and is able to provide network connections for a multitude of individual computers by using internal identifiers that divide incoming data up and sends it to the proper machine.

Where a hub allows computers and devices on the same network to communicate with each other, a router allows computers, devices, and even different networks to communicate, and performs the low level functions required to sort out information and deliver it to the correct destination. A hub passes information straight through, but a router processes the same information, and manages internal and external network addressing.

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The Difference Between Routers and Hubs

OSPF, short for Open Shortest Path First, is an interior gateway protocol.  This means that it
implements control within a LAN or WLAN over data distribution.  You may recall that RGP, or
Border gateway Patrol, provides routing as it leaves a network, and travels between routers.  OSPF
provides the same postal-type procedures inside a network.  It is much more versatile than RIP, in
that OSPF allows unlimited hops between sending and receiving locations, among other facets.

OSPF is what is referred to as a link-state protocol, meaning that each router broadcasts all open link
information to all other routers, with no more than three AS available to each router.  Remember, an
AS is an Autonomous System, and can be thought of as an independent network WITHIN a larger
network.  By each router keeping other routers informed of its current connection status, direct maps
may be determined for a data packet, allowing to to progress with the shortest number of currently
available hops over the network.

The newer OSPF v3 has added support for several concerns, including support for IPv6 packet
forwarding, multicast(single origin broadcasting) support and 16 additional optional capabilities, for a
total of 24. OSPF maintains three connection databases, Adjacency (monitors immediate neighbors),
Topology (monitors entire network map), and Route (maintains “best route” data).  These features
combine to make OSPF a secure and feature rich set protocol for data exchange on an interior
network.

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What is OSPF

There is RIP routing, and then there is IGRIP routing.  These two protocols help to guide traffic
around on the Internet.  Specifically, RIP is used to manage the number of successive hops a packet
of data must take.  RIP is used within a network to handle access hops within the network, and
IGRIP is used for handling data packets which are actually addressed outside the current domain.

RIP limits the hops a packet must go through to 15, while IGRIP ups the total hops to 255.  RIP is
called a “distance vector protocol” and routers stay updated on a usually regular basis of around 30
seconds for most.  It is discussed in RFC 1058, and RFC 1723.

The default number of hops for a packet to take is one.  If a single hop is not available, which is
usually the case with a server centralized network, then the shortest available route is calculated,
which must be less than 15 hops total. Where IGRIP is an Internet Gateway, RIP is used internally,
and mages packets bound for locations within the physical domain, or network.  Any hop with a
metric count of greater than 15 hops is considered unreachable and undeliverable.

RIP, however, is being replaced by Routing Information Protocol v2, which extends the rules that
RIP established.  For more information about RIPv2, visit:

http://www.trainsignaltraining.com/cisco-ccent-how-to-configure-routing-information-protocol-part-2

/2007-12-03/

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What is RIP