Routers Defined - Common Router Models - Router Setup - Router Troubleshooting

    What is a router (pronounced "r-out-er", not "root-er")?  Simply put; a router is a device that allows different networks to talk to each other.  The Internet is nothing but hundred of different networks all connected and communicating through routers (thank you Cisco!).

    The routers we deal with on the consumer level are obviously less robust and complicated than full-blown devices used on the Internet and in big corporations, but they do the same thing.

    Homes and small businesses use routers to connect their single high-speed Internet connection to their internal network.  The router acts as both an Internet sharing device AND a firewall (there's another "buzzword" the sales buzzards love to toss around).  A firewall acts as a digital barrier between your internal network and all the Internet nasties running amok on the Internet.  From your internal network you can see "out", but people on the Internet cannot see "in".  At best they can "see" your router, but if it's properly set up they cannot do anything with it.

    Common consumer-level routers come from companies like LinkSys, NetGEAR, D-Link, SonicWall, 3Com, SMC and even Cisco.  PC Buddies almost exclusively use LinkSys routers with our clients.  This is not because we think LinkSys routers are far and away the best routers out there, but we're familiar with their setup and how to administer them.

    Setting up a router is pretty basic.  It doesn't take vast networking skills to understand how they work, or configure them for security.