I Thought You’d Never Ask – What’s the difference between Modems and Routers?

by | Apr 18, 2017 | Telecom Jargon

This jargon buster blog takes it down to the basics of small business telecommunications, the Modem and Router. These backbones of your internet experience sit quietly under your desk or in a corner of the house connecting you to the outside world (at least electronically).

A router and modem are two very different devices, though many Internet Providers are now offering a combined modem and router unit.

A router is a device that connects two or more networks and forwards traffic between them. Your home network and the Internet, via a modem, is a simple example.

The modem (modulator-demodulator) converts (modulates) digital information on one network into a signal for transmission over your ISP’s infrastructure and then another modem on the receiving network converts (demodulates) it back. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data.

 

There are many types of modems out there, the most common are the ones used for typical home/ small business internet access. Usually connecting to their Internet Provider’s Cable or DSL service.

So why bother to understand the difference? Because that understanding can lead to better decisions, like buying your own modem so you can stop paying $10 a month or more to rent one from your ISP.

 

Contact Teledata Select for more information.

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