Different Types of Routers in Networking

Routers, acting as the police of network traffic, are responsible for directing different types of networks to maintain the best transmission routes on their roads. If the network is the core of global communication, then the router should be the heart of the network. Different types of routers emerged in an endless stream to meet users' needs of different scales. According to the application category, there are eight main types of routers in the market. They are wired routers, wireless routers, core routers, edge routers, physical routers, Virtual routers, VPN routers and normal routers. Then, let's learn more about them and it will provide great help when choosing a router.

Wired Router VS Wireless Router

Wired routers are older versions of routers with cable connections at both ends to receive and distribute data packets. Wireless routers, which transmit data directly to computers and other electronic devices via radio signals, are more advanced.

A wired router connects directly to a computer via a cable. One port is used to connect a modem to receive Internet packets, while the other port connects to the computer to distribute processed Internet packets. Ethernet broadband router is one of the most classic wired routers. It supports network address translation (NAT) technology, which allows multiple computers to connect in wired routers to share a single IP address. It also uses stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewalls while providing communication between computers within the network for security purposes. However, wired routers have a limited number of device connections, and they are extremely inconvenient to connect, so they are gradually replaced by wireless routers.

A wireless router, also known as a Wi-Fi router, facilitates internet access by converting wired broadband data packets into radio signals, allowing devices within range to connect using an ID and password. The absence of cables and the capability to support numerous simultaneous connections make these routers convenient for homes and offices. Security is maintained through wireless media access control (MAC) address filtering and Wi-Fi-protected access (WPA), ensuring a safe and efficient network experience.

Attention:

LAN: A wired local area network established by a wired router.

WLAN: A wireless local area network established by a wireless router.

Edge Router VS Core Router

Edge router is located at the boundaries of a network and distributes packets across multiple networks, keeping communication flowing between several networks. Whereas, the core router operates on the same network and transfers large amounts of data at top speed.

As the name suggests, an edge router is located at the edge or boundary of a network, usually connected to the network of an Internet service provider (ISP) or other organization, and it distributes packets across multiple networks, but not within the same network. They can be wired or wireless routers, and their job is to keep your network in smooth communication with other networks. Besides, this network router can connect to the core router.

In contrast to the edge router, the core router distributes packets within the same network rather than across multiple networks. It runs on the backbone of the Internet and its job is to carry out heavy data transfers. This internet router supports the routing protocols used in the kernel. It can reach a variety of communication interface transmissions at the highest speed, allowing all IP packets to move at full speed. In some cases, core routers can also connect distributed routers from multiple large enterprises or community locations, thus high- performance is a basic requirement for them.

Physical Router VS Virtual Router

A physical router is specifically designed to forward and distribute data packets between networks. It decides the best transmission path and exit interface for each packet by analyzing its destination IP address against a built-in routing table. As a gateway for local networks, a physical router links and manages the traffic of various devices at home or in an office, connecting them to the internet and enabling communication between different devices as well as with external internet resources.

A virtual router is a router implemented in software that is designed to simulate the functionality of a physical router. It can be installed on a standard server, using virtualization technology, running as a virtual machine, and using shared hardware resources to perform network traffic processing and routing. Virtual routers can serve different virtual networks or tenants, providing flexibility and scalability. It supports routing protocols, firewalls, VPNs and other network services, and is commonly used in software-defined networking (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV) and cloud computing environments to improve resource utilization and simplify network management.

VPN Router VS Normal Router

Generally speaking, a VPN router can be seen as a normal router that has VPN(Virtual Private Network) client software installed on it. Every device that connects to the VPN router is protected by a VPN at any time. Whether it is your home, office or company, it can bring numerous benefits of VPN connections to all devices. We have listed the functions of the VPN router as follows:

Providing unlimited connectivity

When connecting to a VPN server via a router, you can use any number of devices. In addition, it allows you to extend encrypted connections to friends and visitors without breaching VPN service terms that often prohibit account sharing.

Providing better platform adaptability

Popular online media like Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or Chromecast currently don't support VPN protection. However, you can still add them to the list of protected devices by connecting them to your VPN router.

Unblocking applications and contents

Are you currently in a country that blocks certain applications or contents? A VPN router enables you to bypass the restrictions and connect to the Internet via an encrypted VPN tunnel through another country entirely.

Logging in once only

Many people often forget to log in to their VPN or set up their clients to run automatically at startup. Once you set up your VPN router, you don't have to worry about this - you just log in once, and that's it for good! If you use a VPN frequently on multiple devices, this is a practical and effective solution.

Today, with the rapid development of the Internet, various network accidents appear frequently. Network security has also become the primary concern of individuals, families and enterprises. And the emergence of VPN routers has brought good news to them. Its powerful network protection channel has stopped numerous information leakage incidents. In the future, it will be the darling of the market, it will become the first choice for users to buy a router.

Conclusion

As a mainstream product in the network communication market, we all want to gain knowledge about routers as much as possible. We hope to provide you with a more comfortable experience when choosing the correct router through this analysis of the basic information and characteristics of router types.