What is the Difference between Modems and routers ?

Difference between Modems and routers

Modems and routers are both involved in connecting your home PCs to the Internet. The modem encodes and decodes data so that it can pass between your home network and your Internet Service Provider (ISP). The router, on the other hand, directs the information collected by the modem to devices within that network. The modem brings the information in, and the router distributes (or “routes”) it to different devices like computers and phones.

Comparison chart

	Modem	Router
Layer:	Data link layer (Layer 2)	Network Layer (Layer 3 devices)
Ports:	2.One for connection to ISP. Next one to connect with router(For large networks)	2/4/8
Device Type:	Inter-networking device	Networking device
Function:	Facilitates a connection to the internet by transmitting and receiving data over telephone lines.	Directs data in a network. Passes data between home computers, and between computers and the modem.
Data Transmission form:	Packet	Packet
Connections:	Can connect to one PC using Ethernet port	Can connect to multiple PCs or networking devices via Ethernet or WiFi
Necessary for Internet Connection?:	Yes	No, but provide additional security and allow for multiple connections.
Independent?:	Yes. A modem can work without a router, delivering information (such as Internet access) to a single PC.	Routers can share information between computers, but cannot connect to the Internet without a modem.
Security:	No security measures	Provides security measures to protect network

 

 

How a modem and router connect to each other, the Internet and devices on the network.

A modem transmits and receives data through telephone lines, and is used to connect a single computer or an entire home computer network to the Internet Service Provider (ISP).

A router allows computers to connect to the modem and to each other in a network. It selectively delivers packets of information to multiple destinations, and allows multiple devices to connect to the Internet via the modem.

Connections

A modem can only connect to one device: either a home PC or a router.

A router can connect to multiple devices in a network, either through Ethernet cables or through WiFi.

Security

A modem does not screen the data it encodes or decodes, and so it passes on any potential threat to connected computers.

Routers examine data packets to determine their destination, and so can contain firewalls to screen out attacks on the network.