I’m confused, I used to think that modem are an old thing now and nobody uses them as modems have a SIM installed in them for internet connection through ISP and it’s like a pen-drive which is insertable to a any PC like normal Pen-drives.
In: 0
A modem is singing the song of it’s people to another modem to transfer data. If the modem is over phone lines, it is doing it in audio frequencies. If it is a cable modem, it is doing it in the hundreds of megahertz range. A modem usually has one output plug that is doing ethernet.
A router is taking that ethernet from the modem and distributing it to the other devices in the building. It could be using hardwired connections or WiFI or both. So when your phone connects to the WiFi, it is relaying data to you that came in over the modem.
A simple way for devices to communicate through wires is to use a fixed voltage for each value. This is easy for devices to understand, but it does not travel well through a very long wire like a phone line or a cable. Modulation is a much more complex way to send the signal, but it can go through long wires very easily.
A modem (short for modulator-demolulator) translates between the modulated signal in the line and the simpler signal used by your computer.
A router communicates only in the simple signal, but it can do so with many different devices. (It routs the data to and from whatever uses it)
A modem “modifies” the internet singable from your internet provider for use in your residence.
A router “routes” the internet signal from the modem to other devices.
Routers and modems used to come in two different boxes. They are still are but they used to be too. I digress. Nowadays, the modem and router are built together in a single box.
The modem brings in signals from the outside into your home. A router route those signals to different machines and users in your home.
A modem is a device that converts a signal from your computer into some other kind of signal to talk to other computers. The important part here is ONE computer connects to a modem.
A router is a device that forms a connection between several computers and a network. When it receives a signal from the network, it figures out if any of its connected computers are the recipient and sends the signal there. If any of the computers sends a signal, the router relays that signal over the network.
A router CAN be a modem. That just means the “one computer” connected to the modem is the router itself. So it gets a signal from somewhere like phone lines or cellular signals, coverts those signals to the signal the computers use, and also figures out which computer should receive the signal (if any).
But a modem can’t really be a router: they form one connection.
To make an analogy:
A modem is like a person’s personal secretary. If you call the secretary, they can take a message and send it to their boss. If you ask them to give a message to someone else, that’s kind of not their job and they might not do it.
A router is more like the receptionist in a large office. They don’t work for one specific person, so if you call them and ask for someone in the office the receptionist can forward your call or relay your message for you.
Modems aren’t old, you use them every single day.
Modem stands for MOdulator/DEModulator. The individual 1s and 0s that your computer/tablet/cellphone sends and receives aren’t 1s and 0s by themselves. They’re converted into a radio signal and sent from one place to another. When it’s converted from 1s and 0s into a signal, it is being modulated. The signal is transmitted to its destination, and then the signal is converted back into 1s and 0s, or demodulated. Dozens of modems are involved in the sending of a single text message from your cellphone.
A router is more of a traffic cop, in that it is figuring out where data is going over a network. The signal comes in, is demodulated by the modem, and the router looks at the header on the data packet. It reads the destination, looks at its address tables, and figures out where next to send the packet. The modem them modulates the data packet again and the data is sent off to the next stop in the chain.
A modem talks to the outside world, it speaks the language of Comcast or spectrum or whatever service provider you use and translates and passes that information on to your own network. A router is like the receptionist at hotel, they assign room numbers for people on the network and filter incoming and outgoing communication and send it off to your room, or your Xbox whose been assigned room number 5, etc etc.
Wireless is another separate standard and function but commonly attached to the same device you called a router in most homes. A device that communicates with wireless devices but doesn’t handle the assigning of IP’s(so separate from the receptionist) is considered an access point. Consider what happens if you go to the hospital and hop on the guest wifi. They can’t possibly have one wireless access point for the whole hospital, they might have dozens or hundreds and as you walk from area to area you just switch up which access point you talk to but it’s all quick and seamless. That’s because your still on the same network and assigned the same IP(room) from the same receptionist, otherwise your always be getting interrupted in signal as you leave and join new networks.
So your router combines the router functions and access point functions and most people say your using a wireless router. You still want to talk to the outside world though and for that you need the modem.
Some people have separate modem and wireless router devices, some service providers will provide you with a big device that is a modem, router and wireless access point all in one.
I feel like what causes confusion for people is that many of these devices are two-in-one or three-in-one devices. A modem simply converts your cable, fiber, etc. connection into an ethernet connection and vice versa. A router is what “routes” your data from your computer to the internet. The other common network device is a switch which basically allows you to connect more than one device on your home network. While you can buy all of these devices separately, I normally see three-in-one devices being collectively called “the router”. The other common set up I see is a separate modem and a router with a built-in switch.
* The term modem is short for **modulator/de-modulator.**
* It takes data and converts it to be sent along a certain kind of connection, then *another* modem on the other end converts it back.
* The first modems most people were familiar with were dial-up modems that our computers would use to send data over a regular telephone line.
* Then came DSL modems which also used phone lines but did it in a much faster way.
* Also cable modems which use the cable wiring from the cable TV company.
* That’s what most people still use today for home internet.
* Finally we have cell-modems which use the wireless cellphone network to send and receive data.
* A **router**, on the other hand, is a device that allows many devices to share one connection.
* The router is the thing that lets you use a smart TV, a cell phone (via wifi) and your laptop all at the same time over the same connection to your internet provider.
* So at home most users have both a modem *and* a router and as others have said, often they are combined into a single box that you rent from your internet provider.
A modem is a device that converts the incoming signal from your ISP to a usable internet connection, so you can hook up your computer to the internet. That connection only has one IP address (WAN). A router is a device that coordinates traffic for multiple devices to access the internet from the one connection provided by your modem. It also supplies IP addresses for devices on your local network (LAN) and routes the IP traffic to the right destination (computer to internet, smartphone to thermostat, etc) A switch is a device that provides multiple physical connections to a router to allow devices to communicate on the local network. A wireless access point is a device that physically connects to your network that produces an area of wifi for devices to connect to the local network. Most ISP’s provide you with one device that contains all of these together to make your life easier. Most people call this device a modem or a router. Either is technically correct. High-end networks still use separate devices for each because they are better than what you get from your ISP, but you will be paying good money for that equipment.
Latest Answers