What exactly is a router?

Another piece of computer equipment that confuses people is the router. Do you know what a router is or why you need one? Are you searching for one because a friend or salesman told you that you needed one? Or maybe you have one, but you don’t know what it does?

Calm down. It’s OK. I’m here.

Below what you’ll find is a very basic guide to routers. You’ll learn what they are, what they do, if and why you should get a router and how to shop for one.

What is a Router and What Does a Router Do?

A router is a small device that sits between your modem and computer. Most routers are about the same size and shape as a modem. The purpose of the router is to take the information from the modem and deliver it to your computer.

But that’s not the cool part.

What is cool about a router is that it’s able to take this information from several networks and deliver them to several computers. In other words, you can be on your desktop in the office and your kids can be on their computer in their room, and you can both use the internet at the same time using the same internet connection.

Why Should You Get a Router?

The first thing that I want to point out is that a router is not mandatory. You don’t have to have one, but there are several reasons why you might want to get one though.

I think the primary reason why you’d want to get a router is if you want to run two computers in your house, at the same time, without having to buy an internet connection (new ISP plan) for both.

Another reason to buy a router is so that you can operate a laptop wirelessly in your home. You’d want to make sure that the router you buy is setup for wireless (although I think most are, if not all) and that you have a wireless card, USB or wireless built into your laptop or computer.

Routers also add another level of security to your connection. Security wouldn’t be my sole reason for buying a router, but it’s definitely a good secondary reason or something that my tip the scale to “buy” if I was undecided.