Quite often if you have to call in for tech support on your broadband Internet connection, they will ask you if you have a router connected to your modem, but what is a router?
Typically called “routers”, the actual name for the pieces of equipment you put in your home to assist in running multiple computers is “residential gateway”. While you certainly can run your computers without a gateway, this device will allow your computers to not only talk to each other and share files, it will also allow your system to share the same Internet connection. So instead of plugging your modem directly into your computer, you would instead plug it into the gateway, and then your computers into the gateway also. Most of these devices today are Wi-Fi, so quite often you won’t even need to plug in your computers directly, but I personally always find it more reliable.
Besides allowing all of your computers to talk to each other, they can be a useful device to have around just for the convenience they give people who may visit you, and also as an added layer of security for your computer. Most gateways today come with a built-in firewall, making it that much more difficult for hackers to get into your system, causing potential damage. As for being useful to anyone who may visit your home, Wi-Fi is appearing in more and more devices from the iPod Touch to cell phones, so allowing someone to hop on to your connection to check their email is always nice, just make sure to secure the gateway from random users as should be listed in your instruction book that came with your gateway.
The other issue that is coming up more and more in technology is not just computers needing to connect to the Internet, but also video game systems, DVD players, VoIP phones and more are all using ethernet cables now to hook up to the gateways, as well as Wi-Fi. The ability for devices to talk to the Internet and download new software updates is becoming essential to any gadget’s operation. Eventually you will need to be connecting multiple devices to the Internet, so you may as well get to work on it now.
I can not stress this enough, though, if you purchase a Wi-Fi enabled gateway (router), make sure to follow the manufacturers instructions on securing your wireless signal so that no neighbors, are curious wander-bys can get on your network, or use your Internet connection for nefarious doings.
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[...] we discussed routers, we mentioned how more and more items are connecting to the Internet via Ethernet cables. Well, now [...]