Router

How it is used

Used in every networking context, from home internet to operator backbones. Engineers configure, reboot, replace and upgrade routers, and talk about edge routers, core routers and the router at a branch office. A switch works inside one network; a router moves traffic between networks.

Example sentences

1. The branch router lost its connection to headquarters at 9:40.

2. We need to replace the core routers before traffic doubles next year.

Common collocations

• edge router
• core router
• configure a router
• reboot the router
• wireless router

Related terms

• switchA device with many ports that connects computers, phones, printers and other equipment inside the same local network and forwards each frame only to the port where its destination is.
• routingThe process of choosing the path that traffic takes from one network to another, carried out by routers using routes that are either entered by hand or learned from other routers.
• routing tableA list stored in a router or host that shows which networks it knows about and where to send packets for each one, such as the next router or an outgoing interface.
• default gatewayThe router address that a device sends traffic to when the destination is outside its own subnet; without it, a device can only talk to its local network.
• packetA small unit of data sent across a network, made of a header with addressing and control information and a payload that carries part of the actual content.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• router · Networking & Telecommunications

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

• API
• endpoint
• REST
• JSON
• status code
• payload
• authentication
• third-party
• SDK
• breaking change
• request
• response