Router
RAM
Storage
Using the internet through broadband usually requires a router/modem. This is a brief description of what such routers contain and the parts they require to perform their many functions.
USB Ports
LED Indicators
+ INFO
WAN Port
Ethernet Switch
Radio Controller 2.4 & 5.8 Ghz
LAN Ports
Antenna
CPU & Heatsink
Antennas
The antenna is the only part of the router which can usually not be controlled by firmware. Antennas
can sometimes be adjusted by the router's user by hand so that the signal spreads either
horizontally or vertically, depending on where devices are. If greater speed or reliability is needed, having multiple routers is often the only way to permanently solve the problem. Many devices have their antennas attached through connectors so that longer or more powerful external antennas can be used, but replacing an antenna may make both transmission and reception worse, depending on the quality of the replacement.
CPU
In many routers, this is a standard processing unit running similar software to that which runs on larger computing devices / servers. This is so much the case that many people have modified the software available for computers in general to run on routers. The use of a fairly standard CPU allows the router to be versatile, it can direct traffic to its different ports, analyse the type of data that goes through it, and store and retrieve its own data. Since the machine is often standardized, it is sometimes possible to install new firmware on it from scratch.
Heatsink
Ethernet Switch
This kind of switch has been the basis of a router since routers were first made. In modern routers, the smaller controllers in the switch move data from wired port to wired port if it does not need to be modified or sent out wirelessly. This is usually the easiest part of the router to write parts of firmware for, since what it does is built into it and interaction with the data is usually not needed. The more often a device is used, and the more it is incorporated in different devices, the easier it is to learn about and take into account. Again, because such switches are so common, their failures are quite well understood and ways of preventing failure can be built in.
Wireless Radio
The design of the wireless functions is usually the most difficult part of creating a router, with most routers supporting at least two frequency bands split into many channels. Wireless chips are often the most difficult parts of the router to understand for those who write firmware for routers they have purchased. Because there is so much competition, manufacturers will rarely release very much information to the public about their radios, and a great deal of reverse engineering is usually needed if new firmware is to be written for the radios.
5.8 Ghz
2.4 Ghz
LAN Ports
These connect the router to wired devices in the router's network. The router, besides moving data from one place to another, also serves as a barrier between the public internet and a private, or home, network. The LAN ports are the wired part of that private network. Wired connections are faster and more reliable than wireless ones, but they are also more difficult to set up over long distances, since they require cables. They also have lower latency, which is why people often find that synchronous remote learning is far easier using a wired device. The same may be said of online gaming, wired devices generally provide a more reliable and pleasant experience.
WAN Port
This is the router's door to the public internet. It is usually just another wired port, but can also use a telephone cable or coaxial cable as used by television cable systems. More unusually, it can even use a wireless or cellular connection, in which case it is a radio, not a port. Whatever connection is used, it is what makes the router able to connect to a wider network. Often, in a router/modem combination, the WAN port is where the modem circuitry changes the physical way in which the data is sent out. In software, the WAN port is the most secured port since it should be the only one exposed to the internet or a public network where devices having fewer security features can be expected to connect.
LED Indicators
The LED indicators are usually the simplest part of the router and serve as a kind of display to tell the user what is happening. They can be used in quite complicated ways so that one need not guess what is happening inside the router, but this requires a great deal of documentation. Many manufacturers and firmware writers stick to two or three states of the LED as signals of what is working and what has failed.
RAM
The same RAM is used here as in other computers, though usually in lesser amounts. The RAM is intended to serve as a fast method of temporarily storing information to which the CPU needs access so as to perform its functions. Writing firmware for these devices has become far easier as the amount of RAM in each router has increased. The firmware can now do more, though writing for the devices is a less interesting process because they can now use pieces of software for ordinary computers without significant modification when it comes to the economizing of memory.
USB Ports
These are fairly new to routers and allow devices like flash drives to connect to the router and to be shared across the network. They are the most visible way in which routers have become more like ordinary computers on a network in peoples' homes. People who write firmware for routers have used them to share drives and devices, as manufacturers intend, but have also used them to make the router into a machine for downloading and distributing updates to a network; to make the router connect to security cameras and share their video; and to allow the router to be used as a home controller for lights, curtains, locks, and other devices which can accept radio signals to control them.
Storage
Storage is, like the CPU and RAM, something which makes the router work like other computers. The router stores its firmware on flash memory, like many computers, and also sometimes has storage which is read-only for lower-level code so that code cannot be changed. That code, however, is usually intended to control the basics of the device, like power and the startup process, manufacturers most often want to be sure that upgrades to their routers while in the field are easily possible.
Anatomy of a Router
H Singer
Created on October 8, 2022
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Transcript
Router
RAM
Storage
Using the internet through broadband usually requires a router/modem. This is a brief description of what such routers contain and the parts they require to perform their many functions.
USB Ports
LED Indicators
+ INFO
WAN Port
Ethernet Switch
Radio Controller 2.4 & 5.8 Ghz
LAN Ports
Antenna
CPU & Heatsink
Antennas
The antenna is the only part of the router which can usually not be controlled by firmware. Antennas can sometimes be adjusted by the router's user by hand so that the signal spreads either horizontally or vertically, depending on where devices are. If greater speed or reliability is needed, having multiple routers is often the only way to permanently solve the problem. Many devices have their antennas attached through connectors so that longer or more powerful external antennas can be used, but replacing an antenna may make both transmission and reception worse, depending on the quality of the replacement.
CPU
In many routers, this is a standard processing unit running similar software to that which runs on larger computing devices / servers. This is so much the case that many people have modified the software available for computers in general to run on routers. The use of a fairly standard CPU allows the router to be versatile, it can direct traffic to its different ports, analyse the type of data that goes through it, and store and retrieve its own data. Since the machine is often standardized, it is sometimes possible to install new firmware on it from scratch.
Heatsink
Ethernet Switch
This kind of switch has been the basis of a router since routers were first made. In modern routers, the smaller controllers in the switch move data from wired port to wired port if it does not need to be modified or sent out wirelessly. This is usually the easiest part of the router to write parts of firmware for, since what it does is built into it and interaction with the data is usually not needed. The more often a device is used, and the more it is incorporated in different devices, the easier it is to learn about and take into account. Again, because such switches are so common, their failures are quite well understood and ways of preventing failure can be built in.
Wireless Radio
The design of the wireless functions is usually the most difficult part of creating a router, with most routers supporting at least two frequency bands split into many channels. Wireless chips are often the most difficult parts of the router to understand for those who write firmware for routers they have purchased. Because there is so much competition, manufacturers will rarely release very much information to the public about their radios, and a great deal of reverse engineering is usually needed if new firmware is to be written for the radios.
5.8 Ghz
2.4 Ghz
LAN Ports
These connect the router to wired devices in the router's network. The router, besides moving data from one place to another, also serves as a barrier between the public internet and a private, or home, network. The LAN ports are the wired part of that private network. Wired connections are faster and more reliable than wireless ones, but they are also more difficult to set up over long distances, since they require cables. They also have lower latency, which is why people often find that synchronous remote learning is far easier using a wired device. The same may be said of online gaming, wired devices generally provide a more reliable and pleasant experience.
WAN Port
This is the router's door to the public internet. It is usually just another wired port, but can also use a telephone cable or coaxial cable as used by television cable systems. More unusually, it can even use a wireless or cellular connection, in which case it is a radio, not a port. Whatever connection is used, it is what makes the router able to connect to a wider network. Often, in a router/modem combination, the WAN port is where the modem circuitry changes the physical way in which the data is sent out. In software, the WAN port is the most secured port since it should be the only one exposed to the internet or a public network where devices having fewer security features can be expected to connect.
LED Indicators
The LED indicators are usually the simplest part of the router and serve as a kind of display to tell the user what is happening. They can be used in quite complicated ways so that one need not guess what is happening inside the router, but this requires a great deal of documentation. Many manufacturers and firmware writers stick to two or three states of the LED as signals of what is working and what has failed.
RAM
The same RAM is used here as in other computers, though usually in lesser amounts. The RAM is intended to serve as a fast method of temporarily storing information to which the CPU needs access so as to perform its functions. Writing firmware for these devices has become far easier as the amount of RAM in each router has increased. The firmware can now do more, though writing for the devices is a less interesting process because they can now use pieces of software for ordinary computers without significant modification when it comes to the economizing of memory.
USB Ports
These are fairly new to routers and allow devices like flash drives to connect to the router and to be shared across the network. They are the most visible way in which routers have become more like ordinary computers on a network in peoples' homes. People who write firmware for routers have used them to share drives and devices, as manufacturers intend, but have also used them to make the router into a machine for downloading and distributing updates to a network; to make the router connect to security cameras and share their video; and to allow the router to be used as a home controller for lights, curtains, locks, and other devices which can accept radio signals to control them.
Storage
Storage is, like the CPU and RAM, something which makes the router work like other computers. The router stores its firmware on flash memory, like many computers, and also sometimes has storage which is read-only for lower-level code so that code cannot be changed. That code, however, is usually intended to control the basics of the device, like power and the startup process, manufacturers most often want to be sure that upgrades to their routers while in the field are easily possible.