Router, Bridges and

Repeater
Router (Symbol)
Router (Actual)
Router (Definition)
Routers are small physical devices that join
multiple networks together.

Technically, a router is a Layer 3 gateway device,
meaning that it connects two or more networks and
that the router operates at the network layer of
the OSI model.
Bridge
Bridge (Definition)
A bridge device filters data traffic at a network
boundary. Bridges reduce the amount of traffic on
a local area network (LAN) by dividing it into two
segments.

Bridges operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) of
the OSI model.


Bridge (Definition)
Bridges inspect incoming traffic and decide
whether to forward or discard it.
An Ethernet bridge, for example, inspects each
incoming Ethernet frame - including the source and
destination MACaddresses, and sometimes the
frame size - in making individual forwarding
decisions.
Bridge (Definition)
Bridges serve a similar function as network
switchesthat also operate at Layer 2. Traditional
bridges, though, support one network boundary
(accessible through a hardware port), whereas
switches usually offer four or more hardware ports.
Switches are sometimes called "multi-port bridges"
for this reason.

Repeater
Repeater (definition)
A network device used to regenerate or replicate a
signal. Repeaters are used in transmission
systems to regenerate analog or digital signals
distorted by transmission loss. Analog repeaters
frequently can only amplify the signal while digital
repeaters can reconstruct a signal to near its
original quality.

Repeater (definition)
In a data network, a repeater can relay messages
between subnetworks that use
different protocols or cable types. Hubs can
operate as repeaters by relaying messages to all
connected computers. A repeater cannot do the
intelligent routing performed
by bridges and routers.