Router and Switches

[heykevin]

What 's the difference b/w these two???

[NYKnickFanatic]

Switch

In networks, a device that filters and forwards packets between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) and sometimes the network layer (layer 3) of the OSI Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs.

Router

A device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP.s network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect. Routers use headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path for forwarding the packets, and they use protocols such as ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.

http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/...switch_hub.asp

Hope that helped.

[northsider]

Router is pretty much an advanced Switch. A router will assign a address to each location on your network. A switch will just allow the sharing of info however it will go to all connected devices in said network where as a router can do this on an individual basis.