Register    Login    Search    Articles & downloads     Who We Are    Donate    Jaylach Free Sites

Board index » Technical Forums » What is it & How do I do things?




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: How Routers Work
 Post Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:00 pm 
Offline
Fearless Leader
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:42 am
Posts: 2819
(This information has been brought over from the old forum.)

Every computer in the world that is connected to the internet must have a unique address, called an IP (Internet Protocol) address. These are in the form of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, but they represent longer strings of numbers in fact. Anyway, there are so many computers that we were running out of numbers! So the Internet guys set aside a few sets of those numbers that could only be assigned to private networks. The addresses in these private ranges are simply non-routable on the internet, meaning that packets of information from those addresses won't go anywhere, they just get dropped. An example of a private address would be 192.168.0.1. This is a very common address used for local routers.

If your machine is directly connected to the internet via a cable modem, then the address of your machine is a public address. As such it can be seen on the internet. Hackers use programs that scan the internet for unprotected machines. These machines show up with their public addresses.

Now let's say you want to share your broadband connection with another machine at your home. You can't both have the same address or the packets going to your machines would get all confused and jumbled up. This is where a router comes in. A router is a device that routes packets of information to the computer the packet is addressed to. You put a router in and it assumes the public address that the cable or DSL company has given you. And it assigns addresses to the machines in your house in a private address range. So your machine might be 192.168.0.2, and your spouse's machine might be 192.168.0.3., and so on. When you request information, you send out a packet that has your address (192.168.0.2) attached to it. The router then sends that packet on from the public IP address, whatever it happens to be. The answer comes back to the public address. The router peeks inside the packet and sees that the request originally came from 192.168.0.2, and so it forwards the packet to your machine.

Now here's where security comes in. If a hacker is scanning the internet for machines that are online and he sees your IP address, all he'll see is the router, not your computer. He can't get to your computer, even if he guessed your IP address. Why? Because he would be originating the packet, it wouldn't be a response to something you asked for, and the router would simply drop the packet. That's why adding a router is like having a hardware firewall, adding an extra layer of security to your computer.

_________________
Patty MacDuffie
Computer Haven Administrator

Live Long and Prosper
Mr. Spock


Top 
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
 
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

Board index » Technical Forums » What is it & How do I do things?


Who is online

Registered users: No registered users

 
 

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:

Similar topics


Jump to:  

cron