Quote:
Originally Posted by bilbus
the router separates the external network from the internal network
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... by providing an external firewall behind which you can share files and folders on the local network. You cannot safely share files when only a switch connects your computers to the internet.
Essentially, a router is a collection of components and functions. It will contain a switch, possibly a wireless access point, a DHCP server for allocating IP addresses on the LAN, and either its own inbuilt (and firewalled) DSL or broadband modem, or a firewalled connection point to an external modem or a WAN, plus network address translation, so that connected computers access the net through the router's LAN IP address, but the internet 'sees' the router via the quite separate IP address allocated by the ISP, thereby hiding all the LAN addresses from the WAN/internet. There are other components as well, but those are the main ones of user concern.
Bottom line: a router is usually also a switch. But it's more than a switch. I'd guess that a setup that needs 2 modems needs a router even more.
Hope this helps.
David