Are home routers actually "routers", according to the classic definition of a router?

[somesuchguy]

So a "router", per se, is a device that routes packets between different networks.

Now obviously, your home network and your WAN network are different, and in that sense a router does just that. However, isn't your home router technically just doing NAT tasks, rather than doing active packet routing? Since the vast, vast majority of homes don't have separate networks (in a true layer-3/subnetted sense), can your Comcast combo router/modem really be said to be a router since the part that manages the home network is just a switch? Or is the definition of a "router" just a bit wishy-washy in this respect, unless anything that's doing NAT is definitely a router, end of story.

 

[bill001g]

Some vendors correctly call them gateways but the term router is not exactly defined in the first place. It is like is a layer3 switch a switch or a router...especially since few if any layer 3 switches can do NAT.

Then again you see people calling any box that hooks to a internet connection a "modem" even if it contains the gateway function also.

 

[nigelivey]

So a "router", per se, is a device that routes packets between different networks.

Now obviously, your home network and your WAN network are different, and in that sense a router does just that. However, isn't your home router technically just doing NAT tasks, rather than doing active packet routing? Since the vast, vast majority of homes don't have separate networks (in a true layer-3/subnetted sense), can your Comcast combo router/modem really be said to be a router since the part that manages the home network is just a switch? Or is the definition of a "router" just a bit wishy-washy in this respect, unless anything that's doing NAT is definitely a router, end of story.

You are correct, it IS a router purely for the fact it routes between two networks WAN/LAN, the part that switches packets/frames on the LAN is as you say just an inbuilt switch. L3 Switches can also NAT so no.

 

[somesuchguy]

You are correct, it IS a router purely for the fact it routes between two networks WAN/LAN, the part that switches packets/frames on the LAN is as you say just an inbuilt switch. L3 Switches can also NAT so no.

My beef with this definition is that a home router doesn't actually have to make routing decisions, so to speak (at layer 3) - there's only one outside network and one inside network, so all it's doing is forwarding rather than routing. It could be thought of as a layer 3 bridge, even.

 

[nigelivey]

You are correct, it IS a router purely for the fact it routes between two networks WAN/LAN, the part that switches packets/frames on the LAN is as you say just an inbuilt switch. L3 Switches can also NAT so no.

My beef with this definition is that a home router doesn't actually have to make routing decisions, so to speak (at layer 3) - there's only one outside network and one inside network, so all it's doing is forwarding rather than routing. It could be thought of as a layer 3 bridge, even.

OK?

 

[USAFRet]

You are correct, it IS a router purely for the fact it routes between two networks WAN/LAN, the part that switches packets/frames on the LAN is as you say just an inbuilt switch. L3 Switches can also NAT so no.

My beef with this definition is that a home router doesn't actually have to make routing decisions, so to speak (at layer 3) - there's only one outside network and one inside network, so all it's doing is forwarding rather than routing. It could be thought of as a layer 3 bridge, even.

There can be more than a single internal 'network'.
Regular, Guest, DMZ. Some even do a second Guest WiFi, for other subscribers to get 'free' WiFi if on the road somewhere.

 

[somesuchguy]

OK?

The discussion is about the definition of a home router...

There can be more than a single internal 'network'.
Regular, Guest, DMZ. Some even do a second Guest WiFi, for other subscribers to get 'free' WiFi if on the road somewhere.

Hmm, that's true. I sometimes forget about those features because I never really have a use for them!