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Difference between Router and Gateway

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1. Router : 
A router is basically a device or a hardware which is responsible for receiving, analyzing and forwarding the data packets to other networks. A router actually determines the destination or the target IP address of the packet and thus the best way for transferring the packet is determined by the help of forwarding tables and headers. 

The forwarding of the data packet is done from one router to the other which basically forms a network(example: internet) until it reaches the final target node. A router is mainly used in the local area network(LAN) and wide area network(WAN) domain. The data is transferred across the network by using the routing protocols. It is much more costly in comparison to other network devices like hub, switch etc. 
Some of the companies that develop routers are D-Link, Cisco, Nortel etc. 

2. Gateway : 
A gateway is basically a device or a hardware which acts like a “gate” among the networks.Thus it can also be defined as a node which acts as an entrance for the other nodes in the network.It is also responsible for enabling the traffic flow within the network.Gateway uses more than one protocol for communication thus its activities are much more complex than a switch or a router. 

So a gateway is basically a device that is used for the communication among the networks which have a different set of protocols and is responsible for the conversion of one protocol into the other.For any kind of workplace, the gateway is a computer system which is responsible for routing the traffic from the main workstation to outside network. For homes, it is responsible for giving the access to the internet thus acting as an internet service provider. 

Difference between router and gateway : 

 

S.NO. Router Gateway
1. It is a hardware device which is responsible for receiving, analyzing and forwarding the data packets to other networks. It is a device that is used for the communication among the networks which have a different set of protocols.
2. It supports the dynamic routing. It does not support dynamic routing.
3. The main function of a router is routing the traffic from one network to the other. The main function of a gateway is to translate one protocol to the other.
4. A router operates on layer 3 and layer 4 of the OSI model. A gateway operates upto layer 5 of the OSI model.
5. Working principle of a router is to install routing details for multiple networks and routing traffic based upon the destination address. 5. Working principle of a gateway is to differentiate what is inside the network and what is outside the network.
6. It is hosted on only the dedicated applications. It is hosted on dedicated applications, physical servers or virtual applications.
7. The additional features provided by a router are Wireless networking, Static routing, NAT, DHCP server etc. The additional features provided by a gateway are network access control, protocol conversion etc.

 


Last Updated : 11 Sep, 2020
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