General discussion
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Topic
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Modem vs Router
Do most people have modems or routers? Are modems the cheap alternative, and are routers faster?
All Comments
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Reply To: Modem vs Router
Everybody who wants to access the internet and not use mobile data needs a modem. A modem “translates” the message from a signal coming from the ISP (via phone line or cable or fiber glass or satellite) to nice bits that are understood by the device(s) in your home network.
You need a router to connect more than 1 device (PC, laptop, phone, tablet, TV, smart anything) to the internet via the same modem or want to connect a wireless device (modems don’t send a wireless signal) via a modem connection. Long ago (some 30 to 40 years), when families only had one PC and used a dial-up modem, they didn’t need a router, so they only had a modem.
Nowadays, practically everybody has both, although they commonly are combined in one case, a modem-router combination
Some people have neither, but use their phone as hotspot. It then functions as a modem-router combination. That can be the cheapest way to access internet on a laptop or PC or even more than one, if a phone subscription with “unlimited data” is cheaperfor you than an ADSL or cable or fiber class Internet connection. And it’s even necessary if there is no wired internet where you live.
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