Modem vs Router vs Gateway, and Which One to Choose for Your IoT Projects
Understanding the nomenclature (modem vs router vs gateway) and how it will apply to your IoT projects can be challenging. But the common denominator among all of them is the desire for quick, reliable Wi-Fi. We’ll discuss the distinctions between modems, routers, and gateways in this section, as well as which one to choose for your IoT projects.
What is A Modem?
A little appliance called a modem (modulator-demodulator) uses cables to link your home to the Internet. By connecting to the telephone lines, optical fiber, or coaxial cabling of the broadband provider, it functions as a tunnel to transmit information from your ISP’s network to your local network and transforms it into a digital signal. In order to direct traffic, your service provider can use the modem’s public IP address. It should be noted that a modem can only connect to one device at once, which is frequently the router. A modem does not, however, offer Wi-Fi connectivity across your house as a router does.
What is A Router?
The modem is physically connected to all other network-connected devices, such as laptops, smartphones, smart TVs, and home security cameras, by a router. Using a wired or wireless connection, it interacts with the modem to connect networks. On your local network, the router serves as a traffic director, tunneling data from network-connected devices to the modem. Thus, when you log on to Wi-Fi, you’re actually logging on to a router.
What is an IoT Gateway?
An IoT gateway, in the simplest terms, is a device that combines the capabilities of a modem and a router. In order to transmit data or information from the Internet to your computer or other connected devices, a modem is a device that plugs into your cable or phone lines. A router is a device that pairs with your modem to wirelessly transmit data to a variety of gadgets, including computers, game consoles, smartphones, and tablets.
The ease of setting up a single device is the main advantage of employing an IoT gateway. This device consolidates the two devices (router and modem), as a result, taking up less room and requiring fewer unsightly cords.
Router vs Gateway, Which Device is Right for Your IoT Projects?
Here we found a table from Dusun IoT that claims the exact difference between router and gateway.
As the modem and router must cooperate in order to connect networks, we will not discuss them more here. The above table shows that the router and gateway are very distinct from one another. In order to link a number of devices to the internet, routers are frequently used in homes and small enterprises. Specialized hardware known as the Internet of Things gateways is used to connect, secure, and manage IoT devices. In industrial and business environments, IoT gateways are used to link a sizable number of IoT devices and sensors to a cloud platform or data center.
It’s critical to think about your unique use case and requirements when picking between a router and an IoT gateway. A router might be adequate for your needs if you are setting up a modest home or office network and only require basic networking features. An IoT gateway might be a better choice, though, if you are working with a lot of IoT devices and require additional functionality like protocol translation, data aggregation, and edge computing.
