Modem, router, switch, and access point: What’s the difference?

Setting up a home network can be very simple if you have only a few devices or use an expensive mesh Wi-Fi system. In such cases, it’s mostly just plug-n-play. If you are serious about building a proper home network though, especially if you want to connect NAS devices, multiple PCs, and more, you’ll need to understand the technology you’re working with. 

You’ll need to ask questions about the role of a router in a computer network, or what a modem does. With that in mind, here’s a simple breakdown of all the primary networking gear you’ll need to familiarise yourself with.

Modem

Short for modulator-demodulator, a modem is a device used to convert network signals from one format to another. If you have an optical fibre connection to your home, a modem will convert the optical signals to electrical ones that devices in your home can recognise. Earlier, modems used to do something similar when we used to connect to the internet via telephone lines.

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Where modems and routers used to be integrated into one device, modems today are standalone devices that we don’t interact with.

Router

Think of a router as a kind of air-traffic controller but for networks. It simply ensures that data sent over a network gets where it’s supposed to. It ‘routes’ data, hence the name ‘router’. For example, if three people in your house are watching Youtube videos, the router is the device that ensures that the correct device gets the data for the video they want.

Routers are usually connected to modems. The modem receives the internet signal from your internet service provider (ISP), the router distributes that signal where it’s needed among the devices inside your home.

They’re essentially mini computers designed for handling networking. They can login to your ISP, manage security, blacklist or whitelist devices, manage Wi-Fi networks in the case of wireless routers, and more.

Switch

If the internet connection is a highway, the network switch is like a cross-roads of sorts. It’s usually a ‘dumb’ device — i.e. it runs passively — that manages how data is transferred between your router or modem and multiple connected devices. It’s like a router, but with no advanced features for security or network management.

Switches are commonly used in servers or server-like environments where a lot of devices need to communicate quickly and effectively. Most homes have no use for switches, but advanced users with NAS (network attached storage) or homelabs will likely be using switches to augment their network.

Access Point

An access point is simply how you gain wireless access to a network; it’s a gateway of sorts. This could be your router, your phone, the Bluetooth access point your headphones use for pairing, or anything else.

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If you create a Wi-Fi hotspot, you’ve created an access point. Your router creates an access point for you to connect to the internet, your PC creates an access point when you’re pairing peripherals such as keyboards and mice, and so on.

Creating and managing a home network is much like designing a highway system for managing traffic. It can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like, but you will need a thorough understanding of the tools at your disposal before you can build an effective and efficient network.