Modems vs routers: What is the difference, and why do you need both?

Modems and routers form the core of home network setups. If you need an internet connection in 2024, it’s unlikely that you can get one without having both, a modem and a router. That said, your ISP (Internet Service Provider) should provide a modem with your internet connection, and they might even throw in a router, depending on what you’re being charged. But what is a modem, and how is it different from a router? Read on to find out.  

What is a modem?

The term ‘modem’ is simply a shortened version of modulator-demodulator, a technical term for a device that converts digital signals to analogue signals and vice versa. This process was important when we were still using the internet over telephone lines, as the data over a telephone signal would be transmitted as audio waves. 

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Today, however, we use fibre-optic connections for most internet connectivity, which comprises light pulses. Your ISP will transmit the internet signal over a fibre-optic cable to your house, where that cable will be inserted into a modem. The modem then converts those light pulses into a digital electrical signal that can then be transmitted around your house via a router. 

The modem, thus, can be thought of as a bridge between the network your devices connect to and the larger internet. 

What is a router?

Digital data over the internet is transmitted as pulses of data called packets. When you’re watching a YouTube video, for example, the video stream is broken up into millions of tiny data packets that are then sent to you from Google’s servers to your device. 

If you were to imagine that these packets are like cars, and the electronic routes that they take are highways, then a router can be thought of as a traffic management system that directs the flow of traffic. 

Routers operate at various levels with the one inside your home being the simplest one. Inside your home, all your devices connect to one or more routers – the WiFi network you’re connected to – and these routers route requests for data to and from the modem, which is the source of your internet connection. 

Your TSP or telecom service provider uses more complex routers for 4G and 5G signals, countries use massively complex routers to manage data from other countries, your state uses routers at a state level, and so on. 

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Again, your ISP will provide you with a modem by default if you’re using a fibre connection. The output from the modem, which is converted into a form that your devices can understand, is routed to your devices via a router. 

To stay connected to the outside world from the comfort of your homes and offices then, you need both, modems and routers, working in tandem with each other.