{"id":41515,"date":"2017-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/experts\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-network-switch-and-a-network-router\/"},"modified":"2020-07-02T21:49:47","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T21:49:47","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-a-network-switch-and-a-network-router","status":"publish","type":"q-a","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/7\/31101\/networking\/networking-hardware\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-network-switch-and-a-network-router","title":{"rendered":"What is the difference between a network switch and a network router?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A network switch<\/a> moves data between two network devices, while a router<\/a> generally routes data between two connected networks.<\/p>\n

The router is a device that some think of as a "dispatcher" which sits between two networks and directs data traffic<\/a>, connecting one network to another. One of the most common examples given of router function is where a LAN<\/a> router connects a small home network<\/a>, often wirelessly, to the internet.<\/p>\n

Network switches, on the other hand, move data from one network device to another, efficiently, often by sending a localized signal to only one device, rather than broadcasting it to all local devices. Many network switches are cabled, where switches use MAC addresses<\/a> or other identifiers to send signals from a dedicated port. Some switches work at multiple levels of the OSI model<\/a> to do more specialized kinds of data packet<\/a> control. These are called "multilayer switches."<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A network switch moves data between two network devices, while a router generally routes data between two connected networks. The router is a device that some think of as a "dispatcher" which sits between two networks and directs data traffic, connecting one network to another. One of the most common examples given of router function […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7683,"featured_media":41516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"q-acat":[347,366,349,378],"class_list":["post-41515","q-a","type-q-a","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","q-acat-hardware","q-acat-network-management","q-acat-networks","q-acat-networking-hardware"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is the difference between a network switch and a network router? - Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A network switch moves data between two network devices, while a router generally routes data between two connected networks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is the difference between a network switch and a network router?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A network switch moves data between two network devices, while a router generally routes data between two connected networks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/7\/31101\/networking\/networking-hardware\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-network-switch-and-a-network-router\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-02T21:49:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fiber-light-lighting-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/7\/31101\/networking\/networking-hardware\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-network-switch-and-a-network-router\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/7\/31101\/networking\/networking-hardware\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-network-switch-and-a-network-router\",\"name\":\"What is the difference between a network switch and a network router? 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