Residential gateway

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A basic residential gateway connects an ethernet network to a broadband connection. These routers will typically include connectors for both networks (13, 17), along with a basic processor (4), RAM (6), and flash memory (7).

The web interface for a residential gateway. The web interface allows the user to configure and change routing options on the gateway.
This article is about the type of network routers and modems found in many homes, known as residential gateways. For the type of network router used commercially or in larger networks, see router.
A residential gateway (or home gateway), is a hardware device connecting a home network with a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet. The residential gateway provides port translation (NAT), allowing all the computers in a small network to share one IP address and Internet connection. The residential gateway may sit between the modem and the internal network, or a DSL or cable modem may be integrated into the residential gateway. A residential gateway often combines the functions of an IP router, firewall, multi-port Ethernet switch and WiFi access point. Residential gateways that include routing capabilities are converged devices and sometimes referred to as home routers or broadband routers with "broadband" in this case referring not to the router function but the Internet access function. Residential gateways are under standardization by the Home Gateway Initiative (HGI)

Types
Residential gateways are often categorized according to the domestic device connectivity they incorporate. All residential gateways will provide, in addition, a single connection for the wide area network conection (WANC) or Internet (usually ADSL or cable). Some common differentiators in the market are as follows:
Some gateways provide routing (NAT) capabilities. They can be connected directly to an Ethernet switch or hub, have an IP address on the local area network (LAN), and will act as DHCP servers if required to allow multiple other devices to connect through them. These are usually described as routers. Being self-contained, they do not usually need drivers and are OS-independent (can be used with any operating system).
Other gateways, lacking this capability, are usually described as modems (or ADSL modems), and must be connected to a single device, or to a device which provides those capabilities separately — this might include a computer with internet connection sharing in operation, which takes the role of gateway to other devices on the local area network.
Routers are further differentiated by the local area connectivity provided. Options include on-board switches or hubs, to allow multiple Ethernet devices to be connected directly to the gateway, whilst others have a single Ethernet connector and must be connected to a separate hub or switch. Some include wireless networking capabilities, and the internal switch allows both wired and wireless devices to be connected.
A final category are those which can only be connected directly to a computer (usually via a USB connection externally, or by being designed as a PCI card internally), and therefore always act as modems. These are sometimes called USB modems or internal modems.
Quick guide to connectivity:
Gateway device can be used with Wireless devices → router
Gateway device has multiple ethernet ports at the back → router
Gateway device has USB but no ethernet → modem
Otherwise → see manufacturer's documentation

Manufacturers

A D-Link residential gateway with ADSL2+ modem
There are a number manufacturers of residential gateways including:
2Wire
3Com
Apple Inc. (termed AirPort Base Stations)
Asus
AVM_GmbH
Beetel
Belkin
Buffalo Technology
Billion
Check Point
Corecess
D-Link Systems
Draytek
Enterasys Networks
Funkwerk Enterprise Communications GmbH
Hawking Technologies
Huawei
inAccess Networks
Jungo
Lightning MultiCom
Linksys
Mikrotik
Motorola
NetComm
NETGEAR
PacketFront
Planex Communications Inc
Pivotal Networking
Sagem Communications
Siemens AG
Sitecom (Thomson)
SMC Networks
Speedtouch
Tellabs
TP-Link
U.S. Robotics
Verizon
Virtual Access
Zoom Telephonics
TRENDnet
ZyXEL

See also
Home network
Home server
Technological convergence

[edit] External links
Home Gateway Initiative, the place where residential gateways are specified
The Residential Home Gateway on About.com
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residential_gateway"
Categories: Networking hardware Broadband