A router is hardware device designed to receive, analyze and move incoming packets to another network. It may also be used to convert the packets to another network interface, drop them, and perform other actions relating to a network. The picture shows the Linksys BEFSR11 wireless router and is what many home routers resemble.
A router has a lot more capabilities than other network devices, such as a hub or a switch that are only able to perform basic network functions. For example, a hub is often used to transfer data between computers or network devices, but does not analyze or do anything with the data it is transferring. By contrast, routers can analyze the data being sent over a network, change how it is packaged, and send it to another network or over a different network. For example, routers are commonly used in home networks to share a single Internet connection between multiple computers.
What's the Different between Router and Modem?