Understanding Technology: How Wireless Routers Work
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Wireless routers allow more than one computer to connect to a network simultaneously. In some cases routers can be wired, meaning that they allow the computers to connect via Ethernet cables. In others they can be wireless, though most wireless routers also serve as wired routers as well. Routers are computers with limited function. That function is to connect computers to the Internet and route their data, therefore they work as a type of splitter for an Internet connection. Data from the Internet will travel wirelessly to and from the router which will send it to the appropriate computer.
802.11b and other network standards
There are different standards for wireless connectors, ranging from 802.11b to 802.11g, and newest standard: 802.11n. Having a number of devices that work with the same standards is necessary for them to connect to each other. The frequencies used 803.11 are not the same in every country. In the USA the frequencies are sometimes vulnerable to interference coming from a variety of other devices including Bluetooth products and even microwave ovens.
Wireless routers and security
If a wireless router is unsecured, meaning that a user does not need to enter a password to connect to it, anyone connecting can do whatever they want with the network, therefore there are network security protocols so that the owner of a network connection can maintain control of it. These security protocols help to maintain privacy of data sent on a network as well as help to prevent tampering with the network itself. The original method of securing a network was WEP security. WEP stands for Wireless Equivalent Privacy. This method of securing a network is not very secure and there are multiple tutorials online for cracking it. The next thing that came along was WPA, which stands for W-Fi Protected Access, which is considerably more secure than WEP. WPA2 is the newest security protocol.