1. First, different concepts
First of all, the concept of "gateway" does not specifically refer to a class of products. As long as the equipment connecting two different networks can be called gateway; "Router" generally refers to specific products that can realize route finding and forwarding. It is obvious that router can realize the function of gateway. Of course, the two concepts of "router" in the telecommunications industry and "router" in household use are not listed for the time being.
What is the default gateway? In fact, the default gateway is not a product, but a concept of network layer. The PC itself does not have routing addressing capability, so the PC should send all IP packets to a default transit address for forwarding, that is, the default gateway. This gateway can be on the router, on the layer-3 switch, on the firewall and on the server, so it has nothing to do with physical devices.
2. Different functions
Gateway is divided into transmission gateway and application gateway. Its main function is to act as the important task of conversion. In essence, it is the IP address from one network to other networks.
The main functions of router are: connecting different networks and information transmission. According to the use, it can be divided into access, enterprise level, backbone level, terabit, multi Wan and 3G wireless.
Gateway it can be a router, switch or PC. For communication within the same network segment, the gateway does not need to be involved. Only when the host communicates with a device other than the network segment, it is necessary to send all data packets to the gateway device, and then forward them through the gateway device or have routing processing.
Router is a network layer system. In the current market, routers are generally divided into two categories: one is single protocol router and the other is multi protocol router. Router can convert data format and become a necessary device for network interconnection different from protocols.
The relationship between gateway and route is expressed as follows: gateway is the basis of network connection, and route is the bridge of network connection.