A router is a device which has played an important role in the development and existence of the Internet. Routers are designed to transmit data from other network users to specific locations along pathways. When data is sent from one location to another via a network, the router is responsible for doing the most work to make sure the data is delivered.
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. Routers however 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 with multiple computers.