Router

From Hackepedia
Revision as of 08:37, 1 April 2009 by Pbug (talk | contribs) (IPv6 link)
Jump to navigationJump to search

A router is a computer that forwards OSI layer 3 packets from network interface to network interface. It has a table (set of rules) called a routing table that makes it determine what interface it should sent a packet out on. Routers decrement the IP time-to-live on the packet they receive before they pass it on, meaning they have to recompute the checksum on the IP header.

An IPv6 router does not recompute the checksum as it doesn't have a field for this in its header.