is router a kind of firewall?

Question

is router a kind of firewall (hardware)???
1)is router a kind of firewall

2)and in my text book, in the figure, we have

internet - firewall - router - lan

then what is the network "firewall"? is it also a hardware?
I know the firewall on my PC is a sftware.

Answer 1

No, a router is NOT a firewall. A router connects networks together by using information in it's routing tables (a route) to direct traffic to remote networks. A firewall is a security device that analyzes data traffic and filters or drops specified types that were set by the administrator.



Yes, in a home networking environment, these home networking gateways also have a firewall that uses stateful packet inspection. But in the real world, a firewall is a separate security appliance like Cisco PIX or ASA.<---google those and you'll see what I mean.

Answer 2

You have the answer with you, there are two kind of firewalls, hardware and software firewalls. Router is a kind of hardware firewall. In a router we enforce rules, based on which the router allows the traffic to enter the network or denies access. Software firewall on the other hand is a software which you enable on your system to protect it from viruses and trojans. So a network firewall is nothing but the router itself which blocks/allows all kind of traffic that enter the network.

Answer 3

A router routes traffic. A firewall blocks unwanted traffic. A firewall can be on the router or computer. Hardware or software.

Answer 4

yes. a router is a layer 3 switch and is aka a hardware firewall.. because it is a separate piece o hardware from the pc, it is faster, and completely isolates your network from another. software firewalls are not infallible, are susceptible to virus' and trojans. and consumes processor time.

Answer 5

Yes a router is basically a firewall also. It blocks some access to its network if you

don't know its password. Also with some routers you can block websites, and block

certain access to it.