Router vs switch vs access point: what’s the difference?

A router, a switch and an access point do three different jobs. The router joins your office network to the internet, the switch connects the wired devices inside the office, and the access point lets wireless devices join in.

What each one does

• Router. A gateway between two networks. It reads the address on each piece of data and sends it on towards the right network. In an office, one side of it faces the internet and the other faces your equipment.
• Switch. A box with a row of network ports. It takes data coming in on one port and sends it out of the port that leads to the device it is meant for. It is how wired computers, printers and phones in the same office reach each other.
• Access point. The Wi-Fi part. It connects wireless devices to one another and to the wired network behind it.

Why people mix them up

The box an internet provider supplies usually does all three jobs. It routes, it has a few wired ports on the back, and it broadcasts Wi-Fi. Most wireless routers also include a basic firewall. People call the whole thing “the router” or “the modem”, so the separate jobs never get separate names.

Business equipment splits the jobs apart again. A larger office typically has one router or firewall where the internet comes in, one or more switches in a cupboard, and several access points on ceilings, each wired back to a switch.

The real difference

The switch and the access point work inside your network. They get data from one of your devices to another, by cable or by radio. The router works at the edge, and decides what passes between your network and someone else’s.

That makes the router the device with the most security weight. The Australian Signals Directorate points out that a router directs traffic but does not provide the same security as a firewall, and lists routers among the devices attackers go after because they sit between the internal network and the internet.

How to choose

• More wired devices than ports? Add a switch. It plugs into a spare port and gives you more.
• Wi-Fi does not reach the whole office? Add access points, cabled back to the switch, in the areas that need cover. Why your office Wi-Fi is slow, and how to improve it goes through the common causes.
• Visitors use your Wi-Fi? CISA advises a guest network that is separate from the main one. Check that your router and access points can provide it.
• The provider’s box is several years old, or has run out of settings you need? Read When should you replace your business router?.

Whichever boxes you have, the same housekeeping applies to all of them: change the default administrator password, install updates, and turn off features nobody uses.

If you are weighing up home equipment against business equipment, Is consumer networking equipment good enough for a business? is the next read. Our network services team can survey the office and recommend what to add.