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How do you decide if you should purchase a switch or a router? The following section lists the main differences between the two devices. However, switch and router capabilities vary widely. To find out what capabilities a particular product offers, you should contact the vendor:

Some switches may forward packets faster than a router forwards packets.

You do not need multiple network addresses with a switch (if network addresses are precious).

A switched network has one broadcast/multicast domain.

Routers do not broadcast packets. (Some routers allow you to enable broadcast forwarding, but don't do it!)

Some routers offer sophisticated filtering capabilities.

Routers enable you to use two network addresses (if node addresses are limited).

Some routers can act as a firewall.

Some routers can prioritize traffic.

The following technologies enable routers to perform specialized functions to improve information flow and establish a "first defense" against network intruders:

Traffic filtering and firewalling

Traffic prioritization

Traffic grouping

Variety of routing and routed protocols supported