A residential gateway is a small consumer-grade gateway which bridges network access between connected

local area network A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, campus, or building, and has its network equipment and interconnects locally managed. LANs facilitate the distribution of da ...

(LAN) hosts to a wide area network (WAN) (such as the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

) via a modem, or directly connects to a WAN (as in EttH), while routing. The WAN is a larger

computer network A computer network is a collection of communicating computers and other devices, such as printers and smart phones. In order to communicate, the computers and devices must be connected by wired media like copper cables, optical fibers, or b ...

, generally operated by an

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

History

The term residential gateway was popularized by Clifford Holliday in 1997 through his paper entitled "The residential gateway".

Devices

Multiple devices have been described as ''residential gateways'': * Cable modem * DSL modem * FTTx modem * IP-DECT telephone (base station) * Network switch * Smart home hub * TV/ VoD set-top box * Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) analog telephone adapter * Wired router * Wireless access point * Wireless router Internet Box Yoomee

A modem (e.g. DSL modem, cable modem) by itself provides none of the functions of a router. It merely allows ATM or PPP or PPPoE traffic to be transmitted across telephone lines, cable wires, optical fibers, wireless radio frequencies, or other physical layers. On the receiving end is another modem that re-converts the transmission format back into digital data packets. This allows network bridging using telephone, cable, optical, and radio connection methods. The modem also provides handshake protocols, so that the devices on each end of the connection are able to recognize each other. However, a modem generally provides few other network functions. *A USB modem plugs into a single PC and allows a connection of that single PC to a WAN. If properly configured, the PC can also function as the router for a home LAN. *An internal modem can be installed on a single PC (e.g. on a PCI card), also allowing that single PC to connect to a WAN. Again, the PC can be configured to function as a router for a home LAN. A cellular wireless access point can function in a similar fashion to a modem. It can allow a direct connection from a home LAN to a WWAN, if a wireless router or access point is present on the WAN as well and tethering is allowed. Many modems now incorporate the features mentioned below and thus are appropriately described as residential gateways, such as some Internet providers which offer a cable modem router combo.

Features

A residential gateway usually provides * configuration via a web interface, or app on mobile device. *

routing Routing is the process of selecting a path for traffic in a Network theory, network or between or across multiple networks. Broadly, routing is performed in many types of networks, including circuit-switched networks, such as the public switched ...

between the home network and the Internet. * connectivity within the home network like a network switch, hub, or WLAN base station. *

network address translation Network address translation (NAT) is a method of mapping an IP address space into another by modifying network address information in the IP header of packets while they are in transit across a traffic Router (computing), routing device. The te ...

(NAT), * DHCP for

IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the first version of the Internet Protocol (IP) as a standalone specification. It is one of the core protocols of standards-based internetworking methods in the Internet and other packet-switched networks. ...

and

IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...

, and * firewall functions It may also provide other functions such as Dynamic DNS, and converged triple play services such as TV and

telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunications services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is ...

. Most gateways are self-contained components, using internally stored firmware. They are generally platform-independent, i.e., they can serve any

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

. Wireless routers perform the same functions as a wired router and base station, but allow connectivity for wireless devices with the LAN, or as a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

between the wireless router and another wireless router for a meshnet (the wireless router-wireless router connection can be within the LAN or can be between the LAN and WWAN).

Security

Low-cost production and requirement for user friendliness make gateways vulnerable to network attacks, which resulted in large clusters of such devices being taken over and used to launch DDoS attacks. A majority of the vulnerabilities were present in the web administration frontends of the routers, allowing unauthorized control either via default passwords, vendor backdoors, or web vulnerabilities.

References

External links

The Residential Gateway (a vision paper published in International Engineering Consortium’s 1996 Annual Review of Communications, p.457)Home Gateway Initiative, a group of broadband providers proposing specifications for residential gateways
on About.com {{Telecommunications Networking hardware Telecommunications equipment Broadband Server appliance Router la:Gateway