{"id":45286,"date":"2021-06-11T17:05:19","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T09:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=45286"},"modified":"2022-09-06T19:40:01","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T11:40:01","slug":"how-to-build-a-raspberry-pi-router-step-by-step-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seeedstudio.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/11\/how-to-build-a-raspberry-pi-router-step-by-step-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Build a Raspberry Pi Router – Step by Step Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether it\u2019s watching a video, sending an email, or simply surfing the web, all our interactions with the Internet are fundamentally data exchanges that go back and forth. To facilitate these exchanges, routers play an indispensable role in, well, routing data. In this article, I\u2019m going to share exactly why you should consider building a custom Raspberry Pi Router – and more importantly, how!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is a Router?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A router is a piece of hardware that connects a Local Area Network (LAN) to other networks.<\/strong> In most cases, this \u201cother network\u201d is known as a Wide Area Network (WAN), or none other than the Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A router\u2019s purpose is to serve as the bridge between the two networks, which is done by forwarding data packets that need to be transmitted \u201cacross borders\u201d. To achieve this, devices are connected to the router either through a network cable like ethernet or over a wireless connection like WiFi, As a result, local devices not only gain access to the Internet but can also communicate with each other through the router – hence the term \u201cLocal Network\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A router is very much the \u201cadministrator\u201d of this local network and plays an important role in managing connected devices. For instance, it is responsible for assigning IP addresses to incoming connection requests, typically through DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). Thus, each device can be identified and managed individually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can a router run an OS?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If I ask you whether the router provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) can run an OS (Operating System), your answer would probably be “NO”. This is because the primary role of traditional routers at home is simply to coordinate connections and forward data to Ethernet-connected devices or WiFi-connected devices. For this purpose, you do not need to run any OS on the router or have a router with good hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But, can a router run an OS? Well..there are some special routers in the market with the ability to install an OS on them. These routers are different from traditional routers in hardware because these routers equip a CPU, RAM, and sometimes internal storage. I will talk further about these routers later in this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of OS a router can run?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So what kind of OS can these special routers run? Windows, Mac? Of course not. A router does not need to run this kind of heavy OS because it would not make sense. So, there are some special operating systems that are specifically designed to run on this type of router, and most are Linux-based. These operating systems are much lightweight allowing them to be run on low-end CPUs and low RAM available on these routers. Also, most of these operating systems are open-source, which means you do not need to pay extra to have access to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the most common router operating systems are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n