A router is an essential piece of creating a home network, which is a group of devices — like computers, game systems, printers and mobile devices — that connect to the Internet and each other. Routers can connect the devices together by using wired (Ethernet) connections, wireless (2.4 Ghz and 5.0 Ghz) connections or a mix of both.

Read this article to tell if you’re using a router and get other helpful details about using it in your home network.

How Can I Tell If I’m Using a Router?

Follow these steps to figure out if you have a router connected:

Look at the back of your modem or Wireless Gateway.
If there is an Ethernet cable, follow that cable to where it is connected.
Determine what device the Ethernet cable is connected to. It could be to a desktop, printer, game system, router or other device.

Routers come in many shapes and designs. While most will have some type of external antennas, they don’t always. Most commonly, there will be one Ethernet port that acts as an input (sometimes labeled as Internet or WAN). In a separate section on the back, there will be two or more connections that can act as an output (sometimes labeled as Ethernet, LAN, or numbers). See our example below.
Router back section with functions labeled.

Do I Need to Use a Router?

If you want to connect more than one device to the Internet, you need a router. When you lease an Xfinity Wireless Gateway, the router is built into it. The Wireless Gateway acts as a modem (connection to the Internet) and a router (connecting multiple devices within the home).

While it's not necessary, you can choose to have a separate router to create the home network in addition to your Wireless Gateway. This will require additional configuration on the Wireless Gateway so that it will only act as a modem. Without the configuration changes, there may be some connectivity issues as two devices try to do the same thing. See the section below, Using a Separate Router with a Leased Wireless Gateway for details.

If you don't lease a Wireless Gateway from us, you’ll either need a modem and a router as two separate devices or they can be combined into one device like the Wireless Gateway. See the list of compatible devices based on your needs.

Using the Wireless Gateway as a Router

Your leased Wireless Gateway already has all the capabilities of performing wired and wireless routing to connect your home network. To do this, disconnect any other routers from the Wireless Gateway and ensure that Bridge Mode is disabled. (This is disabled by default.) See Using Bridge Mode on Your Wireless Gateway for more information on how to configure this setting.

For more information on the benefits of leasing and using a Wireless Gateway, see Benefits of Renting an xFi Gateway.

Using a Separate Router with a Leased Wireless Gateway

If you have a separate router in addition to your leased Wireless Gateway, you'll need to put it in Bridge Mode. This will allow the separate router to handle the connectivity between devices within the home network. Certain features, like xFi, will no longer be available. See Using Bridge Mode on Your Wireless Gateway for more information on the impacts of using Bridge Mode and how to configure this setting.

Depending on manufacturer or modem of the router, you may need to do some additional setup after the Wireless Gateway is placed into Bridge Mode to have connectivity. Refer to the documentation that came with your device for more information.