Broadband can enter the home or office through either an ADSL connection or via a cable. An ADSL connection is provided by an ISP and connects with the Internet through a normal telephone line. A cable connection is provided by a cable company and a separate cable needs to be installed, through which phone, television, and broadband services are provided.

The ISP will usually supply their customers with a USB modem to go with their ADSL broadband connection. A USB modem allows a single USB equipped computer to access the Internet through the ADSL connection.

If the user wishes to connect more than one computer to the Internet through the ADSL connection at any one time, they will require an ADSL router.

An ADSL router is a device that connects two or more networks together. In this case the network of computers located within the home or office is connected to the Internet, which is the largest network in the world. The home or office network is a called a Local-Area Network (LAN), while the Internet or any outside network is called a Wide-Area Network (WAN).

An ADSL router is therefore used to connect multiple computers within a home or office network to a single broadband connection, which is used to access the Internet.

One of the most important additional features that can be added to an ADSL router is the ability to go wireless. An ADSL Wireless Router can provide the same networking ability as a normal ADSL router without the need for wires and cables running between the devices.

Instead of using cables, wireless devices connect to each other via radio waves through a device called an access point. An ADSL wireless router provides the access point necessary for the wireless network.

As well as acting as an access point, ADSL Wireless Routers have built-in modems to allow users to connect to the Internet directly through the phone line, without the need for a separate ADSL modem. In fact an ADSL wireless router contains a router, modem, switch, and an access point within the same device.

The router allows the devices to connect to the Internet, while the switch provides the ability to connect wired devices together, and the access point allows for the networking of wireless devices. Therefore an ADSL wireless router allows for the compilation of a network that can be either entirely wireless, entirely wired, or a mixture of both.

Devices that connect to the ADSL router through wires will require network cards. Devices that utilise the wireless capabilities will require a wireless network card in order to send and receive radio signals to the ADSL router via the access point.