A router is the grand marshall of the boat's Internet traffic.  The router decides which data belongs on the boat, and which data (requests and results) need to leave the boat.

A router has 1 or more LAN (local area network...i.e. the boat) ports.  These LAN ports are not nearly enough for the boat's needs (WAPs, laptops, etc) so one LAN port is connected to an Ethernet hub or switch.  Thus all the ship's data moves on the LAN.

When a request is made, the router sends the request out via its WAN (wide area network) port.  Some routers (like the Cisco RV0-42 on the top right) have 2 or more WAN ports, to connect to two Internet sources simultaneously (such as 2 VSATs or 2 Cell Data Routers)

All routers have built-in firewalls to keep out unwanted data from the WAN.  However, in a few cases, such as allowing remote access to the boat's file server, a VPN (virtual private network) may be defined.  This is merely several settings in the router to allow a secure connection from the outside world onto the boat.  Of course a username and password are required by the router.

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