hey people, What exactly is a router?? and how does it work???

A router is a device for connecting two networks together. In the case of a home user this means the Internet and your LAN. That's what the Internet is, Inter Connected Networks all connected by routers, albeit a little more complex than you average home router. A router works by taking packets in, looking at the header information and deciding where to route it to. Stuart

So for a home user you would use a router for protection from the internet. Also to connect more then one computer to the internet using the same internet connection

Yes, a home router will give you some some protection by virtue of Network Address Translation. That means that when your computer makes are request through a router, the private IP address is translated into the public IP address that the rest of the world can see. And likewise the router translates incoming data with your public address to the private address of the computer it is destined for. As for connecting more than one computer to a single Internet connect, that is exactly what a home router is designed for. You could connect multiple computer via Internet Connection Sharing which is done in software and configures one computer to behave pretty much like a router. However, a router is far more reliable and can be left permanently connected with no ill effect. That way each computer acts independently of any other as far as Internet connections go. Stuart