how do routers forward packets

Diagram Showing A Router'S Three-Way Decision Process For Directly Connected, Remote, And Default Route Destinations
CCNA

Router Path Selection: How Routers Determine the Best Path

Every time a router receives a packet, it runs through the same basic decision sequence: is the destination directly connected, is it a remote network reachable through a known route, or is there no known route at all? Understanding this sequence — and exactly how a router picks between multiple valid paths when more than...

Muhammad Khattak 8 min read
Router Processing An Incoming Packet Through Four Sequential Decision Gates — Longest Prefix Match, Administrative Distance, Metric, And Forward — Before Sending It To The Destination Network
CCNA

How a Router Makes a Packet Forwarding Decision: A Step-by-Step Guide

Routers are the traffic directors of the internet, guiding data packets to their destinations with precision. But how exactly do they decide where to send each packet? This guide breaks down the router packet forwarding process step by step, covers the Longest Prefix Match and Administrative Distance rules that actually determine route selection, and explains...

Asad Ijaz 10 min read
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