ISDN Router

In the past, ISDN routers were used to allow multiple access to an ISDN phone line, enabling the transfer of calls and data between several computers. Dedicated ISDN routers are very rarely manufactured nowadays, since their essential components are often found in some of today's DSL, VoIP or Wi-fi routers as an alternative form of connection.


Before the advent of broadband connections, ISDN routers were the phone system of choice when computers needed to be connected to a network. An ISDN router would be used to connect individual computers to a network and to manage data connections over an ISDN line. Nowadays, pure ISDN routers have almost disappeared from the market, having been replaced by DSL routers, VoIP routers and Wi-fi routers. This may well be seen as a logical progression: DSL routers provide an Internet connection over a DSL line, VoIP routers make Internet telephony possible and Wi-fi routers allow for the wireless use of a network. ISDN routers are rarely integrated into these devices, even if it is sometimes presented as an alternative connection option. What's more, ever since it became possible to create a DSL connection without an underlying telephone connection, ISDN access has become largely superfluous. However, VoIP routers are now also more frequently being used to connect to ISDN telephones which can then be used for Internet calling over a DSL line. Almost all modern routers, whether they have ISDN functionality or not, function simultaneously as hardware firewalls, blocking unauthorized access in both directions.