What is a Gateway? Definition from WhatIs.com (2024)

By

  • Sarah Lewis
  • John Burke,Nemertes Research

A gateway is anetwork nodeused in telecommunications that connects two networks with different transmissionprotocolstogether. Gateways serve as an entry and exit point for a network as all data must pass through or communicate with the gateway prior to being routed. In most IP-based networks, the only traffic that does not go through at least one gateway is traffic flowing among nodes on the same local area network (LAN) segment. The term default gateway or network gateway may also be used to describe the same concept.

The primary advantage of using a gateway in personal or enterprise scenarios is simplifying internet connectivity into one device. In the enterprise, a gateway node can also act as a proxy server and a firewall. Gateways can be purchased through popular technology retailers, such as Best Buy, or rented through an internet service provider.

How gateways work

All networks have a boundary that limits communication to devices that are directly connected to it. Due to this, if a network wants to communicate with devices, nodes or networks outside of that boundary, they require the functionality of a gateway. A gateway is often characterized as being the combination of a router and a modem.

The gateway is implemented at the edge of a network and manages all data that is directed internally or externally from that network. When one network wants to communicate with another, the data packet is passed to the gateway and then routed to the destination through the most efficient path. In addition to routing data, a gateway will also store information about the host network’s internal paths and the paths of any additional networks that are encountered.

Gateways are basically protocol converters, facilitating compatibility between two protocols and operating on any layer of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model.

What is a Gateway? Definition from WhatIs.com (1)

Types of gateways

Gateways can take several forms and perform a variety of tasks. Examples of this include:

  • Web application firewalls- This type filters traffic to and from a web server and looks at application-layer data.
  • Cloud storage gateways- This type translates storage requests with various cloud storage service API calls. It allows organizations to integrate storage from a private cloud into applications without migrating into a public cloud.
  • API,SOA orXMLgateways – This type manages traffic flowing into and out of a service, microservices-oriented architecture or XML-based web service.
  • IoT gateways-This type aggregates sensor data from devices in an IoT environment, translates between sensor protocols and processes sensor data before sending it onward.
  • media gateways- This type converts data from the format required for one type of network to the format required for another.
  • Email security gateways- This type prevents the transmission of emails that break company policy or will transfer information with malicious intent.
  • VoIP trunk gateways- This type facilitates the use of plain old telephone service equipment, such as landline phones and fax machines, with a voice over IP (VoIP) network.

Additionally, a service provider may develop their own personal gateways that can be used by customers. For instance, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has an Amazon API Gateway that allows a developer to connect non-AWS applications to AWS back end resources.

Difference between a gateway and a router

Gateways and routers are similar in that they both can be used to regulate traffic between two or more separate networks. However, a router is used to join two similar types of networks and a gateway is used to join two dissimilar networks. Dissimilar could be used to describe networks that use different primary protocols.

Due to this logic, a router may be considered a gateway, but a gateway is not always considered a router. Routers are the most common gateway, used to connect a home or enterprise network to the internet.

This was last updated in June 2019

Continue Reading About gateway

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  • The value of APIs and microservices gateway tools
  • Using an IoT gateway to connect the 'things' to the cloud
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  • What are the benefits of using Amazon's API Gateway for AWS?

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What is a Gateway? Definition from WhatIs.com (2024)

FAQs

What is a Gateway? Definition from WhatIs.com? ›

Gateways serve as an entry and exit point for a network as all data must pass through or communicate with the gateway prior to being routed.

What is the definition of a gateway? ›

gateway | American Dictionary

a place through which you have to go to get to another place, esp. a tall and wide entrance through a wall: fig. The new airport is regarded as the most convenient gateway to southeast Asia. (Definition of gateway from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

What does your gateway mean? ›

It is simply the physical place where data stops to be either transported or used/read. A gateway, then, is a specific kind of node: It is a computer that sits in between multiple networks, applications, or devices and converts the information and data to the appropriate format or protocol.

What is the good meaning of gateway? ›

noun. an entrance or passage that may be closed by a gate. a structure for enclosing such an opening or entrance. any passage by or point at which a region may be entered: New York soon became the gateway to America.

What is a gateway in it terms? ›

Definitions: An intermediate system (interface, relay) that attaches to two (or more) computer networks that have similar functions but dissimilar implementations and that enables either one-way or two-way communication between the networks.

What is the main purpose of gateway? ›

The gateway converts information, data or other communications from one protocol or format to another. A router may perform some of the functions of a gateway. An Internet gateway can transfer communications between an enterprise network and the Internet.

What is another word for gateway? ›

arch entrance entry portal pylon.

What is an example of a gateway? ›

Gateways can take several forms and perform a variety of tasks. Examples of this include: Web application firewalls- This type filters traffic to and from a web server and looks at application-layer data. Cloud storage gateways- This type translates storage requests with various cloud storage service API calls.

What does it mean to be a gateway to something? ›

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English gateway to somethinga) a place, especially a city, that you can go through in order to reach another much bigger place St. Louis is the gateway to the West. b) a way of achieving something To me a home in the country is a gateway to happiness.

What does it mean for someone to be a gateway? ›

If something is a gateway to a job, career, or other activity, it gives you the opportunity to make progress or get further success in that activity.

What is the meaning of gateway to God? ›

Haridwar also known as "The gateway to God" is one of the oldest and holiest city in india. Hindus believe that a pilgrimage to Haridwar provides liberation from the endless cycle of death and rebirth. How to get there. Haridwar lies alongside the Ganges river near Rishikesh.

What does gateway mean in website? ›

A gateway page - also known as a doorway page - is a web page designed to rank for particular search queries without offering useful information or answering the user's search query. Instead, the page will redirect the visitor to a different page.

What is gateway in simple words? ›

A gateway is a piece of networking hardware or software used in telecommunications networks that allows data to flow from one discrete network to another.

What are the 2 types of a gateway? ›

There are two types of network gateways – unidirectional and bidirectional gateways.

What is your gateway? ›

A default gateway is a piece of hardware that sits between a user's home network and the rest of the internet. In most local networks, the default gateway is the Wi-Fi router. It allows a user to access servers and devices outside of their network — all the traffic they send and receive goes through it.

What is the difference between a gate and a gateway? ›

A gateway is an opening or entrance of a gate that swings open and shut. People also use the word gateway to describe the entryway into anything, like school could be your gateway to opportunity.

What is a gateway in home Internet? ›

A gateway is a single device that serves as both the modem and the Wi-Fi router. Just like a standalone modem, you can connect a coaxial cable from the ISP directly to the back of a modem and router combo. And just like a standalone router, you can connect devices to the Ethernet ports for a direct connection.

What is the difference between Wi-Fi and gateway? ›

Essentially, a WiFi gateway is a device that combines the purpose of both a modem and a router. Separately, a modem is a device that connects your smart devices with your ISP (internet service provider), while a router is a device that translates the modem's data and distributes it as a WiFi signal to many devices.

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