A device that allows the transmission of data to be extended farther down a cable.

The Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a distance-vector routing protocol, which employs the hop count as a routing metric. RIP prevents routing loops by implementing a limit on the number of hops allowed in a path from the source to a destination. The maximum number of hops allowed for RIP is 15. This hop limit, however, also limits the size of networks that RIP can support. A hop count of 16 is considered an infinite distance and used to deprecate inaccessible, inoperable, or otherwise undesirable routes in the selection process.

A router is a layer 3 device that allows for communication between two or more networks. A router also allows for access lists to control the data that flows between those networks.