How Routers Work???

Currently using 'Traceroute.' I saw just how many routers are involved in my Internet traffic by using a program I have on my computer. The program is called 'Traceroute,' -- it traced the route that the packet of information took to get from my computer to another computer connected to the Internet.

To run this program, I clicked on the "MS-DOS Prompt" icon on the "Start" menu. Then, at the "C:\WINDOWS>" prompt, type "tracert www.howstuffworks.com", as they suggested to try out.

• The first number shows how many routers are between my computer and the router shown.
• The next three numbers show how long it takes a packet of information to move from your computer to the router shown and back again.
• Next, starting with step six, comes the "name" of the router or server. (This is something that helps people looking at the list but is of no importance to the routers and computers as they move traffic along the Internet.)
• Finally, you see the Internet Protocol (IP) address of each computer or router.
• The final picture of the trace route shows the numbers routers between the Web server and me and the time it took, on average, for information to get from my computer to the server and back again.