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  • This is the "Gateway." I'm not so sure if the word has ever actually been used to refer to a modem. I think the story was more like, when things were still new to home users (or laymen, if I may) and home router (standalone or not) wasn't even a thing yet, some people might have thought that the word refers to the modem when they hear some "professionals" or so said it, while the professional really meant the router managed by the ISP (basically the "WAN gateway" these days, assuming your router is directly connected to the ISP). I do admit though I don't really know about dialup/PPP(oE)...
    – Tom Yan
    Commented Jun 10 at 7:03
  • What's interesting (but also somewhat unfortunate?) is that, as things develop, home router, and "modem/router", become a thing, and the misunderstanding sort of become a fact, as in, the "gateway" in more/most concern (the "LAN gateway", which "wasn't a thing", or actually, the "WAN" these days was the "LAN") could reside in the device that is also a modem...
    – Tom Yan
    Commented Jun 10 at 7:14
  • "The modem [...] is the "Gateway." - No, it isn't. The gateway is the default router for a client. The modem does not route, so it is not a gateway. It just translates one physical medium to another. When you connect a client directly to a modem, the gateway is some router at the ISP, outside your house.
    – marcelm
    Commented Jun 10 at 10:11
  • The modem IS the gateway. A router controls traffic within a network, whereas a gateway connects various networks. You could I guess call the router a "type of gateway" because it's transmitting data similarly but that just isn't true. It only appears that way because your router is routing data through itself to access the modem. That's the point of the router. The modem intrinsically connects your LAN (which the router splits into multiple ports and Wi-Fi if enabled) to the ISPs WAN. Obviously your modem is a small piece of the bigger picture, but to YOU that's the gateway.
    – Dawserdoos Grahamcracker
    Commented Jul 5 at 1:57
  • On another note, modems CAN transmit data without a router. This doesn't require a "router" on the ISPs side either because these ISPs already have a connection to you through the lines. (Likely through a NAP server). The point of the modem is to provide 1 device, and 1 device only, an internet IP address. This is because not every device can have an IP address or we'd run out. So, the modem converts the ISP signal into one a PC can understand. Obviously having only 1 device isn't ideal, so that's where the router comes in. It acts as "the 1 device" and transmits it's connection to others.
    – Dawserdoos Grahamcracker
    Commented Jul 5 at 2:09