A term used in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, an edge router is a device that routes data packets between one or more local area networks (LANs) and an ATM backbone network, whether a campus network or a wide area network (WAN). An edge router is an example of an edge device and is sometimes referred to as a boundary router. An edge router is sometimes contrasted with a core router, which forwards packets to computer hosts within a network (but not between networks).
This was last updated in December 2000