The problem of excessive broadcast traffic can be solved by using a router. Routers are able to do this, because they do not forward broadcast frames unless specifically told to do so. Routers differ from bridges in several respects. First, bridging occurs at the data link layer or layer 2, while routing occurs at the network layer or layer 3 of the OSI model. Second, bridges use physical or MAC addresses to make data forwarding decisions.
Routers use a different addressing scheme that occurs at layer three to make forwarding decisions.
They use IP or logical addresses rather than MAC addresses. Finally, bridges are primarily used to connect segments of a network. Routers are used to connect separate networks and to access the world wide Internet. Because IP addresses are implemented in software and refer to the network a device is located on, sometimes these layer three addresses are referred to as protocol addresses or network addresses. Network address Network address - Network layer address referring to a logical, rather than a physical, network device.