Basically the same thing. I had a SoHoware Broadband Internet Gateway, and now have a SMC Barricade router. I don't have the exact definitions of each...for that, you can check JackMDS's link (I love this guy! Hahaha). But anyway, in my opinion, the gateway was a "cheaper" version of a router. The max throughput is 10Mbps and the maximum number of computers you can hook up is around 100. Hope this helps.