Bridge
A device that connects two LAN segments together, which may be of similar or dissimilar types, such as Ethernet and Token Ring Bridges are inserted into a network to improve performance by keeping traffic
contained within smaller segments.
Bridges work at the data link layer (OSI layer 2), whereas routers work at the network layer (OSI layer 3). Bridges are protocol independent;
routers are protocol dependent. Bridges are faster than routers because they do
not have to read the protocol to glean routing information.