A gateway is a device that is used to allow the transmission of data between dissimilar networks, e.g. networks that use different protocols. A gateway can combine a variety of operations, such as malware inspection and spam filtering. For example, an email security gateway can be used between an office LAN and the internet in order to examine the emails coming into and going out of the office network and withhold any suspicious communications. An Internet of Things (IoT) gateway can be used to collect sensor data from connected devices and forward them to a user's smartphone.
