Abstract: Methods and apparatus for accelerating a router in a communications network are described. In one embodiment, a router accelerator includes a forwarding table for associatively storing a destination address and a next hop address. If a destination address of a packet matches a destination address in the forwarding table, then logic forwards the packet to a next hop. A router may be coupled to at least one network port through the router accelerator. In another approach, the network includes at least one host and at least one router. The host has at least one routing table for associatively storing a second-level destination address, a second-level next hop address and a first-level next hop address. A router accelerator includes redirect logic for storing the second-level destination address in a second-level next hop address entry in the at least one host routing table. This causes the host to request a first-level next hop address corresponding to the second-level destination address.