In central Indiana,
When singing “Route 66,” it’s root.
For all other roads, it’s road. State Road 9, US Road 421, The Old National Road (US40.)
The tool that cuts a groove? a rowter. The electronic device is the same.
Addresses out in the country once started with R.R., which we all pronounced "rural (or rool) rowt.
When a team wins 23-2, it’s a rowt, though my wife leaves off the t.
As a Brit I have always said rowter for the cutting tool, and by extension, have applied the same pronunciation to the computer device. Everyone I know says rowter. In all other situations, however, I use root. Who ever said English had to be consistent?
Hubby from Yorkshire calls it a “ROWter”.
And yeah, you’re just asking for trouble calling something a “rooter” down here in AU. It’s bad enough that yanks “root” for their football teams…
NZ calling in: We say “root” for both root and route, but I’ve only ever heard of “rowter” for electronics. A “rooter” is something completely different … 
Oh yes, we in Ontario say “rurl root” as well.
:: picks up a power tool and an electronic device ::
“I have to take this rowter and rooter to Mike on rurl root two; do you know the root there?”
And how do you pronounce root? (As in obtaining root access on a server)
Like foot or like brute?
For me, it’s foot and rowter.
Ok, I gotta ask.
And I always pronounce route as “root”, but router is always “ROWter”, which applies to the networking device, the rotary tool and circuit board layout software.
I am quite surprised that the OP thinks that adding a letter or two shouldn’t change the pronunciation. This is English! Rules, smules. E.g.,
House (hous)
Housed (houzd).
Oddly enough, I can’t remember how I say “route” in the context of a road name. Probably “root” because it’s easier and I’m lazy as a rule.
You may indeed ask, but the answer would be very NC-17, as you Americans might say. Usually heard here, in the bars an’ pubs, as “He’s a rooter!!” Perhaps with a choice adjective or adverb added …
Route rhymes with out. Router rhymes with outer. However, I say router approximately 100 times as often as I say route, because our state and county highways are called State Roads and County Roads, not routes. I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I said route, now that I think of it.
If it’s a noun, it’s “root” - which route did he take, Rt 66, etc.
If it’s a verb, it’s “rowt” - route the package via, etc
Both the device that manages my network traffic and the tool that cuts grooves into wood are rowters.
Here in South Africa, though, it’s rooter.
Despite its potential double entendre value, some of us do have it that way
Not me, though.
To me and all the British people I know, it’s pronounced “rooter” - and route is pronounced “route”. Both noun and verb. A “roWter” to me would be one who routs. Or the American way of saying router, of course.
That thread reminds me that a lot of Aussie IT people also say “caysh” instead of “cash” for cache, which shows that they just basically don’t know how to speak properly .
At least that’s better than several IT people I’ve met who apparently think it’s a French word and pronounce it “cashay.” 
I have a coworker who says ‘caysh’ instead of ‘cash’. I think it makes him sound like an idiot, especially since he has been corrected. Computers in his world don’t ‘crash’ they ‘craysh’.
He pronounces ‘coefficient’ as ‘co eff ah see ant’ and every word that ends with ‘t’ in his vocabulary ends with ‘tuh’. Words such as ‘tha-tuh’ replace normal words like ‘that’.
He’s not Aussie or anything. He’s from Ohio.
Well that was a useful thing for me to post. :smack: I meant to say:
route is pronounced “root”.
Yeah that’s odd. I agree that a lot of Aussies don’t know how to speak. A few of them think that the letter “h” is pronounced “haitch”.
Aww, half an answer is worse than no answer. Spell it out for us uninformed folks, please!