This thesis deals with theoretical analysis of First Hop Redundancy Protocols. It describes Hot Standby Router Protocol, Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol and Gateway Load Balancing Protocol. It also shows examples of configuration of each protocol on Cisco devices with supported version of the Cisco IOS. Furthermore, this thesis includes design of two of these protocols, Hot Standby Router Protocol and Gateway Load Balancing Protocol, and their implementation in discrete event simulator OMNeT++ and Automated Network Simulation and Analysis library. Finally, the thesis presents results of testing of the implementations in comparison with actual Cisco devices.