CHAPT ER
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Cisco 836 Router and SOHO 96 Router Hardware Installation Guide
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Product Overview
The Cisco 836 router and the Cisco SOHO 96 router are asymmeric digital
subscriber line (ADSL)-over-integrated service digital network (ISDN) routing
devices. These routers have an integrated 4-port Ethernet switch for the LAN and
an ADSL physical interface for the WAN, and ISDN basic rate interface (BRI)
WAN connectivity. This ISDN BRI interface can be used for normal WAN
connections or can be configured as a backup connection for the ADSL WAN
interface. These features allow the routers to connect a corporate telecommuter or
a small office to a central office or an Internet service provider (ISP) over an
ADSL interface.
The routers support high-speed encryption, a 10/100BASE-T switch, and dial
backup functionality via the ISDN port. The autosensing function in these routers
eliminates the need for a crossover cable and allows the router to detect medium
dependent interface in normal mode (MDI) or medium dependent interface in
crossover mode (MDIX) in any other PC or hub with a straight-through cable or
a crossover cable. The routers are capable of bridging and multiprotocol routing
between the LAN and WAN ports.
The dial backup feature allows the user to connect the ISDN port to the ISDN
service provider as a backup link to the WAN in case the ADSL service goes
down. This feature gives the Cisco 836 and Cisco SOHO 96 routers a high level
of performance and security.
The Cisco 836 router is designed with both hardware-based and software-based
encryption, while the Cisco SOHO 96 supports only the software-based
encryption. The Cisco 836 router supports the addition of Flash or SDRAM
memory, as either a factory upgrade or a field-installed option. The
Cisco SOHO 96 router has a fixed memory configuration.