IP Setup and Network Address Translation
Chapter 10
IP Setup and Network Address Translation
The Netopia R7200 uses Internet Protocol (IP) to communicate both locally and with remote networks. This chapter shows you how to configure the router to route IP traffic. You also learn how to configure the router to serve IP addresses to hosts on your local network.
Netopia’s SmartIP features Network Address Translation and IP address serving.
This section covers the following topics:
■“Network Address Translation features” on page
■“Using Network Address Translation” on page
■“Connection Profiles” on page
■“IP setup” on page
■“IP address serving” on page
Network Address Translation allows communication between the LAN connected to the Netopia R7200 and the Internet using a single IP address instead of a routed account with separate IP addresses for each computer on the network.
Network Address Translation also provides increased security by hiding the local IP addresses of the LAN connected to the Netopia R7200 from the outside world.
With SmartIP, the setup is simpler, so Internet service providers typically offer internet accounts supporting Network Address Translation at a significant cost savings.
For a detailed discussion of Network Address Translation, see Appendix C, “Understanding Netopia NAT Behavior.”
Network Address Translation features
Network Address Translation (NAT) offers users the following features:
■NAT is selectable on a per connection basis, optionally allowing real addresses to be used for intranet connections and proxied addresses to be used for Internet connections.
■You can use any combination of proxied and unproxied addresses simultaneously on the available telco channels. For instance, one unproxied address connection profile can be used to connect to a central office, while another proxied address connection profile can simultaneously connect the user’s Netopia R7200 and LAN to the Internet.
■The single proxy address is acquired at connection time from the answering side. The address can be assigned by the remote router from either a dynamic pool of addresses or a fixed, static address.
■Static NAT security is simpler and more reliable because only one IP address needs a firewall, and because the internal network structure is not visible from the Internet.
