ZyXEL Communications 153X Chapter Bridging Setup, Bridging in General, Bridge Ethernet Setup

Prestige 153/153X WAN Bridge/Routers

Chapter 7

Bridging Setup

This chapter shows you how to configure the bridging parameters of your Prestige.

7.1Bridging in General

Bridging bases the forwarding decision on the MAC (Media Access Control), or hardware, address, while routing does on the network layer (IP or IPX) address. Bridging allows the Prestige to transport packets of network layer protocols that the Prestige does not route, e.g., SNA, from one network to another. The caveat is that, compared to routing, bridging generates more traffic for the same network layer protocol, and it also demands more CPU cycles and memory.

For efficiency reason, do not turn on bridging unless you need to support protocols other than IP and IPX on your network. For IP and IPX, enable the respective routing if you need it; do not bridge what the Prestige can route.

7.2Bridge Ethernet Setup

Basically, all non-local packets are bridged to the WAN, however, your Prestige applies special handling for certain IPX packets to reduce the number of calls, depending on the setting of the “Handle IPX” field.

Bridging Setup 7-1