Chapter 13 WAN

13.3.1 Configuring Your Internet Connection

Encapsulation Method

Encapsulation is used to include data from an upper layer protocol into a lower layer protocol. To set up a WAN connection to the Internet, you need to use the same encapsulation method used by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). If your ISP offers a dial-up Internet connection using PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet) or PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol), they should also provide a username and password (and service name) for user authentication.

WAN IP Address

The WAN IP address is an IP address for the Router, which makes it accessible from an outside network. It is used by the Router to communicate with other devices in other networks. It can be static (fixed) or dynamically assigned by the ISP each time the Router tries to access the Internet.

If your ISP assigns you a static WAN IP address, they should also assign you the subnet mask and DNS server IP address(es) (and a gateway IP address if you use the Ethernet or ENET ENCAP encapsulation method).

DNS Server Address Assignment

Use Domain Name System (DNS) to map a domain name to its corresponding IP address and vice versa, for instance, the IP address of www.zyxel.com is 204.217.0.2. The DNS server is extremely important because without it, you must know the IP address of a computer before you can access it.

The Router can get the DNS server addresses in the following ways.

1The ISP tells you the DNS server addresses, usually in the form of an information sheet, when you sign up. If your ISP gives you DNS server addresses, manually enter them in the DNS server fields.

2If your ISP dynamically assigns the DNS server IP addresses (along with the Router’s WAN IP address), set the DNS server fields to get the DNS server address from the ISP.

WAN MAC Address

The MAC address screen allows users to configure the WAN port's MAC address by either using the factory default or cloning the MAC address from a computer on your LAN. Choose Factory Default to select the factory assigned default MAC Address.

Otherwise, click Clone the computer's MAC address - IP Address and enter the IP address of the computer on the LAN whose MAC you are cloning. Once it is successfully configured, the address will be copied to configuration file. It is recommended that you clone the MAC address prior to hooking up the WAN Port.

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NBG-419N v2 User’s Guide