NETGEAR MR314 - Wireless Router, Reference Manual

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Reference Guide for the Model MR314 Cable/DSL Wireless Router
B-8 Network and Routing Basics
Single IP Address Operation Using NAT
In the past, if multiple PCs on a LAN needed to access the Internet simultaneously, you had to
obtain a range of IP addresses from the ISP. This type of Internet account is more costly than a
single-address account typically used by a single user with a modem, rather than a router. The
Model MR314 router employs an address-sharing method called Network Address Translation
(NAT). This method allows several networked PCs to share an Internet account using only a single
IP address, which may be statically or dynamically assigned by your ISP.
The router accomplishes this address sharing by translating the internal LAN IP addresses to a
single address that is globally unique on the Internet. The internal LAN IP addresses can be either
private addresses or registered addresses. For more information about IP address translation, refer
to RFC 1631, The IP Network Address Translator (NAT).
The following figure illustrates a single IP address operation.
Figure B-3. Single IP Address Operation Using NAT
7786EA
192.168.0.2
192.168.0.3
192.168.0.4
192.168.0.5
192.168.0.1 172.21.15.105
Private IP addresses
assigned by user
Internet
IP addresses
assigned by ISP