Connecting The Cable/Dsl Router To Your Network; Overview; Lans And Wans; Ip Addresses: A Quick Lesson - Linksys Instant Broadband Series User Manual

Connecting the Cable/DSL
Router to Your Network

Overview

Unlike a hub or a switch, the Cable/DSL Router's setup consists of more than
simply plugging hardware together. Since the Router acts as a DHCP server,
you will have to set some values for the Router and also configure your net-
worked PCs to accept the IP addresses that the Router assigns them.
You will need the following data from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to
install the Cable/DSL Router:
• Your broadband-configured PCs' Computer Name and Workgroup Name
• Your broadband-configured PCs' fixed
Internet IP Address
• Your Subnet Mask
• Your Default Gateway
• Your Primary DNS Server IP address(es)
The installation technician from your ISP should have left this information with
you after installing your broadband connection. If not, you can call your ISP to
request the data.
Once you have the above values, you can begin the installation and setup of
your EtherFast Cable/DSL Router.

LANs and WANs

Simply put, a router is a network device that connects two networks together.
In this instance, your EtherFast Cable/DSL Router connects your Local Area
Network (LAN), or the group of PCs in your home or office, to the Wide Area
Network (WAN), that is, the Internet. Your Router processes and regulates the
data that travels between these two networks.
Think of your Router as a network device with two sides: the first side is made
up of your private Local Area Network (LAN) of PCs, which this User Guide
sometimes calls the "internal LAN." The other, public side is the Internet, or
the Wide Area Network (WAN), outside of your home or office.
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Instant Broadband Series
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EtherFast Cable/DSL Routers
Your Router's firewall (NAT) protects your network of PCs with security so
users on the public, Internet side cannot "see" your PCs. This is how your
internal LAN, or network, remains private.
Remember that your Router's ports connect to two sides: your 10/100 LAN
port(s) and the Internet WAN port. The LAN port(s) transmit data at 10 Mbps
or 100 Mbps, whereas the broadband port, or WAN port, transmits data at
10 Mbps, because 10Mbps is currently the maximum speed for cable and DSL
service.
IP Addressing: A Quick Lesson
What's an IP Address?
IP stands for Internet Protocol. Every device on an IP-based network, includ-
ing PCs, print servers, and routers, requires an IP address to identify its "loca-
tion," or address, on the network. Since the Internet is simply one huge global
network, every PC that logs on to the Internet also needs an IP address.
There are two ways of assigning an IP address to your network devices.
Static IP Addresses
A static IP address is a fixed IP
address that you assign manually to a
PC or other device on the network.
Since a static IP address remains
valid until you disable it, static IP
addressing insures that the device
assigned it will always have that same
IP address. Static IP addresses are
commonly used with network devices
such as server PCs or print servers.
If you use your Router to share your
cable or DSL Internet connection,
contact your ISP to find out if they
have assigned a static IP address to
your account. If so, you will need that
static IP address when configuring
your Router.
Since your Router is a device that
connects two networks, it needs two
IP addresses—one for the LAN side,
and one for the WAN side. In this
User Guide, you'll see references to
the "WAN IP address" and the "LAN
IP address."
Since the Router has firewall security
(NAT), the only IP address that can be
seen from the Internet for your net-
work is the Router's WAN IP address.
However, even this WAN IP address
for the Router can be blocked, so that
your Router and network seem invisi-
ble to the Internet—see the Blocking
WAN Requests description under IP
Filtering.
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