Appendix D. Dynamically Assigned Addresses
Most of us have broadband connections that arrive via a DSL or cable modem. The Ethernet port on these modems is designed, typically, to connect to a single computer. Ha! If you’re reading this book, you almost certainly have at least two computers.
All home gateways, whether they have Wi-Fi or not, are designed to work around this. As discussed earlier, gateways typically have a single WAN port to connect to a broadband modem and at least one LAN port for hooking up Ethernet-connected computers or hubs and switches.
Gateways use a combination of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), the technical name for dynamic Internet address assignment, and Network Address Translation (NAT) to create private ...
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