Chapter 7 Bridging Setup; Bridging In General; Bridge Ethernet Setup; Figure 7-1 Menu 3.4 - Bridge Ethernet Setup - ZyXEL Communications Prestige 643 User Manual

This chapter shows you how to configure the bridging parameters of your Prestige.
7.1

Bridging in General

Bridging bases the forwarding decision on the MAC (Media Access Control), or hardware address, while
routing does it on the network layer (IP or IPX) address. Bridging allows the Prestige to transport packets
of network layer protocols that it 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 also demands
more CPU cycles and memory.
For efficiency reasons, 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.
7.2

Bridge 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.
Type in 4, from Menu 3 – Ethernet Setup, to display Menu 3.4 – Bridge Ethernet Setup as shown next.
Press Space Bar to Toggle.
The following table describes how to configure the Handle IPX field in Menu 3.4.
Bridging Setup
Menu 3.4 - Bridge Ethernet Setup
Handle IPX= None
Press ENTER to Confirm or ESC to Cancel:

Figure 7-1 Menu 3.4 - Bridge Ethernet Setup

Prestige 643 ADSL Router
Chapter 7
Bridging Setup
7-1