Technical Reference; Lans, Wans And The Device; Dhcp Setup; Dns Server Addresses - ZyXEL Communications VMG1312-B Series User Manual

8.8 Technical Reference

This section provides some technical background information about the topics covered in this
chapter.
8.8.1

LANs, WANs and the Device

The actual physical connection determines whether the Device ports are LAN or WAN ports. There
are two separate IP networks, one inside the LAN network and the other outside the WAN network
as shown next.
Figure 60 LAN and WAN IP Addresses
LAN

8.8.2 DHCP Setup

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, RFC 2131 and RFC 2132) allows individual clients to
obtain TCP/IP configuration at start-up from a server. You can configure the Device as a DHCP
server or disable it. When configured as a server, the Device provides the TCP/IP configuration for
the clients. If you turn DHCP service off, you must have another DHCP server on your LAN, or else
the computer must be manually configured.
IP Pool Setup
The Device is pre-configured with a pool of IP addresses for the DHCP clients (DHCP Pool). See the
product specifications in the appendices. Do not assign static IP addresses from the DHCP pool to
your LAN computers.

8.8.3 DNS Server Addresses

DNS (Domain Name System) maps a domain name to its corresponding IP address and vice versa.
The DNS server is extremely important because without it, you must know the IP address of a
computer before you can access it. The DNS server addresses you enter when you set up DHCP are
passed to the client machines along with the assigned IP address and subnet mask.
There are two ways that an ISP disseminates the DNS server addresses.
• The 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, enter them in the DNS Server fields in
the DHCP Setup screen.
Chapter 8 Home Networking
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WAN