Date : Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:24:40 +0200
From : rick@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: Master Ethernet upgrade
Alex Taylor wrote:
> as linking a LAN with a WAN. It operates as Layer 3 of the OSI model,
> in other words an IP router knows about IP and routes packets between
> the interfaces according to IP addresses and destination networks. The
> extra ports on the kind of router found at home will be a switch
> attached to one of the interfaces. So that'll be a WAN interface to
> connect to the cable modem or ADSL line, and a LAN interface with an
> integrated 4-port switch.
Even these definitions could be blurred a little nowadays? My D-Link
DIR-100 (only cost be a few euros in a boot sale) would appear to be a
switch - four RJ45s and a currently unused WAN socket. I did notice that
when transferring MPEG4 video between computers, only the two involved
flicker the "connected" indicator, thus only the two involved are in on
that conversation.
The configuration talks about MAC addresses, the status mentions MAC
addresses, and you can even get the thing to 'clone' the MAC of a
connected computer, though I'm not sure why you'd need to...
So it appears to be a switch.
But then there is the firewall. Which works on IP address and port. Or a
freaky little feature to take a port on one IP address and transparently
redirect it to another port on another IP address (locally...). DHCP
(DCHP? I forget) server. All this implies it is working deeping than
just a MAC address so it is a router.
It's just a shame that while the thing can act as a DNS server for the
LAN, it isn't a user configurable DNS server. So instead I have to patch
my hosts files on all my machines thus:
192.168.0.1 alyson
192.168.0.2 angela
192.168.0.6 ayleigh
192.168.0.8 azumi
192.168.0.9 aiko
192.168.0.99 router
It'd be so much simpler if I could just set that up in the DNS serving
part of the router. Adding Azumi (the eeePC) means a bunch of hosts
files to update.
Best wishes,
Rick.
--
Rick Murray, irregular internet access at local library.
BBC B: DNFS, 2 x 5.25" floppies, EPROM prog, Acorn TTX
E01S FileStore, A3000/A5000/RiscPC/various PCs/blahblah...