Text 12538, 66 rader
Skriven 2010-11-23 15:47:17 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
  Kommentar till text 12518 av Peter Knapper (3:772/1.0)
Ärende: N'other one evicted from dyndns?
========================================
Hello Peter,

On Tuesday November 23 2010 22:32, you wrote to me:

 MvdV>> What is the point of a home router if the only thing connected to
 MvdV>> it is that one computer?

 PK> A valid question, but a perfectly valid answer is that it can assist
 PK> to offload certain processing from the computer

Computers have so much power these days, that I do not think this is an issue
for that user with one computer.

 PK> and allows one to easily add other devices as the need arises.

As soon as "adding other devices" comes into play, then of course the "only
thing connected to it" no longer applies.

 PK> This of course also depends on what method of internet connection one
 PK> is using...

Of course. For example my Motorola SBV5121E cable modem has a mode in which up
to 32 devices can be connected, each with their own public IP address (*1). No
router needed, all I need is a switch with enough ports to connect everything.

I do not use it in this mode, as my ISP ony gives me one IP address.

 PK> EG: Here I use an ADSL Router, which (among other things) does PPPoA
 PK> and NAT. This means that none of my local machines have a directly
 PK> internet connectable IP address,

That is how it used to be here as well when I had an ADSL connection. Now I
have a cable connection and behind the cable modem is a home router that does
NAT.

 PK> AND it allows me to place certain criteria on that connection,
 PK> external to the machine in question, without the need to modify the
 PK> Machine in question.

Makes sense if you have more than one machine. Makes less sense if you have
only one.

 PK> But the finer points of doing this are probably something you consider
 PK> unimportant...

Not at all, I consider it very important. It is just that I get the impression
that many think that a router with NAT is essential for connecting to the
internet. While in fact NAT is a kludge needed because ISPs will only give one
IPv4 address to private customers.

Also many seem to think that NAT is a safety feature. It is not.


(*1) It may be that only 29 are available for the user. If what you get is
actually a /27 subnet, than the one with the last five bits set to zero is the
subnet address, the one with the last five bits set to one is the broadcast
address and the modem istself will also take one address. But I am not sure if
it works that way, and I have no way to check. Nor the need, as I will never
get 32 IPv4 addresses from my ISP.



Cheers, Michiel

--- GoldED+/W32-MINGW 1.1.5-b20070503
 * Origin: http://www.vlist.org (2:280/5555)