User's Manual

222
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Appendix G
G-2
TR-5A Series
Tranzeo Wireless Technologies
Note: The following is a super simple explanation of a router.
Routers are like a bad boss, they either shout out information to anyone within earshot or they if don’t know
what to do with the information, they pass the information on to someone else to deal with. This is
commonly referred to as shouting or routing. Routers shout at the machines inside the network, and route
the data addressed to machines located outside their network.
Routers also are like bad bosses in that they have two faces, a public face, and a private face. In network
terms, this means that they have two IP addresses, one a private network, (referred to as the LAN Side) and
one on a public network (referred to as the WAN side). Any traffic it receives that is addressed for an IP
within the Local Range of the subnet, its shouts out “This is for one of you idiots.” Any traffic it receives
that is for an IP that is outside of the range, it politely passes to its Gateway, saying “Would you mind
sending this for me?”
To make routing work, the WAN IP needs to be on a different subnet than the LAN one. Just like any other
device using IP, when it has a Packet on the public side, it decides if the packet is for here or there.
So what is a Router?