NAT PROVIDES MULTIPLEXING and BOLSTERS NETWORK SECURITY for the SMALL BUSINESS

Small businesses are increasing dependant upon streamlined, affordable Internet access for their day-to-day operations. However, some businesses find they are being hamstrung by restrictions regarding broadband connections and the number of computers that can access the Net at any one time. A Network Address Translator can solve many of the access problems you may have with your workplace connectivity through the process of multiplexing. This simple, affordable solution can mean the difference between effective local networking, and being bogged down with untenable restrictions.

Let's say you have a small business with ten employees, each of whom uses a notebook computer. You've gone to a wireless LAN so people can move around in the workplace and still access the Net, your printers and each other. Great, you've got full mobility for a more productive work environment. And you have a broadband Internet connection to speed up your connection.

There's one little problem...you have only a single IP address. Your service provider wants to charge you for additional IPs, or, worse yet, there are no more IP addresses available right now. Only one of your ten employees can connect to the Net at a time. This is not good.

Network Address Translation, NAT, will allow your employees simultaneous connectivity to the Net via that single IP address and will provide a little more security as well. NAT-programmed IP routers translate IP addresses from one address to another as data passes through them. An ordinary router leaves the IP address unchanged and simply passes the information along. A NAT router, however, changes the IP address to its own. This serves two purposes: several computers on a LAN can simultaneously access a broadband connection and "look" like only one, and it keeps computers outside your network from "seeing" yours, which adds another layer of security to your LAN.