Using NAT with NETGEAR products, accessing the Internet, the addresses on your LAN are substituted for a single WAN IP address. This lets your computers share one IP address from your ISP. It also makes your network more secure, since traffic to and from the Internet now goes through your router's address substitution process, blocking direct access to your local IP addresses. Unless you use Port Forwarding, port triggering, or a DMZ, your computers are not reachable from the Internet (unless one of your computers requests it, of course!)
This illustrates a network with two computers using NAT.
For instructions on how to do NAT, read your router's Reference Manual.
NAT is implemented in NETGEAR hardware, so that there is almost no performance degradation. (NAT can be implemented in third party software, using one of your computers to substitute the IP addresses. Since it slows that computer down, and requires that it always be on if anyone is accessing the Internet, using NETGEAR equipment is a much better solution.)
Since NAT alters the incoming packets, it is not compatible with the security feature called Authentication Header Passthrough. Also NAT is not compatible with multicasting (sending traffic to many hosts).
Multi-NAT is the term used by NETGEAR to describe creating more than one public IP address for your network. This new feature is described in Using multi-NAT with the FVX538 or FVS338 firewall
Double NAT (as the phrase is used by NETGEAR) means connecting one router directly behind another for the purpose of having multiple LANs. Double NAT may cause problems with VPN and visiting secure sites with SSL.
Reverse NAT, not supported by NETGEAR, and not a common process for a typical home user, converts all requests for Internet IPs into different addresses. NETGEAR equipment does not hide public IP addresses, and therefore cannot do Reverse NAT. The term Double NAT is used for non-NETGEAR equipment when both NAT and Reverse NAT are used.
Last Updated:04/27/2023
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Article ID: 992