NETGEAR CG814WG Network Router User Manual


 
Hardware Manual for the Model CG814WG Wireless Cable Modem Gateway
Preparing Your Network 2-15
Verifying the Readiness of Your Internet Account
For broadband access to the Internet, you need to contract with an Internet service provider (ISP)
for a single-user Internet access account using a cable modem or DSL modem. This modem must
be a separate physical box (not a card) and must provide an Ethernet port intended for connection
to a Network Interface Card (NIC) in a computer. Your gateway does not support a
USB-connected broadband modem.
For a single-user Internet account, your ISP supplies TCP/IP configuration information for one
computer. With a typical account, much of the configuration information is dynamically assigned
when your PC is first booted up while connected to the ISP, and you will not need to know that
dynamic information.
In order to share the Internet connection among several computers, your gateway takes the place of
the single PC, and you need to configure it with the TCP/IP information that the single PC would
normally use. When the gateway’s Internet port is connected to the broadband modem, the
gateway appears to be a single PC to the ISP. The gateway then allows the PCs on the local
network to masquerade as the single PC to access the Internet through the broadband modem. The
method used by the gateway to accomplish this is called Network Address Translation (NAT) or IP
masquerading.
Are Login Protocols Used?
Some ISPs require a special login protocol, in which you must enter a login name and password in
order to access the Internet.
When you configure your gateway, you will need to enter your login name and password in the
router’s configuration menus. After your network and gateway are configured, the gateway will
perform the login task when needed, and you will no longer need to run the login program from
your PC. It is not necessary to uninstall the login program.
What Is Your Configuration Information?
More and more, ISPs are dynamically assigning configuration information. However, if your ISP
does not dynamically assign configuration information but instead used fixed configurations, your
ISP should have given you the following basic information for your account: