What Does Wireless Gateway Mean? Wireless Gateway Industry Knowledge Popularization

A wireless gateway is an interface connecting a network to another network; a complex network connection device that can support conversion between different protocols and realize the interconnection between different protocol networks.

1. Definition of wireless gateway

In a broad sense, a wireless gateway refers to the interface connecting one network to another network. For example, if an enterprise's internal network is connected to the external Internet, a gateway is needed for management and control. It is a complex network connection device that can support the conversion between different protocols and realize the interconnection between different protocol networks. The wireless gateway refers to a wireless AP integrated with a simple routing function, that is, the wireless gateway can complete the functions of a wireless bridge and a wireless router through different settings, and can also directly connect to an external network (such as WAN), and at the same time realize the AP function. It has a 10Mbps or 10/100Mbps wide area network port (WAN), multiple (4~8) 10/100Mbps local area network ports (LAN), and a wireless LAN access that supports IEEE802.11b, 802.11g or 802.11a/g standards Point, a hardware device with network address translation function (NAT) to realize multi-user Internet sharing access.

The WAN port of the gateway router can automatically detect or manually set the access type of the broadband operator (such as ADSL, CableModem, and broadband MAN), and has the function of initiating the client of the broadband operator (for example, it is a PPPoE client, or it can be a A DHCP client can also be assigned a fixed public IP address, etc.), and all computers in the LAN no longer need to install any client software, nor do they need to set any proxy server addresses. In addition, different types of gateway routers also have some functions such as graphical installation wizard (SmartWizard), stateful packet inspection firewall (SPIFirewall), anti-hacker attack, virtual private network (VPN), Internet content filtering, logging, anti-virus , virtual service or virtual host (DMZ machine) and many other functions.

It can be clearly seen from this that a wireless gateway refers to a gateway router device integrated with a wireless local area network access point function. But now many wireless gateways can turn on or off the function of their wireless LAN access point AP. Since wireless gateways are especially suitable for many small and medium-sized offices, families, branches of large enterprises and other markets, the shipments of wireless gateway equipment in the European and American markets continue to increase rapidly, and their scale is no less than that of wireless LAN access points AP. quantity.

2. Setting of wireless gateway

2.1 Manual setting

The manual setting of the wireless gateway is suitable for the situation where the number of computers is relatively small and the TCP/IP parameters are basically unchanged, for example, there are only a few to a dozen computers. Because this method needs to set the "default gateway" on each computer connected to the network, it is very laborious. Once the IP address of the default gateway must be modified due to migration or other reasons, it will bring a lot of trouble to the network management. Recommended Use.

In Windows 9x, the way to set the default gateway is to right-click on "My Network Places", click "Properties" in the pop-up menu, select "TCP/IP Protocol" in the network properties dialog box, click "Properties", and click "Properties". Just fill in the IP address of the new default gateway in the "Default Gateway" tab.

Special attention should be paid to: the default gateway must be the IP address in the network segment where the computer is located, and the IP address in other network segments cannot be filled in.

2.2 Automatic Setup

The automatic setting of the wireless gateway is to use the DHCP server to automatically assign the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway to the computers in the network. The advantage of this is that once the default gateway of the network changes, as long as the setting of the default gateway in the DHCP server is changed, all computers in the network will obtain the IP address of the new default gateway. This method is suitable for networks with large network scale and possible changes in TCP/IP parameters.

Another way to automatically obtain the gateway is to install the client program of proxy server software (such as MS Proxy) to obtain it automatically. The principle and method are similar to DHCP. Due to the limited space, it will not be described in detail.

If you start to look at routing knowledge, it will be easy to understand,
Enter command line mode:
c:\>route print
There will be a route:
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 IP interface of default gateway (machine's IP) Hop count
For example on my machine:
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.100.254 192.168.100.233 1
It means: all the data packets that need to be forwarded are sent out through the IP (interface) of the default gateway, and of course the return is also passed through there.

3. Application of wireless gateway

The applications of wireless gateways will be numerous. Its largest and most application is to share a broadband network access with multiple PCs in the home at the same time. For example, a child at home can access the Web to learn school lessons, while another family member can shop online at the same time. Multiple people can perform network operations at the same time without waiting for others to complete operations.

The application of wireless gateways is not only high-speed Internet access. After broadband access enters the home in the future, it will bring more service content, not only Internet access, but also visual information flow of mixed video and audio information. Telephone, and other interactive forms of entertainment services, such as online games, etc. The wireless gateway will execute intelligent routing algorithms to distribute these information streams (data) to various devices such as phones, smart appliances, digital TVs, and stereos. For example, advanced wireless gateways can use caller ID information to send phone calls to a certain phone in the home, children's phones can only be sent to their rooms, or phone calls after 10 p.m. Send it away from the bedroom.

There are many new development trends in how the above-mentioned technologies are applied to the family. The first is the entry of high-speed broadband Internet access into the home. About 1% of American households currently have DSL and Cable modems, and by the end of 1999, more than 1 million American households had installed them. Forrester Research estimates that by 2003 more than 20 million US households will have broadband access via DSL or Cable modem.

Second, the number of connected households will also grow rapidly by 2002. The telecommunications company expects there will be 15 million home networks by then. The trend towards home networking will be accelerated by the presence of multiple PCs in the home, as well as the use of other electrical devices. In 1999, 60% of new PC purchases were from households that already had a PC. Already about 15 percent of US households own multiple PCs.