Cisco WRT300N User Manual - Page 7

Wireless-N Broadband Router Chapter 1: Introduction Welcome Thank you for choosing the Linksys Wireless-N Broadband Router. The Wireless-N Broadband Router will allow you to network wirelessly better than ever, sharing Internet access, files and fun, easily and securely and with a greater range of up to three times farther than standard Wireless-G. How does the Wireless-N Broadband Router do all of this? A router is a device that allows access to an Internet connection over a network. With the Wireless-N Broadband Router, this access can be shared over the four switched ports or via the wireless broadcast. Use wireless security to secure your wireless network while the whole network is protected through a Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall and Network Address Translation (NAT) technology. The Router also offers VPN passthrough and other features, which can be configured through the easy-to-use, browser-based utility. The incredible speed of Wireless-N makes it ideal for media-centric applications like streaming video and Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony, so your network can handle multiple data streams at the same time, with no degradation in performance. But what does all of this mean? Networks are useful tools for sharing computer resources. You can access one printer from different computers and access data located on another computer's hard drive. Networks are even used for playing multiplayer video games. So, networks are not only useful in homes and offices, they can also be fun. PCs on a wired network create a LAN, or Local Area Network. They are connected with Ethernet cables, which is why the network is called "wired". PCs equipped with wireless cards or adapters can communicate without cumbersome cables. By sharing the same wireless settings, within their transmission radius, they form a wireless network. This is sometimes called a WLAN, or Wireless Local Area Network. The Wireless-N Broadband Router bridges wireless and wired networks, allowing them to communicate with each other. Linksys recommends using the Setup Wizard on the Setup CD-ROM for first-time installation of the Router. If you do not wish to run the Setup Wizard, then use the instructions in this Guide to help you connect the Router and configure it. These instructions should be all you need to get the most out of the Wireless-N Broadband Router. spi (stateful packet inspection) firewall: a technology that inspects incoming packets of information before allowing them to enter the network. firewall: Security measures that protect the resources of a local network from intruders. nat (network address translation): NAT technology translates IP addresses of a local area network to a different IP address for the Internet. lan (local area network): The computers and networking products that make up the network in your home or office. Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Welcome