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Internet Security Router User
’s Manual
Chapter 7. Configuring Routes
37
7
Configuring Routes
You can use Configuration Manager to define specific routes for your Internet and network data
communication. This chapter describes basic routing concepts and provides instructions for creating routes.
Note that most users do not need to define routes.
7.1
Overview of IP Routes
The essential challenge of a router is: when it receives data intended for a particular destination, which next
device should it send that data to? When you define IP routes, you provide the rules that the Internet Security
Router uses to make these decisions.
7.1.1
Do I need to define IP routes?
Most users do not need to define IP routes. On a typical small home or office LAN, the existing routes that set
up the default gateways for your LAN computers and for the Internet Security Router provide the most
appropriate path for all your Internet traffic.
„ On your LAN computers, a default gateway directs all Internet traffic to the LAN port on the Internet
Security Router. Your LAN computers know their default gateway either because you assigned it to
them when you modified their TCP/IP properties, or because you configured them to receive the
information dynamically from a server whenever they access the Internet. (Each of these processes is
described in the Quick Start Guide instructions, Part 2.)
„ On the Internet Security Router itself, a default gateway is defined to direct all outbound Internet traffic
to a router at your ISP. This default gateway is assigned automatically by your ISP whenever the
device negotiates an Internet connection. (The process for adding a default route is described in
section 7.3.2 Adding Static Routes.)
You may need to define routes if your home setup includes two or more networks or subnets, if you connect to
two or more ISP services, or if you connect to a remote corporate LAN.
Figure 7.1. Routing Configuration Page