What Is NAT (Network Address Translation)?

[NetGuru]

What Is NAT (Network Address Translation)?

NAT (Network Address Translation) is a method used by routers to translate private IP addresses into a public IP address so devices can communicate over the internet.

It is one of the key technologies that makes home and office networks work.

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Why is NAT needed?

Most devices in a local network use private IP addresses, such as:

• 192.168.x.x
• 10.x.x.x
• 172.16.x.x – 172.31.x.x

These addresses are not routable on the public internet.

To access the internet, a router uses NAT to translate these private addresses into a public IP address.

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How NAT works (simple example)

• Your PC has IP: 192.168.1.10
• You visit a website (e.g. example.com)
• Your router sends the request using its public IP (e.g. 85.214.x.x)
• The website responds to the public IP
• The router forwards the response back to your PC

This process happens automatically and very fast.

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One Public IP for Many Devices

With NAT, many devices can share one public IP address:…login to view the rest of this post