ATL Telecom AM30 - Manual (Page 89)

ATL Telecom User Guide
AM30
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Configuring the Routing Information Protocol
The ROUTER can be configured to communicate with other routing devices to determine
the best path for sending data to its intended destination. Routing devices communicate
this information using a variety of IP protocols. This chapter describes how to configure the
ROUTER to use one of these, called the Routing Information Protocol (RIP).
RIP Overview
RIP is an Internet protocol you can set up to share routing table information with other
routing devices on your LAN, at your ISP’s location, or on remote networks connected to
your network via the ADSL line. Generally, RIP is used to enable communication on
autonomous networks. An autonomous network is one in which all of the computers are
administered by the same entity. An autonomous network may be a single network, or a
grouping of several networks under the same administration. An example of an
autonomous network is a corporate LAN, including devices that can access it from remote
locations, such as the computers telecommuters use.
Using RIP, each device sends its routing table to its closest neighbor every 30 seconds. The
neighboring device in turn passes the information on to its next neighbor and so on until all
devices in the autonomous network have the same set of routes.
When should you configure RIP?
Most small home or office networks do not need to use RIP; they have only one router,
such as the ROUTER, and one path to an ISP. In these cases, there is no need to share
routes, because all Internet data from the network is sent to the same ISP gateway.
You may want to configure RIP if any of the following circumstances apply to your network:
fYour home network setup includes an additional
router or RIP-enabled PC (other than the ROUTER).
The ROUTER and other router will need to
communicate via RIP to share their routing tables.
fYour network connects via the ADSL line to a remote
network, such as a corporate network. In order for
your LAN to learn the routes used within your
corporate network, they should both be configured
with RIP.
fYour ISP requests that you run RIP for communication
with devices on their network.