ELSA Cable - Manual (Page 19)

Installation and configuration
ELSA MicroLink Cable
11
English
Quick Start: Quick configurations
We're sure that after you've installed the hardware and software, you'll want to get
going quickly without bothering with technical details. In the following sections, we'll
show you how to set up your
ELSA MicroLink Cable quickly for the most common
applications—without bothering with the whys and wherefores.
After the preparations that you should check in any case, we will introduce the
configuration of the unit as a bridge and IP router. Further information on the bridge and
router functions can be found in the 'Operating Modes' chapter.
Preparations
The Internet is based on the TCP/IP network protocol. The individual devices in the
Internet (workstations, servers, routers, etc.) are identified using unique IP addresses. All
computers exchanging data on the Internet therefore must have the TCP/IP network
protocol installed and must be assigned a valid IP address.
IP addresses can either be manually entered, permanently for each computer, or assigned
automatically by a different computer, a so-called DHCP server. Your cable network
operator has such a DHCP server, and one is also contained in the
ELSA MicroLink Cable
itself. For this quick-start, we prefer using the automatic assignment of an IP address by
a DHCP server. The cable network operator's DHCP server will be used when configuring
the unit as a bridge; in router mode the integrated DHCP server of the
ELSA MicroLink
Cable will be used.
The following settings are required regardless of the operating mode you intend to use
with your
ELSA MicroLink Cable:
࡯
Install the TCP/IP network protocol on all computers on the network.
࡯
Activate the automatic assignment of IP addresses via DHCP for the workstations
(generally the default setting).
Just how you do that will be explained in section 'How to set up the workstation
computers' towards the back of this chapter.
Configuration as a bridge
Bridge mode is the simplest configuration for the ELSA MicroLink Cable. In this mode,
the unit does not take IP addresses into consideration and transfers all data that is not
destined for workstations in the local network directly to the Internet. In the opposite
direction, all data coming from the Internet for a specific computer in the local network
is transferred (insofar as that computer has already sent data to the Internet). It's thus
not necessary to worry about the assignment of IP addresses. The computers in your
local network receive their IP addresses directly from the DHCP server of the cable
network operator.