Network Address Translation

Network address translation remaps one IP address to another IP address by changing the network IP address information in the header of the PDU. The technique is used extensively to optimise the use of public address space. With the number of public IP addresses being used up, NAT enabled multiple private IP addresses to be remapped to one public IP addresses.

In our project we’re using NAT to change IP addresses from the wired network to the wireless network.

The preferred method would be to have routers in each network find and route PDUs between their respective networks, but routers have a cost exponentially higher than the cost of a Pi. Furthermore, router placement and configurations can be complex. If the routers aren’t configured correctly, they can cause any amount of grief and aggravations in a network.

The upshot is that just because you can use a Pi to accomplish a task, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best solution for the task!