Where would the NAT routing take place?

Question

I have a cisco wrvs4400n router that hands out our dhcp addresses and also acts as our wireless network. This router sits inside of a cisco 1841 router where out T1 comes in. I need to configure NAT routing in order to allow video conferencing to work with another site. The question that I have is this...on which router would the NAT routing take place? I would assume on the outside router (cisco 1841), but was not sure if it could/should be done on the inside router (wrvs4400n). Obviously NAT routing is not my strong suit. Any thoughts or guidance available for this? Thank you!!!

Answer 1

NAT can be done on either router technically. I'd suggest setting it up on the outside Cisco 1841, and give the WRVS4400N an IP on the NAT'd subnet facing the hosts. Then just make sure the 1841 has a route to the subnet it's natting for, and get your outside/inside statements straight.

Answer 2

I would think that you should have NAT take place in the last device before connecting to the ISP. It sounds like in this situation, that would be 1841. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by sitting "inside" another router. The purpose for this NAT would be converting your private IP's to the public domain correct? I would think that if the IP was converted before leaving the internal network, in the 4400n, it wouldn't be able to pass through the 1841. Just off the top of my head though...

Answer 3

A router CAN route even if it does not have NAT. The NAT is for "address translation", not routing.