Actiontec electronic MI408 User Manual

Page 36

Actiontec Broadband Router User Manual

Chapter 4 Using Network Connections

Physical Address Displays the physical address of the network card used for the
network.

MTU

(Maximum Transmission Unit) specifies the largest packet size per-

mitted for Internet transmission. “Automatic, sets the

MTU

at 1500. Other choic-

es include “Automatic by

DHCP

,” which sets the

MTU

according to the

DHCP

connection, and “Manual,” which allows the

MTU

to be set manually.

Internet Protocol
This section includes three options: No IP Address, Obtain an IP Address
Automatically, and Use the Following IP Address.

No IP Address Select this option if the connection has no

address. This is use-

ful if the connection is operating under a bridge.

Obtain an IP Address Automatically Select this option if the

ISP

requires the con-

nection to obtain an

address automatically. The server assigning the

address

also assigns a subnet mask address, which can be overridden by clicking in the
“Override Subnet Mask” check box and entering another subnet mask address.
Additionally, the

DHCP

lease can be renewed and/or released by clicking on the

appropriate “

DHCP

Lease” button. The “Expires In” value displays how long

until the

DHCP

lease expires.

Use the Following IP Address Select this option if the connection uses a perma-
nent (static)

address. The

ISP

should provide this address, along with a subnet

mask address, default gateway address, and, optionally, primary and secondary

DNS

server addresses.

DNS Server
The Domain Name System (

DNS

) is the method by which website or domain

names are translated into

addresses. This connection can be configured to

automatically obtain a

DNS

server address, or such an address can be specified

manually, according to the information provided by the

ISP

To configure the connection to automatically obtain a

DNS

server address, select

Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically from the “

DNS

Server” drop-down

list. To manually configure

DNS

server addresses, select Use the Following DNS

Server Addresses. Specify up to two different

DNS

server addresses, one pri-

mary, the other secondary.