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What is Network Address Translation (NAT)?
Because there are only so many available network addresses available, large computer networks often use private internal addresses that the outside world can't see. This allows them to give an identity to every computer on the network without using up valuable Internet addresses.

Because secured networks use internal addresses for the computers connected to them, they need a way to identify them to the outside world. This is where Network Address Translation (NAT) comes in.

NAT essentially gives a computer a new identity so there is no need to reveal the private internal address to the rest of the world or risk a conflict with another system on another internal network with the same address.

Most broadband routers offer NAT so only one external IP address is used for all the computers in your household. Since there are only so many IP addresses available (and not nearly enough for all the computers out there), this can save on how many are needed.


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