User guide

Configuring the External Network
User Guide 45
Step 9: Summary
The wizard’s last screen displays a summary of the settings you
have made using the wizard.
Configuring the External Network
When you configure the external network, you select the method of
communication between the Firebox® X Edge and your Internet ser-
vice provider (ISP). Make this selection based on the method of net-
work address distribution in use by your ISP. The three available
methods are:
• DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a
communications protocol used by network administrators to
automate the assignment of addresses in a network. With DHCP,
your Firebox might receive a new external address every time it
contacts your service provider.
• Static IP address - Static IP addresses are manually assigned by
the service provider to each customer. Because they require
more administrative overhead, service providers often charge a
fee for a static IP address. Static IP addressing is also known as
Manual Addressing.
• PPPoE - Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet is another
method commonly used by service providers as it integrates well
with traditional dial-up infrastructure.
In all situations, you need your service provider to give you a public
IP address. Some network address ranges are
reserved , private
addresses and are only used by networks behind a device using net-
work address translation (NAT). The default trusted IP address for
the Firebox X Edge is an example of a private IP address:
192.168.111.0.
If you don’t know how your modem or router is assigned a public IP
address, contact your service provider or corporate network support
staff.
N OTE N OTE
You can configure the network interfaces in any order. Although
this chapter describes configuring the external interface first, you
do not need to configure the external interface before the trusted
interface.