Hoteling at work
 
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How can I set up a hotel-type environment, where laptops with all sorts of different TCP/IP configurations are put on the network and allowed to access the Internet without requiring the laptops to be reconfigured?
Start by assuming that travelers carry laptops configured to obtain their IP addresses dynamically using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol and then provide DHCP services on your network for your Internet access connections.
Whether you provide connectivity over existing cabling, wireless LANs or some type of Ethernet, a guest would plug a laptop into your network and obtain dynamic configuration settings from your DHCP server to set his IP address, DNS server addresses and the address of your Internet gateway as his default network route.
With this approach, guests can usually retrieve e-mail and use the Web. Sending e-mail may be more difficult because mail relaying from remote LANs is blocked by most firewalls.
Many travelers work around this by using Web-based mail gateways. Supporting guest's VPN software is easiest with a clear path to the Internet using a gateway router that supports current standards and an internal LAN infrastructure that presents itself to guests' laptops as a plain Ethernet connection so they can simply plug and play.
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As a network architect at Change at Work in Houston, Blass understands the strain of developing and managing networks. Send your problems to dr.internet@changeatwork.com
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