Network Address Translation is an internet standard protocol that allows a local host in LAN to map or transfer information between internal communication and external communication. In other meaning, NAT provides a method of mapping an IP address space into another by modifying network address information in the IP header of packets while they are in transit across a traffic-routing device (Router).
For example, you have installed a CCTV system in your company, and you have used a private IP address with your LAN. Then now you can use your phone or computer to remotely see your camera in your company by connecting with the private IP address that you use. But if you staying outside your company, then can’t remote to view any camera in your company because mean that the internet that you using is different from your LAN.
So, in order to view all the cameras in your company, you need to enable NAT on your router to map between the public IP addresses to the private IP address with the specific port you need.
This is just an example, but you also can configure NAT with many requirements that you need. And please make sure that your LAN was configured well with a firewall or other security before you enable NAT in your router/firewall. Because it is the way you think about protecting your data from anonymouse. They follow you all the time, you forget them, but they do not forget you. Thus, think about security first.
In this article, you will learn how to enable NAT in Mikrotik router in order to allow LAN access to the internet.
How to configure NAT in Mikrotik Router
Scenarios:
– You have Mikrotik as a Router
– Add DNS to Mikrotik router (8.8.8.8)
– Configure DHCP in the Mikrotik router
– Allow all hosts in LAN access to the internet
Step-by-Step to configure NAT in Mikrotik Router
1. Download Winbox from the Mikrotik website
2. log in to the Mikrotik router by using the Winbox software that you just downloaded
3. Go to the NAT option by clicking IP -> Firewall -> NAT
4. Create a NAT rule. In the NAT panel, click on the + icon, then the New NAT Rule wizard will pop up, and need to fill in the information below
- Chain: In the General tab, select srcnat (Source NAT)
- Action: In the Action tab, select masquerade
5. Click Apply to finish the configuration.
Finally, you had done configure NAT in your Mikrotik router. Thus, all the clients/users in your LAN will have access to the internet after they obtain the IP address from the DHCP server. Hope this article is useful for you.
FAQs
Can I configure NAT in the Firewall device?
Sure! in the firewall device, you can enable/configure NAT as you need. Especially, the next-generation firewall still has the NAT option available for all administrators to configure it. But we are highly recommended all of you read the specification of the firewall device before you start doing something.
Can we access the server from WAN without configuring NAT?
Yes, you can. You can configure VPN (Virtual Private Network) in your router or Firewall. When connecting to the server, VPN creates a secure tunnel between clients and the server. But if you just want to make simple access, just configure NAT in your Router or Firewall, by mapping a public IP address to a private IP address (Server IP address) with a specific port as you need.
How many NAT rules we can create in Mikrotik?
You can create many NAT rules as you want with 100 or 1000 NAT rules if you need. But we believe that you will need a few NAT rules with your requirements. Then if your co