Why do I need to know what NAT and DHCP are?

NAT stands for Network Address Translation and enables your Wi-Fi gateway to share a single Internet connection among all the computers in your home or business. DHCP (Direct Host Configuration Protocol) is what enables your network to use TCP/IP to connect the different components. There are various networking protocols.

Most Wi-Fi gateways for homes and small businesses provide both NAT and DHCP. In general, if you are setting up a stand-alone wireless network, you want NAT and DHCP. If you are adding a wireless gateway to an existing wired network, you probably want to turn off the NAT and DHCP functions built into your wireless gateway and have it function as a wireless access point.