Combining locally addressed devices and wide area network (WAN) addressed devices on a single network

摘要

Systems and methods according to these exemplary embodiments provide for methods and systems for allowing a variety of devices desiring Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from potentially different locations to all operate on the same local area network. For example, a node, e.g., a gateway device, can receive a request for an IP address and determine whether that request was issued by a locally addressable device or a wide area network (WAN) addressable device. The node can then selectively locally provide an IP address or request an IP address, e.g., from a WAN, based on the determination.