ZyXEL Communications P-324 User Manual

Prestige 324 Intelligent Broadband Sharing Gateway  

UPnP 

14-1 

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a distributed, open networking standard that uses TCP/IP for simple 
peer-to-peer network connectivity between devices. A UPnP device can dynamically join a network, obtain 
an IP address, convey its capabilities and learn about other devices on the network. In turn, a device can 
leave a network smoothly and automatically when it is no longer in use. 

UPnP hardware is identified as an icon in the Network Connections or My Network Places folder 
(Windows XP). Each UPnP compatible device installed on your network will appear as a separate icon. 
Selecting the icon of a UPnP device will allow you to access the information and properties of that device.  

UPnP NAT Traversal automates the process of allowing an application to operate through NAT. UPnP 
network devices can automatically configure network addressing, announce their presence in the network 
to other UPnP devices and enable exchange of simple product and service descriptions. NAT traversal 
allows the following: 

 Dynamic port mapping 

 Learning public IP addresses 

 Assigning lease times to mappings 

Windows Messenger is an example of an application that supports NAT Transversal and UPnP.  

See the Network Address Translation (NAT) chapter for further information about NAT.