ZyXEL Communications 200 Series User Manual

 Chapter 10 Interface

ZyWALL USG 100/200 Series User’s Guide

Trunks and the auxiliary interface have many characteristics that are specific to each type of 
interface. See 

 for details. The other 

types of interfaces--Ethernet, VLAN, bridge, PPPoE/PPTP, and virtual--have a lot of similar 
characteristics. These characteristics are listed in the following table and discussed in more 
detail below.

* - Each name consists of 2-4 letters (interface type), followed by a number (x). For most interfaces, x is limited 

by the maximum number of the type of interface. For VLAN interfaces, x is defined by the number you 
enter in the VLAN name field. For example, Ethernet interface names are wan1, wan2, opt, lan1, ext-
wlan, dmz; VLAN interfaces are vlan0, vlan1, vlan2, ...; and so on.

** - The names of virtual interfaces are derived from the interfaces on which they are created. For example, 

virtual interfaces created on Ethernet interface wan1 are called wan1:1, wan1:2, and so on. Virtual 
interfaces created on VLAN interface vlan2 are called vlan2:1, vlan2:2, and so on. You cannot specify the 
number after the colon(:) in the web configurator; it is a sequential number. You can specify the number 
after the colon if you use the CLI to set up a virtual interface.

In the ZyWALL, interfaces are usually created on top of other interfaces. Only Ethernet 
interfaces are created directly on top of the physical ports or port groups (multiple ports using 
the same port role). The relationships between interfaces are explained in the following table.

Table 46   Ethernet, VLAN, Bridge, PPP, and Virtual Interfaces Characteristics

Name*

opt

wan1, wan2

lan1, ext-
wlan, dmz

vlanx

brx

pppx

**

Configurable Zone

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

IP Address 
Assignment

Static IP address

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

DHCP client

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Routing metric

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Interface Parameters

Bandwidth 
restrictions

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Packet size 
(MTU)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

DHCP

DHCP server

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

DHCP relay

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Connectivity Check

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Table 47   Relationships Between Different Types of Interfaces

auxiliary interface

auxiliary port

port group 

physical port

Ethernet interface

physical port
port group

VLAN interface

Ethernet interface

bridge interface

Ethernet interface*
WLAN interface*
VLAN interface*