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A gateway is an entry to another network, usually router device play the gateway function as well.

  1. Is it possible that router delegate the gateway function to a device in the LAN and make it to be the gateway? Then the appointed device takes all the responsibility to communicate with the outside world.

  2. If a router loses the gateway function, can it still be caller router? will it become a switch?

  3. In which business scenario, this design will be chosen?

enter image description here

Ryan Lyu
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  • This diagram looks like a NAT gateway in aws. – Ryan Lyu Apr 07 '22 at 00:27
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    Routers route packets between networks. Devices that do that are routers. Even layer-3 switches have a router built in. The process of forwarding packets between networks is called routing, and that is done by a router. – Ron Maupin Apr 07 '22 at 00:30
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    The difference you seem to make is "a router forwards within private LAN and a gateway routes to/from the rest of the world". That distinction doesn't exist - forwarding by IP address is routing and a router between networks is a gateway. The private/public addressing edge requires NAT for IPv4 but it does not for IPv6. – Zac67 Apr 07 '22 at 04:50

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A nat gateway is a term that Amazon made up. It’s not the same meaning used in traditional routing.

Ron Trunk
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  • for the traditional routing, the scenario described in diagram doesn't exist. And if the router loses the gateway function, it can't be called router anymore. Am I understanding correctly? – Ryan Lyu Apr 07 '22 at 03:01
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    I think you're forcing a precise definition on a term that doesn't have one. There really isn't a "gateway function". – Ron Trunk Apr 07 '22 at 13:18