Route List vs NAT Rules ?

RouterOS Beginner Basics
1

Hi,

I connected to PC which are on different network using single MIkroTik750GL router.
I search on net for this and I found that I need to configure NAT for this.
But after configuration and with the help from this forum I realize that only Route List is sufficient to connect Two PC which are on different network there is no need to add NAT Rule.
So I got confused now and I am having few questions related to this.

  1. What is the exact use of NAT Rules?
  2. How Route List works?
  3. Difference between NAT Rule and Route List?
    Please help me on this.

Thanks..

2

Nat translates addresses and / or ports and keep individual translation table per connection to be able to translate. Route list works in the way that the most specific route wins. In case of more routes with the same specificity the lowest distance wins. It just decides where to put a packet and doesn’t take care further. Why you cannot read any articles about it?

3

Thanks for a quick reply.
But how to connect two PC from different network using NAT not with the help of Route list.

4

Search for hairpin NAT examples…

5

Actually routing is much more effective than natting. Why would you do it, if you can route?

6

Thanks everybody for the inputs.

I got this info may be helpful for those who are new in routing like me:

Routing is a matter of checking routing tables for a path to the destination and encapsulating the IP Packets within Layer 2 headers/trailers along the way.

NAT is the process of simply transparently changing a private IP to a public IP or one to one exchange.