What is the MAN interface in the Static Route settings?

[ay tea]

Hi everyone,

There's LAN, WAN and....MAN! What's MAN? And what it could be used for?

 

[sfx2000]

Think of a MAN as being something smaller than a WAN, bigger than a WAN - college/corporate campus perhaps...

 

[System Error Message]

its a "MAN" interface, you know, a man related interface .

 

[cliver]

It's a Metropolitan Area Network. As SFX says it's something between a WAN and a LAN in terms of size.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[ColinTaylor]

Indeed, "Metropolitan Area Network" is what the acronym stands for, but that doesn't really answer the OP's question.

In the context of the ASUS router; as far as I can tell the "MAN interface" is physically the same interface as the WAN, except it has been configured for PPTP or L2TP. Which could make sense because in such a circumstance you might be connecting to a large corporate or academic network (MAN) rather that the internet (WAN).

 

[ay tea]

Indeed, "Metropolitan Area Network" is what the acronym stands for, but that doesn't really answer the OP's question.

In the context of the ASUS router; as far as I can tell the "MAN interface" is physically the same interface as the WAN, except it has been configured for PPTP or L2TP. Which could make sense because in such a circumstance you might be connecting to a large corporate or academic network (MAN) rather that the internet (WAN).

Thank you for your useful reply Colin! So do I use it to route traffic through PPTP/L2TP? I mean, I setup the VPN client, make sure it connects, and then route traffic that I want to go through the VPN to the MAN interface? I'm actually trying to let a small office connect to a server on a remote LAN, while keeping the rest of their traffic going through the default WAN interface to the Internet.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Sorry I don't know, it's not something I've ever used.

But if I had to guess ...

What do you have set at WAN > Internet Connection > WAN Connection Type ?

I think the routes only apply if you have set PPTP or L2TP as the WAN connection type. I don't think it applies if you are using the VPN client (VPN > VPN Client).

But this is all speculation on my part.

 

[ay tea]

Sorry I don't know, it's not something I've ever used.

But if I had to guess ...

What do you have set at WAN > Internet Connection > WAN Connection Type ?

I think the routes only apply if you have set PPTP or L2TP as the WAN connection type. I don't think it applies if you are using the VPN client (VPN > VPN Client).

But this is all speculation on my part.

I'll give it a shot today/tomorrow. And will report back. The way it sounds to me it's just a less elegant way to set which subnet should be routed through WAN and which through the MAN (PPTP/L2TP), compared with the OpenVPN interface, where it's laid out so clearly. Will try.

 

[sfx2000]

I'll give it a shot today/tomorrow. And will report back. The way it sounds to me it's just a less elegant way to set which subnet should be routed through WAN and which through the MAN (PPTP/L2TP), compared with the OpenVPN interface, where it's laid out so clearly. Will try.

Could also be a dedicated VLAN sitting inside a larger network - for example - big college network with all their internal sites can be provisioned with a VLAN, where the primary provider is the WAN connection...

Seems like a useful feature - perhaps someone should reach out to Asus Support for clarification - it has to be intentional for a specific reason, otherwise it wouldn't be there.