License Consumption

[wcgrnway]

Because my ISP charges $9/mo for each IP I didn't want to give up an address to a router when I could have a machine that didn't need special firewall considerations for TCP/IP applications.

I bought WinGate because it is basically the only application available that I have found that gave similar functionality to a Linux NAT which essentially makes the connection transparent. Everything else I have tried fell way short.

I bought six licenses figuring I'd never have more than five people on my home network trying to get to the internet at the same time. However, I have now come up against that possibility. I now have a number of devices on the network (printers, XBOX, HTPC) all which request 192.168.0.x IPs from the DHCP service.

How does Wingate count "concurrent" users? For instance, HTTP is a stateless protocol. If I have 9 people on the net... it's HIGHLY unlikely if all they are doing is browsing the web, that 6 simultaneous requests would hit the NAT at the same time.

In the worst case scenario, where every device on the 192.168 subnet (whether or not it's using the NAT) consumes a license how can I expand the number of browsers for that "once in a blue moon" occasion when I need more? I can't see paying another $100 for 6 more licenses that would be used maybe two or three times a year.

Can another NAT solution coexist on the net work?

This will seem insane but a router able to NAT for 253 seats only costs $50. I could hook its clients on a 192.168.1.x subnet and have it's outbound port be a wingate "user" on the 192.168.0.x network.

This seems extreme... but with an XBOX, a print server, 2 access points, and 2 laptops... I'm already at six IPs.

Suggestions?

[genie]

Every time the new machine is created in Wingate (that is, new IP client connects and requests some services) one license is consumed. As soon as the machine is destroyed (all HTTP sessions from the client machine are closed and lingering timeout expires - the timeout is configurable) the license taken by this user is returned to the pool. So you will run out of licenses only if there are 6 active clients contesting for Wingate services actively.

[The Underground Project]

How Wingate will count the quantity of clients to cound the licenses? Is Wingate using its own HTTP service "only" to find out how many clients are working at the moment?

Im asking because if i will start Emule or similar file sharing software on one client, then i will open 20-40 TCP or UDP connections to outside commputers. Will they also be count as a client?

[ekkas2]

Just the PC running emule will count as 1 client. Doesn't matter if you have 1 or 100 connections from that 1 pc(IP).