Misconfigured Clients

The question is probably more appropriate in comp.protocols.tcp-ip, but yes. You could use a DHCP server to give clients an IP address to use while connected to your network. And you can also provide Mobile IP services, by installing a "foreign agent" in your network. This permits clients with permanent IP addresses to pretend like they're still connected to their home network. RFC 2002.

Bert

In the usual case you would want a separate wire to the router for each such connection, but it might be possible without that.

Unlike most networks, the hosts on your net won't (usually) need to talk to each other. As more than one might have the same address, that would complicate the usual IP routing situation.

I believe if you implement the logic of a NAT router for each port, though not necessarily separate physical routers, it can work. Each host will have to be identified by its MAC address, and the data processed accordingly. This should be a relatively simple change to the usual NAT router logic for someone who really understands NAT and IP.

-- glen