What is a typical requirement of PAT?

• A. No unique public IP per host is required; PAT uses port translation.
• B. Each host must have its own public IP.
• C. PAT requires a dedicated DHCP server.
• D. PAT cannot be used with NAT.

Answer: (A)

PAT uses port translation to allow many internal hosts to share a single public IP address. The router uses one public IP on its external interface and, for each outgoing connection, assigns a unique source port while keeping the internal IPs hidden. This mapping lets the router route replies back to the correct internal device. Because of this, individual internal devices don’t need their own public IPs. The other statements aren’t accurate: PAT doesn’t require every host to have a public IP, doesn’t mandate a dedicated DHCP server, and is a form of NAT, so it can be used with NAT.