The present invention discloses a method of automatically bridging or
routing, i.e. internetworking, data packets received on an Ethernet port
in a telecommunications integrated services hub. The target media access
control, MAC, address of a data packet is compared to the MAC address
assigned to the Ethernet port on which the data packet is received and to
the broadcast MAC address. If the target MAC address matches the MAC
address assigned to the Ethernet port on which the data packet is
received, the data packet is treated with a routing protocol and sent to a
wide area network controller for transmission to the Internet. If the
target MAC address of the packet does not match the hub MAC address, the
data packet is bridged to the appropriate LAN port of the hub. If the
target MAC address matches the broadcast MAC address, the data packet is
both routed to the Internet and bridged to all LAN ports.
