I'm a former DBA/Developer who now handles all IT aspects in a new role, more by chance than design - you know, "he used to be in IT so obviously he can handle everything" type of thing. I've set up basic home/office networks before, but I do not have an extensive networking background. We're having some issues, and in looking at our router configuration I've found that both a private and public subnet have been set up. The private subnet I get; I'm unsure of why the public subnet would have been set up. From my research so far, it appears that one would only need the public subnet if they were expecting inbound traffic to those machines, which is not a scenario we would encounter. Can anyone give me an idea of why a public subnet would be used? We're just a small office; our main networking needs are internet research and usage of a file server.
Thank you in advance, and I apologize if this seems broad or vague.
This is an ATT/Motorola NVG510 DSL modem/router.