Which of these statements accurately describes NAT’s capability?

The statement that accurately describes NAT's capability is that it translates public IP addresses to private IP addresses and vice versa. NAT, or Network Address Translation, primarily functions to allow devices on a private network to communicate with external networks, such as the internet, through a single public IP address.

In typical network setups, devices within a private network are assigned private IP addresses (which are not routable on the internet) to conserve the limited number of available public IP addresses. When these devices initiate a connection to the outside world, NAT translates their private IP addresses to a public IP address that can be recognized by external networks.

This process not only enables multiple devices to share a single public IP address but also enhances security by hiding internal IP addresses from external view, thereby acting as a basic form of firewall. The ability to convert between public and private IP addresses is essential for maintaining connectivity while managing the limited resource of public IP addresses.

The other options do not accurately capture the core function of NAT. Connecting multiple networks directly and providing a direct connection for WAN are more aligned with routing capabilities rather than those of NAT.