About This Manual

xi

Preface

About This Manual

Congratulations on your purchase of the NETGEAR

®

Model WGR614 Cable/DSL Wireless

Router. The WGR614 router provides connection for multiple personal computers (PCs) to the

Internet through an external broadband access device (such as a cable modem or DSL modem) that

is normally intended for use by a single PC.

Audience

This reference manual assumes that the reader has basic to intermediate computer and Internet

skills. However, basic computer network, Internet, firewall, and VPN technologies tutorial

information is provided in the Appendices and on the Netgear website.

Typographical Conventions

This guide uses the following typographical conventions:

Conventions

italics

Emphasis.

bold times roman

User input.

courier font

Screen text, user-typed command-line entries.

[Enter]

Named keys in text are shown enclosed in square brackets. The notation [Enter]

is used for the Enter key and the Return key.

[Ctrl]+C

Two or more keys that must be pressed simultaneously are shown in text linked

with a plus (+) sign.

S

MALL

C

APS

DOS file and directory names.

Reference Manual for Cable/DSL Wireless Router WGR614

xii

About This Manual

Special Message Formats

This guide uses the following formats to highlight special messages:

Note:

This format is used to highlight information of importance or special interest.

Introduction

1-1

Chapter 1

Introduction

This chapter describes the features of the NETGEAR Model WGR614 Cable/DSL Wireless

Router.

Key Features of the Router

The Model WGR614 Cable/DSL Wireless Router with 4-port switch connects your local area

network (LAN) to the Internet through an external access device such as a cable modem or DSL

modem.

The WGR614 router provides you with multiple Web content filtering options, plus browsing

activity reporting and instant alerts -- both via e-mail. Parents and network administrators can

establish restricted access policies based on time-of-day, Website addresses and address keywords,

and share high-speed cable/DSL Internet access for up to 253 personal computers. In addition to

the Network Address Translation (NAT) feature, the built-in firewall protects you from hackers.

With minimum setup, you can install and use the router within minutes.

The WGR614 router provides the following features:

•

802.11g wireless networking, with the ability to operate in 802.11g-only or 802.11b+g modes.

•

Easy, web-based setup for installation and management.

•

Content Filtering and Site Blocking Security.

•

Built in 4-port 10/100 Mbps Switch.

•

Ethernet connection to a wide area network (WAN) device, such as a cable modem or DSL

modem.

•

Extensive Protocol Support.

•

Login capability.

•

Front panel LEDs for easy monitoring of status and activity.

•

Flash memory for firmware upgrade.

Reference Manual for Cable/DSL Wireless Router WGR614

1-2

Introduction

802.11g Wireless Networking

The WGR614 router includes an 802.11g wireless access point, providing continuous, high-speed

54 Mbps access between your wireless and Ethernet devices. The access point provides:

•

802.11g wireless networking at up to 54 Mbps.

•

802.11g wireless networking, with the ability to operate in 802.11g-only or 802.11b+g modes,

providing backwards compatibility with 802.11b devices or dedicating the wireless network to

the higher bandwidth 802.11g 54Mbps devices.

•

64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption security.

•

WEP keys can be generated manually or by passphrase.

•

Wireless access can be restricted by MAC address.

•

Wireless network name broadcast can be turned off so that only devices that have the network

name (SSID) can connect.

A Powerful, True Firewall with Content Filtering

Unlike simple Internet sharing NAT routers, the WGR614 is a true firewall, using stateful packet

inspection to defend against hacker attacks. Its firewall features include:

•

Denial of Service

(DoS) protection.

Automatically detects and thwarts DoS attacks such as Ping of Death, SYN Flood, LAND

Attack, and IP Spoofing.

•

Blocks unwanted traffic from the Internet to your LAN.

•

Blocks access from your LAN to Internet locations or services that you specify as off-limits.

•

Logs security incidents.

The WGR614 will log security events such as blocked incoming traffic, port scans, attacks,

and administrator logins. You can configure the router to email the log to you at specified

intervals. You can also configure the router to send immediate alert messages to your email

address or email pager whenever a significant event occurs.

•

With its content filtering feature, the WGR614 prevents objectionable content from reaching

your PCs. The router allows you to control access to Internet content by screening for

keywords within Web addresses. You can configure the router to log and report attempts to

access objectionable Internet sites.

Reference Manual for Cable/DSL Wireless Router WGR614

Introduction

1-3

Security

The WGR614 router is equipped with several features designed to maintain security, as described

in this section.

•

PCs Hidden by NAT

NAT opens a temporary path to the Internet for requests originating from the local network.

Requests originating from outside the LAN are discarded, preventing users outside the LAN

from finding and directly accessing the PCs on the LAN.

•

Port Forwarding with NAT

Although NAT prevents Internet locations from directly accessing the PCs on the LAN, the

router allows you to direct incoming traffic to specific PCs based on the service port number

of the incoming request, or to one designated “DMZ” host computer. You can specify

forwarding of single ports or ranges of ports.

Autosensing Ethernet Connections with Auto Uplink

With its internal 8-port 10/100 switch, the WGR614 can connect to either a 10 Mbps standard

Ethernet network or a 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet network. Both the LAN and WAN interfaces are

autosensing and capable of full-duplex or half-duplex operation.

The router incorporates Auto Uplink

TM

technology. Each Ethernet port will automatically sense

whether the Ethernet cable plugged into the port should have a ‘normal’ connection such as to a

PC or an ‘uplink’ connection such as to a switch or hub. That port will then configure itself to the

correct configuration. This feature also eliminates the need to worry about crossover cables, as

Auto Uplink will accommodate either type of cable to make the right connection.

Extensive Protocol Support

The WGR614 router supports the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and

Routing Information Protocol (RIP). For further information about TCP/IP, refer to

Appendix B,

“Network, Routing, Firewall, and Basics

.”

•

IP Address Sharing by NAT

The WGR614 router allows several networked PCs to share an Internet account using only a

single IP address, which may be statically or dynamically assigned by your Internet service

provider (ISP). This technique, known as NAT, allows the use of an inexpensive single-user

ISP account.