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Chapter 5

Advanced Configuration

This chapter describes how to configure the advanced features of your WGT624 v4 wireless

router. These features are listed under the Advanced heading in the router’s main menu.

Configuring Port Forwarding to Local Servers

Although the router causes your entire local network to appear as a single machine to the Internet,

you can make a local server (for example, a Web server or game server) visible and available to the

Internet. This is done using the Port Forwarding page.

From the Advanced section of the main menu, click Port Forwarding / Port Triggering to view the

port forwarding page.

Figure 5-1

Note:

If you are unfamiliar with networking and routing, see

“Internet Networking and

TCP/IP Addressing” in Appendix B

,” for a link to a tutorial that will help you

become more familiar with the terms and procedures used in this manual.

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You can use the Port Forwarding menu to configure the router to forward incoming protocols to

computers on your local network. In addition to servers for specific applications, you can also

specify a Default DMZ Server to which all other incoming protocols are forwarded. The DMZ

Server is configured in the WAN Setup Menu.

Before starting, determine which type of service, application or game you will provide and the IP

address of the computer that will provide each service. Be sure the computer’s IP address never

changes. To configure port forwarding to a local server:

1.

From the Service Name box, select the service or game that you will host on your network.

If the service does not appear in the list, see the following section, “

Adding a Port-Forwarding

Custom Service

”.

2.

Enter the IP address of the local server in the corresponding Server IP Address box.

3.

Click

Add

.

Adding a Port-Forwarding Custom Service

To define a service, game, or application that does not appear in the Service Name list, you must

determine what port numbers are used by the service. For this information, you may need to

contact the manufacturer of the program that you wish to use. When you have the port number

information, follow these steps:

1.

Click Add Custom Service.

2.

Enter the first port number in an unused Starting Port box.

3.

To forward only one port, enter it again in the Ending Port box. To specify a range of ports,

enter the last port to be forwarded in the End Port box.

4.

Enter the IP address of the local server in the corresponding Server IP Address box.

5.

Type a name for the service.

6.

Click

Apply

.

Editing or Deleting a Port-Forwarding Entry

To edit or delete a port forwarding entry:

1.

In the table, select the button next to the service name.

2.

Click Edit Service or Delete Service.

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Local Web and FTP Server Example

If a local computer with a private IP address of 192.168.1.33 acts as a Web and FTP server,

configure the ports menu to forward HTTP (port 80) and FTP (port 21) to local address

192.168.1.33

In order for a remote user to access this server from the Internet, the remote user must know the IP

address that has been assigned by your ISP. If this address is 172.16.1.23, for example, users can

access your Web server by directing the browser to http://172.16.1.23. You can view the assigned

IP address in the Maintenance Status page, where it is shown as the WAN IP Address.

Some considerations for this application are:

•

If your account’s IP address is assigned dynamically by your ISP, the IP address may change

periodically as the DHCP lease expires.

•

If the IP address of the local computer is assigned by DHCP, it may change when the computer

is rebooted. To avoid this, you can manually configure the computer to use a fixed address.

•

Local computers must access the local server using the computers’ local LAN address

(192.168.1.33 in this example). Attempts by local computers to access the server using the

external IP address (172.16.1.23 in this example) will fail.

Network Computer Gaming Example

To set up an additional computer to play Half Life, KALI, or Quake III:

1.

Click the button of an unused port in the table.

2.

Select the game again from the Service Name list.

3.

Change the beginning port number in the Start Port box.

For these games, use the supplied number in the default listing and add +1 for each additional

computer. For example, if you have already configured one computer to play Hexen II (using

port 26900), the second computer’s port number would be 26901, and the third computer

would be 26902.

4.

Type the same port number in the End Port box that you typed in the Start Port box.

5.

Type the IP address of the additional computer in the Server IP Address box.

6.

Click

Apply

.

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Some online games and videoconferencing applications are incompatible with NAT. The

WGT624 v4 wireless router is programmed to recognize some of these applications and to work

properly with them, but there are other applications that may not function well. In some cases, one

local computer can run the application properly if that computer’s IP address is entered as the

default in the Ports Menu. If one local computer acts as a game or videoconferencing host, enter its

IP address as the default.

Using Port Triggering

Port triggering is an advanced feature that allows you to dynamically open inbound ports on the

basis of outbound traffic on different ports. This feature can be used for gaming and other Internet

applications.

Port forwarding can typically be used to enable similar functionality, but it is static and has some

limitations. Ports will be open to traffic from the Internet until the port-forwarding rule is removed.

Additionally, port forwarding does not work well for some applications when your WAN IP

address is assigned by DHCP, and is changed frequently. Port triggering opens an incoming port

temporarily and does not require the server on the Internet to track your IP address if it is changed.

Port triggering monitors outbound traffic. When the gateway detects traffic on the specified

outbound port, it remembers the IP address of the computer that sent the data and “triggers” the

incoming port. Incoming traffic on the triggered port is then forwarded to the triggering computer.

Once configured, operation is as follows:

1.

A computer makes an outgoing connection using a port number defined in the Port Triggering

table.

2.

The wireless router records this connection, opens the INCOMING port or ports associated

with this entry in the Port Triggering table, and associates them with the computer.

3.

The remote system receives the computer’s request, and responds using a different port

number.

4.

The wireless router matches the response to the previous request, and forwards the response to

the computer.

Without port triggering, this response would be treated as a new connection request rather than a

response. As such, it would be handled in accordance with the port forwarding rules.

Note:

Only one computer can use a port triggering application at any time.

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After a computer has finished using a port Triggering application, there is a time-out period before

the application can be used by another computer. This is required because the wireless router

cannot be sure when the application has terminated.

Port Triggering Menu

The Port Triggering Portmap Table lists the current port triggering services:

•

Enable.

Indicates if the rule is enabled or disabled. Generally, there is no need to disable a rule

unless it interferes with some other function, such as port forwarding.

•

Service Name.

The name assigned to this service.

•

Service Type.

Either TCP or UDP.

•

Inbound Connection—

indicates the type of inbound connection (TCP/UDP, TCP, or UDP)

and the port range.

•

Service User

—indicates who can use the service on the network.

Adding a New Service

To add a new service, click Add Service, and then enter the following data.

1.

Enter service name in the Service Name box (for example, the name of the application)

2.

Select Any or Single address from the Service User drop-down list. The default value (Any)

will allow everyone on the network to use the service. If you select Single address, enter the IP

address of the computer that will be allowed to use the service.

Figure 5-2