NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

Customizing Your Network Settings

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v1.2, January 2007

Connecting Automatically, as Required

Normally, this option should be selected so that an Internet connection will be made automatically

after each timeout, whenever Internet-bound traffic is detected. This feature provides connection

on demand and is potentially cost-saving in regions where Internet services charge by the minute,

as in some areas of Europe.

If this feature is disabled, you must connect manually, using the Connection Status button on the

Router Status screen. The manual connection will stay up continuously without timeouts.

Disabling the SPI Firewall

The Stateful Packet Inspection ( SPI) Firewall protects your network and computers against

attacks and intrusions. A stateful packet firewall carefully inspects incoming traffic packets,

looking for known exploits such as malformed, oversized, or out-of-sequence packets. The

firewall should only be disabled in special circumstances, such as when troubleshooting

application issues.

Setting Up a Default DMZ Server

The default DMZ server feature is helpful when using some online games and videoconferencing

applications that are incompatible with Network Address Translation (NAT). The 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 DMZ server.

Incoming traffic from the Internet is normally discarded by the router unless the traffic is a

response to one of your local computers or a service that you have configured in the Port

Forwarding/Port Triggering menu. Instead of discarding this traffic, you can have it forwarded to

one computer on your network. This computer is called the Default DMZ Server.

The WAN Setup menu lets you configure a Default DMZ Server.

To assign a computer or server to be a Default DMZ server:

1.

In the main menu, under Advanced, click WAN Setup.

Warning:

DMZ servers pose a security risk. A computer designated as the default DMZ

server loses much of the protection of the firewall, and is exposed to exploits

from the Internet. If compromised, the DMZ server computer can be used to

attack other computers on your network.

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2.

Under Default DMZ Server, type the last digit of the IP address for that computer. To remove

the default DMZ server, enter zero.

3.

Select the checkbox for Default DMZ Server and click Apply.

Responding to a Ping on the Internet WAN Port

If you want the router to respond to a 'ping' from the Internet, select the checkbox for Respond to

Ping on Internet WAN Port. This should only be used as a diagnostic tool, since it allows your

router to be discovered by Internet scanners. Do not select this checkbox unless you have a

specific reason to do so, such as when troubleshooting your connection.

Setting the MTU Size

The normal MTU value for most Ethernet networks is 1500 bytes, 1492 bytes for PPPoE

connections, or 1436 for PPTP connections. For some ISPs, you may need to reduce the MTU, but

this is rarely required and should not be done unless you are sure it is necessary for your ISP

connection. For more information, see

“Changing the MTU” on page 6-14

.

To change the MTU size:

1.

Under MTU Size, enter a new size between 64 and 1500.

2.

Click Apply to save the new configuration.

Configuring Static Routes

Static routes provide additional routing information to your router. Under normal circumstances,

the router has adequate routing information after it has been configured for Internet access, and

you do not need to configure additional static routes. You must configure static routes only for

unusual cases such as multiple routers or multiple IP subnets located on your network.

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Customizing Your Network Settings

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From the main menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click Static Routes to view the

Static Routes menu.

To add or edit a static route:

1.

Click Add to open the Add Static Routes menu.

2.

In the Route Name box, type a name for this static route.

(This is for identification purposes only.)

3.

Select the Private checkbox if you want to limit access to the LAN only.

If Private, the static route will not be reported in RIP.

4.

Select the Active checkbox to make this route effective.

5.

Type the Destination IP Address of the final destination.

6.

Type the IP Subnet Mask for this destination.

If the destination is a single host, type

255.255.255.255

.

Figure 5-4

Figure 5-5

NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

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v1.2, January 2007

7.

Type the Gateway IP Address, which must be a router on the same LAN segment as the

WNR834B.

8.

Type a number between 1 and 15 as the metric value.

This represents the number of routers between your network and the destination. Usually, a

setting of 2 or 3 works, but if this is a direct connection, set it to 1.

9.

Click Apply to have the static route entered into the table.

As an example of when a static route is needed, consider the following case:

•

Your primary Internet access is through a cable modem to an ISP.

•

You have an ISDN router on your home network for connecting to the company where

you are employed. This router’s address on your LAN is

192.168.1.100

.

•

Your company’s network address is

134.177.0.0

.

When you first configured your router, two implicit static routes were created. A default route was

created with your ISP as the gateway, and a second static route was created to your local network

for all

192.168.1.x

addresses. With this configuration, if you attempt to access a device on the

134.177.0.0

network, your router will forward your request to the ISP. The ISP forwards your

request to the company where you are employed, and the request will likely be denied by the

company’s firewall.

In this case you must define a static route, telling your router that

134.177.0.0

should be

accessed through the ISDN router at

192.168.1.100

. The static route would look like

Figure 5-5 on page 5-9

.

In this example:

•

The Destination IP Address and IP Subnet Mask fields specify that this static route applies to

all

134.177.x.x

addresses.

•

The Gateway IP Address fields specifies that all traffic for these addresses should be

forwarded to the ISDN router at

192.168.1.100

.

•

A metric value of 1 will work since the ISDN router is on the LAN.

•

Private is selected only as a precautionary security measure in case RIP is activated.

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Chapter 6

Fine-Tuning Your Network

This chapter describes how to modify the configuration of the RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router

WNR834B to allow specific applications to access the Internet or to be accessed from the Internet,

and how to make adjustments to enhance your network’s performance.

This chapter includes:

•

Allowing Inbound Connections To Your Network

•

Configuring Port Forwarding to Local Servers

•

Configuring Port Triggering

•

Using Universal Plug and Play

•

Optimizing Wireless Performance

•

Changing the MTU

•

Optimizing Your Network Bandwidth

•

Overview of Home and Small Office Networking Technologies

Allowing Inbound Connections To Your Network

By default, the WNR834B router blocks any inbound traffic from the Internet to your computers

except for replies to your outbound traffic. However, you may need to create exceptions to this rule

for the following purposes:

•

To allow remote computers on the Internet to access a server on your local network.

•

To allow certain applications and games to work properly when their replies are not

recognized by your router.

Your router provides two features for creating these exceptions: Port Forwarding and Port

Triggering. This section explains how a normal outbound connection works, followed by two

examples explaining how Port Forwarding and Port Triggering operate and how they differ.