NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

Customizing Your Network Settings

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v2.1, July 2007

Using a Dynamic DNS Service

If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) gives you a permanently assigned IP address, you can

register a domain name and have that name linked with your IP address by public Domain Name

Servers (DNS). However, if your Internet account uses a dynamically assigned IP address, you do

not know in advance what your IP address will be, and the address can change frequently. In this

case, you can use a commercial dynamic DNS service, which will allow you to register your

domain to their IP address, and will forward traffic directed at your domain to your frequently

changing IP address.

Your router contains a client that can connect to the dynamic DNS service provided by

DynDNS.org. You must first visit their website at

www.dyndns.org

and obtain an account and host

name, which you will configure in the router. Then, whenever your ISP-assigned IP address

changes, your router will automatically contact the dynamic DNS service provider, log in to your

account, and register your new IP address. If your host name is

hostname

, you will be able to reach

your router at

hostname.dyndns.org

.

From the main menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click on Dynamic DNS to view

the Dynamic DNS menu.

Note:

If your ISP assigns a private WAN IP address (such as 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x), the

dynamic DNS service will not work because private addresses are not routed on the

Internet.

Figure 4-2

NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

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Customizing Your Network Settings

v2.1, July 2007

To configure Dynamic DNS:

1.

Register for an account with one of the dynamic DNS service providers whose names appear

in the Select Service Provider box. For example, for DynDNS.org, go to

www.dyndns.org

.

2.

Select the checkbox for Use a Dynamic DNS Service.

3.

Select the name of your dynamic DNS Service Provider.

4.

Type the Host Name (or domain name) that your dynamic DNS service provider gave you.

5.

Type the User Name for your dynamic DNS account.

This is the name you use to log in to your account, not your host name.

6.

Type the Password (or key) for your dynamic DNS account.

7.

If your dynamic DNS provider allows the use of wildcards in resolving your URL, you can

select the Use Wildcards checkbox to activate this feature.

For example, the wildcard feature will cause

*.yourhost.dyndns.org

to be aliased to the same

IP address as

yourhost.dyndns.org

.

8.

Click Apply to save your configuration.

Configuring the WAN Setup Options

The WAN Setup options let you configure a DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) server, change the

Maximum Transmit Unit (MTU) size, and enable the wireless router to respond to a ping on the

WAN port. From the main menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click WAN Setup to

view the WAN Setup menu.

Figure 4-3

NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

Customizing Your Network Settings

4-7

v2.1, July 2007

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.

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.

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.

NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

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Customizing Your Network Settings

v2.1, July 2007

Setting the MTU Size

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

connections, or 1450 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 5-20

.

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.

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:

Figure 4-4

NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

Customizing Your Network Settings

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v2.1, July 2007

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.

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

1

92.168.1.100.

•

Your company’s network address is 134.177.0.0.

Figure 4-5