I checked through your manual and the password that you find on the Setup tab is the password to your ISP login. The password under the Password tab is the password to the router when you are using the web-based utility.

Hello,

Next page is the Status Page.

I see:

Host Name:
Firmware version: 1.42.7, April 2002

Login: Disable (not sure what this is for? doesn't look like I could change it here either, not that I need to change it)

LAN: gives my MAC Address
IP address (which I assume is my laptop address)(nope, I looked)(so router IP??)
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
DHCP server: enabled

WAN: gives MAC address
IP address (which I assume is my IP address that belongs to my cable modem??)
Subnet Mask: 255.255.240.0
Default Gateway:(not sure what this default gateway is for)
DNS: (domain name service, right? it lists 3 of them)
DHCP remaining time: 17:12:22 ( I assume that is when my IP for my cable modem changes??)

Then I just have 3 buttons at the bottom:
DHCP release (this will release my WAN IP??)
DHCP renew (this will give me a new WAN IP??)
DHCP Clients Table (I clicked on it and it has one listing, which tells me the client name (this computer) It's IP address, MAC address, Interface (which is wireless), and delete (which I won't touch )

The Status Page can be summed up in two words: Read Only. This page tells you what is what right now. You can't change anything on the page (at least not from here). So let's at least look at what the various fields are for.

Host Name: That would have been entered on the Setup Page and is an ISP related item. Some require that, some don't.

Firmware Revision: The firmware is the router's BIOS. It is updateable and we will talk more about it when we get to the Advanced page.

Login: This is only enabled if you are using a pseudo-dialup type connection such as PPPoE, RAS, or PPTP. If enabled there is an additional button called "Connect" that allows you to reestablish a connection after disconnection.

LAN: This is the router's IP address and subnet mask as seen by other computers on the LAN side.

WAN: Everything here pertains to how the router appears from the WAN side. These are set according to your particular ISP's requirements.

DHCP Release is an active button that terminates your current lease and surrenders the IP address.

DHCP Renew is an active button that requests and establishes a new lease (from the ISP).

DHCP Client Table: Displays the IP addresses of all devices that have been given IP addresses by the router.

I'm back. Thought I would just do a page a day or something so that I don't tie you up to much. I have been busy answering logs myself.

DHCP page:

DHCP: enabled - which it should be

Starting IP address 192.168.1.100 (IP of this laptop)

Number of DHCP Users: I have 50 in the box

Client lease time: 0 (which I believe I do not need to change, don't know why I would need a lease on it since I see no need in it changing)

DNS 1 - empty
2 - empty
3 - empty
WINS - empty (not exactly sure what this section is for)

DHCP clients table (I looked and gave me same info in the Status Page)

Okay, DHCP controls the addresses that the router gives out to computers on the LAN side.

DHCP Server: Enable this if you want to assign IP addresses automatically to systems as they log onto the network. If you were setting up a network with all static IP addresses (not a bad security measure) then you would set this to disable.

Starting IP Address: This is the first address that will be given out when a system connects with the network. If you read my account of setting up my wireless net you know that I used a very different address space so my starting IP address would be different than this.

Number of DHCP Users: This is the maximum number of addresses that can be given out. I think 50 is way too high. I allowed 10 which is still overkill. I just did that for testing purposes.

Client Lease Time: Leases can be periodically renewed at fixed time intervals. The default value of 0 is one day.

DNS: If you are using a Domain Name System server within your network you would enter its IP address here. If you are not (most of us don't) then enter nothing and the client systems will use the DNS server(s) from your ISP.

WINS: Don't get me started! Years ago Microsoft came up with a name system for the internet and called it WINS. It was a very bad idea and no one gave it much consideration and went with DNS instead. Still, MS refuses to let the idea die and since it is a feature of all Windows systems and servers the router offers this in case you want it. You don't!

Everything seem pretty clear so far? I hope so because the midterm exam is coming up.

Hi, I'm still here. Just been busy with Mo. She's been teaching me on some of the new hijacks.

Ok, next page is Log:

Access log: disabled

Send Log To: 192.168.1.255

And two buttons - Incoming Access log and Outgoing Access log

Nothing is in the logs but my guess is because it is disabled.

Not sure what this page is for, I could take a guess though.

The primary function of a router is to segment networks. For logging purposes anything that your networked PC's send through the router to the WAN side is considered outgoing and anything that comes from the WAN side to one of the PC's is considered incoming. Traffic among the networked PC's is not logged at all.

Your log is currently blank because it is disabled. Once enabled you have a choice of either using temporary logs or permanent logs. Temporary logs are stored on the router and accessed by clicking either the incoming or outgoing log buttons. Permanent logs require that Logviewer software be downloaded from Linksys and installed on one of your PC's. The "Send Log to" address should be the static IP address of the PC doing the logging. I am puzzled by the address that you currently have as it is the broadcast address for your network and goes to all the PC's connected.

The incoming log will show the Source IP and Destination Port Number for all traffic from outside the network intended for any networked PC. The outgoing log will show the LAN IP, Destination URL/IP , and Service/Port Number for all traffic originated by one of your PC's and directed to the WAN side of the router.

Ok, I'm back.

Next page: Security

Tab to download Zone Alarm or PC-cillin

Zone Alarm Pro settings: I don't have Zone Alarm

PC-cillin settings: I don't have PC-cillin

Exempt computer: disabled ( I assume that if I had one of the programs above, that I can expempt that computer from Zone Alarm and PC-cillin??
From IP address
To IP address:

Is either of these programs necessary if I have this router and it is set up properly??

Hmm. That tab isn't even in the user manual. The bottom line is that you do not have to run either of those programs. I do recommend a software firewall in addition to the one provided by the router. The situation is somewhat like AdAware and Spybot. They both serve the same purpose but accomplish it in slightly different ways.

Oldfrog/taz71498
Hi guys, been reading the tutorial tonight, as I had first an easy time, then a hard time with my routers, and I have a 2nd one uplinked. Hope you don't mind.
If you've had no feedback on one issue, I just wanted to add - Send Log To: 192.168.1.255 - must be a default setting. Mine was set to that, and I wondered where it was all going.
I thought there was a 3rd following along. Perhaps I could take his place?

_________________

You are more than welcome to join in, seafsee. The 192.168.1.255 does seem to be the default setting. The significance of that is that the .255 on the end (with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0) reserves the address for use as a "broadcast" address for the network. Every system on the net will read that information. Linksys has a free download of a logging utility called "Logviewer" that can run on one of the networked systems. If you install this you can change the logging address to that of the system running the utility. For this to work properly that system would have to have a static address as opposed to a DHCP lease.

_________________
MS MVP Security 2006-2008

I had such a hard time getting the PC's here to re-integrate into the network after one of the main ones needed to be restored, IT WASN'T EVEN FUNNY!
There must be a basic understanding, I am not getting, which is why I decided to sit in. It took so long for all the computers to have access to one another for instance, and not all of them ever saw one another. I didn't understand that! Last time took me 3+ days to get the main ones to connect. Don't know if ICW was the culprit? Clueless.
When I followed instructions and wizards, it got worse. Got it back to where the 4 machines running could connect and several of the computers could see at least one other computer on the net. We are moving, so you needn't respond as the situation will be entirely different shortly.
Another thing I had to manually add (I believe it was) DNS entry as the default kept showing as the router. When I puy in the IP address was when they all went back online. Must of done something wrong somewhere.

_________________

Hi seafsee,

I know the frustration. Sometimes you think you get it and then bam, something goes wrong.



Ok Oldfrog,

I am going to skip the help page since that is self explanitory.

We are now to Advanced

Ok, first tab is Filters.

Filtered Private IP Range: basically has the 192.168.1.0 ~ 0 in all 5 listed

Filtered Private Port Range: First box is a choice of Both, UPD, or TCP
I have nothing in here either.

Private MAC Filter Edit button

SPI: Disabled
Block WAN request: Disabled
Multicast Pass Through: Enabled
IP Sec Pass Through: Enabled
PPTP Pass Through: Enabled
Remote Management: Disabled
Remote Upgrade: Disabled
MTU: Enabled Size: 1200

I pretty much do not know much about this page except for maybe the remote management, which I am assuming I know.

Okay, Filtersallow you to prevent particular systems or services from accessing the internet side of the router. You can enter one or more address ranges or individual addresses in the address fields. If you wish to block particular services from accessing the internet you can enter their associated port numbers in the port lists. You can also select whether you want to block UDP, TCP, or both protocols for the chosen ports.

MAC Filtering allows you to enter the specific MAC for a particular NIC and block any internet access from that specific system.

I'm not sure on the SPI, I will have to check into that.

Block WAN request instructs the router not to respond to ping requests and other outside scans. This is the same thing as "stealthing" all ports.

Multicasting allows for multiple simultaneous transmissions to different specific recipients. This is probably best left enabled.

IPSec Pass Through allows secure communications to pass through the router. If you do anything at all with HTTPS or SSL certificates you will need this enabled.

PPTP Pass Through allows the Point to Point Tunneling Protocol used for VPN connections to pass through the router. This is enabled by default. Unless you have a VPN connection to your office from home I would disable it.

Remote Management and Remote Upgrade both allow you to perform administrative functions from the WAN side of the router. I would disable these.

MTU, or Maximum Transmission Unit, specifies the largest size packet that the router will send out. Anything between 1200 and 1500 should be okay, except that if you are on DSL 1492 seems to be ideal.

_________________
MS MVP Security 2006-2008

A question on the Remote Management: If I wanted to work from a centralized machine on my home network, instead of going from room to room, I would then have to enable this function? Or is it referring to only if I am at someone elses house (the WAN side)? (not that I would know how to do that at this point!!)
Also in a P2P network, like WinMX, I cannot access a primary connection due to TCP/UDP connection failures, even after downloading and running a program such as TCP Optimizer. If I am understanding what you outlined, would this then be the page to change settings to allow these connections?
~seafsee