Router Help pls.

Hi

I am using AllNet - ALL130DSLA router at the moment.

i have 2 computers.

Now i find this router not very user firendly i am begining to see there are not alot of features like UPnP;.



Mow could someone recommend me to a really good router with all features like UPnP etc... and more features.


BTW a router is a hardware firewall as well right? a i find that important. Also a good make router.



And one thing i would prefer buying the router from www.Overclockers.co.uk pls

 

anyone pls

 

Chaos;
There are about a million routers you can buy out there.
It is very difficult to determine what you need, only you know what you really want out of this router.

So i can only suggest you start a search thru the different brands of routers.
There are several well known brands like Belkin, Linksys, Thompson to name a few.
There are numoures ones with UPnP build into it.

Yes a router has a 'firewall', but normally this works only from the WAN-side so it's not bi-directional.(at least the one i have works like that)

Lamehand

 

Dlink DI-604, url-blocking, domain-blocking, mac-address filtering/blocking, ip-address-blocking/filtering, DMZ, discard ping from wan side, virtual server, port-triggering/forwarding for gaming, UPnP very compatible, option to specify special application to allow it multiple connections, gaming mode, VPN, very very fine-grained firewall rules to play with(source-wan/lan,ip-address, protocol, time of day, port-range, destination-wan/lan,ip-address, protocol, time of day, port-range, wan speed options, DHCP server lease times specified by you, allow deny mac addresses on lan as well as wan as well as ip-address, not only who can connect to wan and lan but if you want who can connect to who on other side of wan or lan.All for $40.00 man. Also fairly extensive logging features and load settings of save settings to/from hard-drive/removable media, also built in Zone alarm but I have never used this feature, and still other things.

 

I'm also using DI-604. I bought it because it was recommended as a compatible router for my internet connection.
I installed the latest firmware, but I'm not familiar with the internet and it's vocabulary.
So all these features you mentioned, didn't make me much wiser due to my lack of knowledge.
I only can hope that its basic installation is good enough in combination with my firewall, actually ZoneAlarm Free, probably Look 'n" Stop in the future.

 

Thanks Ron, I stored those links on my computer. It seems to be a very long reading, but I can use some big help in this matter.

 

Default configurations of routers are set to be the most compatible and open to reduce the number of technical support issues the company has to deal with. This seems to be reasonable enough. What router manufacturer's are seriously lacking are detailed, easy to understand setup, configuration, and just simple definitions of what all the settings do and why one might want to set it that way. What one frequently ends up with is sparse (if any) instructions in barely intelligible language.

Fortunately, there are product forums where people can go to ask questions from other kind souls who may be more knowledgeable with their particular router.

Your router is your primary line of defense to the internet, don't rely on compatible settings that may leave you exposed.

Most routers can password protect the router's configuration, but the default password is often blank or just "password". Read the manual and go into your router's config and change the password to something more secure.

Also it is a good idea to turn off "features" you know you will never use. For example, if you never need a remote user to connect to your LAN, why leave VPN enabled? If and when you need someone to connect, you can then turn the feature on. Same thing with remote admin for the router. Why would you want to have someone on the internet to even have the opportunity to adjust your router config?

With UPnP, you may not even need it to get your devices working on your LAN. In the past there were security issues involving UPnP. Determine if your hardware devices hooked up to the LAN require it. If you know you don't need it, turn it off.
Just don't go turning off everything until you know exactly what it does, what the consequences are, and only change one thing at a time then test. Or else you may end up not being able to connect to the internet at all.

 

Devinco,
Thanks for the advice. I only need TIME to get familiar with this stuff.

 

sry i will be more specific.

I want a easy to use router.

with all the latest features there are.

with comptaibility for game by that i mean i can open ports easily. also SPI is a good feature right?

and a router that has a firewall built in or is as good.

i would like also a router with good hardware security mainly as i use KIS 6.0 for software security



also i have a lan with my computer and my sisters computer.


So is D-Link the right one for me? then?

 

ErikAlbert,
What you need is a TIME Router. (also known as a secretary or personal assistant)

chaos16,
If I was still a gamer, I would be very interested in this one:
http://games.dlink.com/products/?pid=371&#DGL-4100

Yes, SPI Stateful Packet Inspection is a firewall feature which implies that the firewall has the ability to look inside the packet data rather than just the headers. How the firewall reacts to the data is another matter.

Yes, a router that has a built in firewall is usually better than just a regular NAT router. Not because it necessarily provides more protection than a plain NAT router. The firewall router usually is more configurable and has some security options that the plain NAT router doesn't.

Playing online Video Games does increase your security risk. By its very nature, it is setting up your computer to be a server to receive and send game data to other computers. Some games don't work right until you disable practically all of your security measures.
That is why the router feature called DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) is good. You can put your internet gaming computer in the DMZ which has less security restrictions. It is like a separate sub-LAN. This way you can have a more connected computer without exposing the whole LAN to the video game's vulnerabilities. And if it is hacked/infected, it will not affect (or have the same priviliges as) the other computers within your LAN. If everybody on the LAN will be playing, then you might as well not bother with a DMZ. This feature can be turned off if not needed.

Good Luck and have Fun!