Netgear DG834G Settings

Can't seem to get any answers from the netgear help guides,
so praps you guys can help me out.

1. Does anyone have all the recommended firewall / router settings for this model?

2. How can I control the wireless access to my home network?
I have a concern that at the moment, anyone with a wireless lan can 'log into' my home network and share my internet access. I s this true, and if so how can I set the router up to only allow access from certain pc's/laptops?

thanks for any advice

Ming

 

Ming,

I've got this model, it's been great! First, click router home page to get to your router's interface (username=admin; password=password). Suggest changing the password whenever your comfortable doing so. You can click on "Setup Wizard" (upper left pane) to get your DSL configured.

For the firewall, the default allows ALL outgoing and blocks ALL incoming. This is good for most users, but I still run ZoneAlarm's free version. A hard connection (Cat5e) requires no other configuration - in fact, you'll need a LAN cable to get into setup! (unless you're lucky enough to have gotten the wireless working right off).

The wireless will need the SSID, region, and channel to be set. Check "Enable Wireless Access Point ". Most peeps feel that broadcasting the SSID is a moot point - check it or not... Remember! The individual wireless adapters will need to be configured in a like manner

Now go to "LAN IP Setup" and check "Use Router as DHCP Server ". Figure out how many users you'll have and set the range of available IP addresses to that number (in order). IE, if you have 4 computers, set the range from 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.5. This will help discourage unwanted visitors. On the same page, you can (and should) configure each computer's MAC address, the preferred IP number for it, and a description. This should take care of problem #2. Oh, and there's a forum available for further enlightenment.

Good luck!

Russ

 

thanks russ.

i've got the first 3 ip addresses assigned to my pc and laptops.
i've activated the WEP encryption, and that seems to work really well.

I just wanted to make sure that the firewall is doing it's job and setup correctly, because i used to use norton personal firewall when i had just the 1 pc connected directly to the modem and i had to type in 'allowed' sites/programs (such as for online gaming), but the dg834 seems to do this all automatically - i hope

 

Have a look at shields up. It is an excellent tool for testing how secure you are.

Personally, on a small network like yours I'd use a personal firewall on each of the PC as well as any firewalling you can enable on the router. As a general rule, personal firewalls are better than the firewall facilities (which can be just NAT) of cheap routers. Even if that isn't the case for your router, there is a lot to be said for having defence in depth. However, I would not advocate NOT using any facility on the router because your personal firewall is "better ". A personal firewall behind a NAT router is better than a personal firewall connecting to the internet directly.

However, you do need a personal firewall that is sophisticated enough for you to be set up a trust for your local network, so that you can share files and printers locally. Norton firewall should be fine.

 

I used to have the Netgear DG834 (no 'G' at end as it was not wireless) the firewall in the router is good as it will block all incoming traffic but as posted above you will need a software firewall to control any 'outbound' traffic from your computer plus enable file sharing if this is what you intend to do.

I use the 'Efficient' Router now which has a really 'strong' firewall but I still use a software one for my outbound traffic control. I have tested to router firewall without my software one and get a full stealth report on various testing sites. The highest setting for my router firewall blocks me out completley!!